World War II Honoree

Edwin L. Cohn

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Albany, New York

Honored By

Sanford Cohn

Relationship

Son

Enlisted in the U.S. Army on November 6, 1942 and was Discharged on December 13, 1945. His first assignment prior to D-Day was to an artillery unit in gun-ops. He initially was assigned to the 7th Army in North Africa and Sicily under General Patton. While crossing the Atlantic to land in North Africa, 8 ships in his convoy were torpedoed and sunk including the gun ship carrying his units artillery. After landing at Casablanca, Morocco, his unit was resupplied with new artillery. He then moved on to Oran and then to Algiers. Once North Africa was secured, his unit moved on to Sicily where he went to Gila and eventually Palermo. Next, he was deployed to Sardinia and then to Corsica, where his unit set up artillery near the airfields to protect them. After D-Day he entered France at Marcie and he was assigned to a Combat Engineering Unit, building and repairing roads, bridges, railroads and he also was assigned to clear mine fields. He then enjoyed a 3 day pass to Paris. As the war continued, his unit moved through Alsace and Lorraine France, eventually into southern Germany and Innsbruck, Austria. As the war in Europe ended, his unit was moved back to the port at Marcie as he awaited orders for redeployment to the Pacific Theater. The war with Japan ended and after more than 3 years service, he made it home safe.