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name
LOFTON, Willie Lee - Date of
birth
2 February 1923 -
Age
21 -
Place of birth
Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas -
Hometown
Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas -
Ethnicity
African American
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
38434197 -
Rank
Private -
Function
unknown -
Unit
C Company,
761st Tank Battalion
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
9 November 1944 - Place of
death
In the vicinity of Morville-lès-Vic, France
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| J | 25 | 34 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Harry Lofton (father)
Jeffie A. (Stewart) Lofton (mother)
Floyd W. Lofton (half-brother)
Lloyd W. Lofton (half-brother)
Harry Lofton Jr. (brother)
Jeff Lofton (brother)
Nancy Lofton (sister)
J.W. Lofton (brother)
Mary Jane Lofton (sister)
Theodore Lofton (brother)
May Bell Lofton (sister)
Lush B. Lofton (sister)
Frederick Lofton (brother)
More information
Willie L. Lofton enlisted on 29 June 1942.On 9 November, C Company ran into an anti-tank ditch near Morville. The German 11th Panzer Division began to knock out seven tanks one by one down the line.
After the company commander Capt McHenry gave the order to dismount, several men were killed by shell fire and small arms when they crawled through the freezing and muddy waters of the ditch.
The men of the 761st who were killed during the liberation of Morville-lès-Vic are remembered on a monument at the Rue Principale, just outside of the village.
The 761st Tank Battalion was the first African American armored unit to see combat and apart from some officers, consisted entirely of African American soldiers.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiiregistry.abmc.gov, www.ancestry.com, History of the 761st TB, U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men
Photo source: Le Républicain Lorrain