If you live in the North Main Neighborhood of the City of Greenville, South Carolina, you‟ve likely heard reference to the Bobby Pearse Center. PFC Kingsley Robert (Bobby) Pearse (Service ID 34965885) was a Purple Heart Medal recipient and staff sergeant [posthumously] in the 397th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion, Company K of the US Army. Bobby Pearse was the son of Kingsley H. Pearce (father) and Margie Johnson Pearce (mother). He was reportedly the first Greenville native fatality in World War II. He resided at 19 West Hillcrest Drive in the North Main Neighborhood. According to the 1942 City Directory, his father was employed with the Greenville Roll and Leather Company and Bobby was working at the Carolina Theater. The family was residing at 203 Grove Road. A member of the class of 1946 at the Citadel (The Military College of South Carolina), he was killed in action in the Vosges area of France on November 14, 1944, at the age of 19. He enlisted on 26 March 1944 in Fort Bragg, NC, listing one year of college education to his credit and identifying experience as a sales clerk.
The Greenville News (12 Dec. 1944, p. 2,2.) reported the following headline, "Pearse Dies In French Action." and followed with a report stating,"The War department has reported to Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley H. Pearse of this city that their son, Bobby, formerly reported missing, was killed in action in France November 14. He was graduated from Greenville High School and attended Furman University and the Citadel before entering service. He received his basic training at Camp Blanding, Fla., and was overseas for one month prior to his death. Young Pearse was a member of the Greenville chapter of DeMolay and of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He was also a member of Buncombe Street Methodist church."
A portrait of Bobby Pearse is located over the fire place in the Bobby Pearse Community Center. He is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Epinal, France. This cemetery, 48.6 acres in extent, is sited on a plateau 100 feet above the Moselle River in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. It contains the graves of 5,255 of American military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the campaigns across northeastern France to the Rhine and beyond into Germany. The cemetery was established in October 1944 by the 46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company of the U.S. Seventh Army as it drove northward from southern France through the Rhone Valley into Germany. The cemetery became the repository for the fatalities in the bitter fighting through the Heasbourg Gap during the winter of 1944-45. Bobby Pearse's burial site is located in Plot B Row 7 Grave 31. Bobby Pearse attended Furman University in 1942 (presumably prior to transfering to the Citadel).
According to William H. Buckley's book titled, The Citadel and The South Carolina Corps of Cadets (Arcadia Publishing 2004), during World War II The Citadel and its alumni once more responded to the call of our nation. A higher percentage of its students entered military service than any college in the nation, other than the federal service academies. Even before the United States entered the war, Citadel alumni were serving in the armed forces of allied nations. Of 2,976 living graduates in 1946, 2,927 served their country during the war. Before the end of the war, two hundred seventy-nine Citadel Men had given their lives in defense of our country.
The Greenville News (12 Dec. 1944, p. 2,2.) reported the following headline, "Pearse Dies In French Action." and followed with a report stating,"The War department has reported to Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley H. Pearse of this city that their son, Bobby, formerly reported missing, was killed in action in France November 14. He was graduated from Greenville High School and attended Furman University and the Citadel before entering service. He received his basic training at Camp Blanding, Fla., and was overseas for one month prior to his death. Young Pearse was a member of the Greenville chapter of DeMolay and of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He was also a member of Buncombe Street Methodist church."
A portrait of Bobby Pearse is located over the fire place in the Bobby Pearse Community Center. He is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Epinal, France. This cemetery, 48.6 acres in extent, is sited on a plateau 100 feet above the Moselle River in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. It contains the graves of 5,255 of American military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the campaigns across northeastern France to the Rhine and beyond into Germany. The cemetery was established in October 1944 by the 46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company of the U.S. Seventh Army as it drove northward from southern France through the Rhone Valley into Germany. The cemetery became the repository for the fatalities in the bitter fighting through the Heasbourg Gap during the winter of 1944-45. Bobby Pearse's burial site is located in Plot B Row 7 Grave 31. Bobby Pearse attended Furman University in 1942 (presumably prior to transfering to the Citadel).
According to William H. Buckley's book titled, The Citadel and The South Carolina Corps of Cadets (Arcadia Publishing 2004), during World War II The Citadel and its alumni once more responded to the call of our nation. A higher percentage of its students entered military service than any college in the nation, other than the federal service academies. Even before the United States entered the war, Citadel alumni were serving in the armed forces of allied nations. Of 2,976 living graduates in 1946, 2,927 served their country during the war. Before the end of the war, two hundred seventy-nine Citadel Men had given their lives in defense of our country.
