Pfc Martin was a member of Company G, 508th Parachute Infantry Division, 82nd Airborne Division.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army and volunteered for parachutist duty.
As the 508th was preparing for its role in the invasion of Normandy, Arnold volunteered a second time ... to be a Pathfinder. That meant being amongst the very first to jump, about an hour and a half ahead of the main force, so that he could set up signals that would guide the rest of the regiment into the proper landing zones. It was a very dangerous job but before midnight on June 5, 1944, he parachuted into Normandy.
Unfortunately, Arnold was killed in action 10 days later, on June 17, 1944, and he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. He was initially buried near Ste. Mere Eglise in the Blosville Temporary Cemetery at Plot C, Row 1, Grave 5.
Following the war, his family elected to have his remains shipped home and he was buried in the Oxford Cemetery on April 29, 1948.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army and volunteered for parachutist duty.
As the 508th was preparing for its role in the invasion of Normandy, Arnold volunteered a second time ... to be a Pathfinder. That meant being amongst the very first to jump, about an hour and a half ahead of the main force, so that he could set up signals that would guide the rest of the regiment into the proper landing zones. It was a very dangerous job but before midnight on June 5, 1944, he parachuted into Normandy.
Unfortunately, Arnold was killed in action 10 days later, on June 17, 1944, and he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. He was initially buried near Ste. Mere Eglise in the Blosville Temporary Cemetery at Plot C, Row 1, Grave 5.
Following the war, his family elected to have his remains shipped home and he was buried in the Oxford Cemetery on April 29, 1948.
Pfc Martin was a member of Company G, 508th Parachute Infantry Division, 82nd Airborne Division.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army and volunteered for parachutist duty.
As the 508th was preparing for its role in the invasion of Normandy, Arnold volunteered a second time ... to be a Pathfinder. That meant being amongst the very first to jump, about an hour and a half ahead of the main force, so that he could set up signals that would guide the rest of the regiment into the proper landing zones. It was a very dangerous job but before midnight on June 5, 1944, he parachuted into Normandy.
Unfortunately, Arnold was killed in action 10 days later, on June 17, 1944, and he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. He was initially buried near Ste. Mere Eglise in the Blosville Temporary Cemetery at Plot C, Row 1, Grave 5.
Following the war, his family elected to have his remains shipped home and he was buried in the Oxford Cemetery on April 29, 1948.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army and volunteered for parachutist duty.
As the 508th was preparing for its role in the invasion of Normandy, Arnold volunteered a second time ... to be a Pathfinder. That meant being amongst the very first to jump, about an hour and a half ahead of the main force, so that he could set up signals that would guide the rest of the regiment into the proper landing zones. It was a very dangerous job but before midnight on June 5, 1944, he parachuted into Normandy.
Unfortunately, Arnold was killed in action 10 days later, on June 17, 1944, and he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. He was initially buried near Ste. Mere Eglise in the Blosville Temporary Cemetery at Plot C, Row 1, Grave 5.
Following the war, his family elected to have his remains shipped home and he was buried in the Oxford Cemetery on April 29, 1948.
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