In Memory of D-Day - 80 years

I wrote this up for family recently in honor of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Pvt. James William Heacock. He is my Dad's 1st cousin.

James was born on Jan 6, 1925 in Everett, PA to Lawrence(Floyd's brother) & Mary Heacock. He was the youngest of three children. By the time James was 5 the family had moved to Mercer Co, PA where his father was a Horticulturist and growing trees. In 1940, James was 14 and the family lived in Pymatuning, Mercer Co and his father was then working for the WPA as a record keeper in the road building industry.

James turned 18 in 1943, beginning an event filled year. He filled out his Draft Registration card that showed an address in Greenville, Mercer Co. His description on the card said that he was 5’11” 180 lbs with brown hair and eyes. Before enlisting on March 29, 1943, James was employed at the Greenville Steel Car Company. James would enlist in the Army at New Cumberland, PA. His enlistment term was for the duration of the war plus 6 months. His education level was listed as Grammar school, but James did attend Penn High School. By Oct of 1943, James is shown in a marriage record from the state of Tennessee. Pvt. James Heacock married Ethel Elkins of Dickson Co, TN. She was 16. Ethel would live with James’ parents in Greenville after her marriage to James.

After training at Fort Campbell, KY and Ft Benning, GA he was sent overseas in January of 1944, first to Ireland then England, as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment. His unit was HQ3. While in England, he was able to meet up with his brother Foster, a SSgt in the Army Air Corps whom he had not seen in two years. Just 6 months after arriving in Europe, James would be wounded on D-Day, June 6, 1944. According to a history of the 502nd, they were in the first wave to depart for Normandy headed to Drop Zone A near Utah Beach just after midnight on June 6. James would not survive and died a week later, June13 according to a family letter, in an Allied Hospital in France. Some new information says that James was awarded the Purple Heart Posthumously on June 10, 1944. So the death date is still in question. Unfortunately, the family was not able to conduct a funeral for James until 5 years later, when he was buried in the Delaware Cemetery in Fredonia, Mercer Co, PA. Thank you James for your sacrifice.

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