If you live in the North Main Neighborhood of the City of Greenville, South Carolina, you‟ve likely heard reference to the Bobby Pearse Center. PFC Kingsley Robert (Bobby) Pearse (Service ID 34965885) was a Purple Heart Medal recipient and staff sergeant [posthumously] in the 397th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion, Company K of the US Army. Bobby Pearse was the son of Kingsley H. Pearce (father) and Margie Johnson Pearce (mother). He was reportedly the first Greenville native fatality in World War II. He resided at 19 West Hillcrest Drive in the North Main Neighborhood. According to the 1942 City Directory, his father was employed with the Greenville Roll and Leather Company and Bobby was working at the Carolina Theater. The family was residing at 203 Grove Road. A member of the class of 1946 at the Citadel (The Military College of South Carolina), he was killed in action in the Vosges area of France on November 14, 1944, at the age of 19. He enlisted on 26 March 1944 in Fort Bragg, NC, listing one year of college education to his credit and identifying experience as a sales clerk.
The Greenville News (12 Dec. 1944, p. 2,2.) reported the following headline, "Pearse Dies In French Action." and followed with a report stating,"The War department has reported to Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley H. Pearse of this city that their son, Bobby, formerly reported missing, was killed in action in France November 14. He was graduated from Greenville High School and attended Furman University and the Citadel before entering service. He received his basic training at Camp Blanding, Fla., and was overseas for one month prior to his death. Young Pearse was a member of the Greenville chapter of DeMolay and of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He was also a member of Buncombe Street Methodist church."
A portrait of Bobby Pearse is located over the fire place in the Bobby Pearse Community Center. He is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Epinal, France. This cemetery, 48.6 acres in extent, is sited on a plateau 100 feet above the Moselle River in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. It contains the graves of 5,255 of American military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the campaigns across northeastern France to the Rhine and beyond into Germany. The cemetery was established in October 1944 by the 46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company of the U.S. Seventh Army as it drove northward from southern France through the Rhone Valley into Germany. The cemetery became the repository for the fatalities in the bitter fighting through the Heasbourg Gap during the winter of 1944-45. Bobby Pearse's burial site is located in Plot B Row 7 Grave 31. Bobby Pearse attended Furman University in 1942 (presumably prior to transfering to the Citadel).
According to William H. Buckley's book titled, The Citadel and The South Carolina Corps of Cadets (Arcadia Publishing 2004), during World War II The Citadel and its alumni once more responded to the call of our nation. A higher percentage of its students entered military service than any college in the nation, other than the federal service academies. Even before the United States entered the war, Citadel alumni were serving in the armed forces of allied nations. Of 2,976 living graduates in 1946, 2,927 served their country during the war. Before the end of the war, two hundred seventy-nine Citadel Men had given their lives in defense of our country.
The Greenville News (12 Dec. 1944, p. 2,2.) reported the following headline, "Pearse Dies In French Action." and followed with a report stating,"The War department has reported to Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley H. Pearse of this city that their son, Bobby, formerly reported missing, was killed in action in France November 14. He was graduated from Greenville High School and attended Furman University and the Citadel before entering service. He received his basic training at Camp Blanding, Fla., and was overseas for one month prior to his death. Young Pearse was a member of the Greenville chapter of DeMolay and of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He was also a member of Buncombe Street Methodist church."
A portrait of Bobby Pearse is located over the fire place in the Bobby Pearse Community Center. He is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Epinal, France. This cemetery, 48.6 acres in extent, is sited on a plateau 100 feet above the Moselle River in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. It contains the graves of 5,255 of American military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the campaigns across northeastern France to the Rhine and beyond into Germany. The cemetery was established in October 1944 by the 46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company of the U.S. Seventh Army as it drove northward from southern France through the Rhone Valley into Germany. The cemetery became the repository for the fatalities in the bitter fighting through the Heasbourg Gap during the winter of 1944-45. Bobby Pearse's burial site is located in Plot B Row 7 Grave 31. Bobby Pearse attended Furman University in 1942 (presumably prior to transfering to the Citadel).
According to William H. Buckley's book titled, The Citadel and The South Carolina Corps of Cadets (Arcadia Publishing 2004), during World War II The Citadel and its alumni once more responded to the call of our nation. A higher percentage of its students entered military service than any college in the nation, other than the federal service academies. Even before the United States entered the war, Citadel alumni were serving in the armed forces of allied nations. Of 2,976 living graduates in 1946, 2,927 served their country during the war. Before the end of the war, two hundred seventy-nine Citadel Men had given their lives in defense of our country.
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