An 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion platoon leader killed in action alongside a Medal of Honor recipient during the breakout from Anzio
Category: Mediterranean Theater
Staff Sergeant William G. Smith (1916–1944)
A career soldier, rifle squad leader, and father who fought in five campaigns in the Mediterranean
Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Thomas C. Davis (1921–1943)
A member of a U.S. Navy Armed Guard crew lost in the infamous air raid on Bari, Italy
Sergeant Paul E. Hayden (1911–1943)
Trained in aircraft maintenance, he was traveling to the China Burma India Theater when caught up in an infamous troop ship disaster
Flight Officer Theodore E. Hearne (1920–1944)
The proudest moment of this radar observer’s military career turned to tragedy moments later
Corporal Joseph M. Vignola (1920–1944)
A shipyard worker and father turned airplane mechanic lost in a little-known tragedy in the Mediterranean
Motor Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Walter G. Keen, Jr. (1910–1944)
A sailor from Wilmington Manor lost during the invasion of the South of France
Private Norman G. Becker (1923–1944)
A shipyard worker turned infantryman who was killed in action during his fourth day in combat in northern Italy
Fireman 1st Class Howard J. Woods (1922–1944)
A single torpedo claimed the lives of two Wilmington Coast Guardsmen who served in the same repair party aboard a destroyer escort
2nd Lieutenant Edward W. Ruyter (1922–1944)
When a bombardier fell from a crippled B-24, a Czech town came together to honor him: “You died-- but in our hearts you live!”
Delaware's World War II Fallen 