World War II Honoree

Burl W. Ailey

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Jefferson, Tennessee

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private. Inducted into the United States Army April 17, 1944 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Following recruit and advanced infantry training, he was deployed to England, Great Britain. He served as a Rifleman with Easy Company, Third Battalion, 262nd Infantry Regiment, an element of the 66th Army ‘Black Panther’ Division. Sunday, December 24, 1944 elements of the division were en-route from South Hampton, England to France, crossing the English Channel aboard the SS Leopoldville. The transport was sunk off the coastal shore-line of Cherbourg by the German submarine, U-486. The division was moving to the French Brittany-Loire area. Monday, December 25, 1944 he was reported missing in action or buried at sea. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial Location: Colleville-sur-Mer, France. In his Memory and Honor, a cenotaph memorial has been placed at the Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church Cemetery Talbott, Tennessee. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his Heroism and ultimate sacrifice.