Cleo served as a Private, 853rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
He resided in Audrain County, Missouri prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on January 23, 1943 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed in the production of clay products and also as Married.
Cleo was a passenger on the HMT Rohna.
The Rohna and four other troop ships left Oran in French Algeria with cargo and troops. Off Béjaïa, Algeria the convoy was attacked by an estimated 60 German Luftwaffe Heinkel 177's. One of the 177's, piloted by Hans Dochtermann, released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side and she eventually sank.
1,138 men were killed, including 1,015 U.S. personnel. The attack is the largest loss of US troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. 35 U.S. troops of the 2,000 originally embarked later died of wounds.
Cleo was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 37413698
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
He resided in Audrain County, Missouri prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on January 23, 1943 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed in the production of clay products and also as Married.
Cleo was a passenger on the HMT Rohna.
The Rohna and four other troop ships left Oran in French Algeria with cargo and troops. Off Béjaïa, Algeria the convoy was attacked by an estimated 60 German Luftwaffe Heinkel 177's. One of the 177's, piloted by Hans Dochtermann, released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side and she eventually sank.
1,138 men were killed, including 1,015 U.S. personnel. The attack is the largest loss of US troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. 35 U.S. troops of the 2,000 originally embarked later died of wounds.
Cleo was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 37413698
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
Cleo served as a Private, 853rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
He resided in Audrain County, Missouri prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on January 23, 1943 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed in the production of clay products and also as Married.
Cleo was a passenger on the HMT Rohna.
The Rohna and four other troop ships left Oran in French Algeria with cargo and troops. Off Béjaïa, Algeria the convoy was attacked by an estimated 60 German Luftwaffe Heinkel 177's. One of the 177's, piloted by Hans Dochtermann, released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side and she eventually sank.
1,138 men were killed, including 1,015 U.S. personnel. The attack is the largest loss of US troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. 35 U.S. troops of the 2,000 originally embarked later died of wounds.
Cleo was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 37413698
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
He resided in Audrain County, Missouri prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on January 23, 1943 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed in the production of clay products and also as Married.
Cleo was a passenger on the HMT Rohna.
The Rohna and four other troop ships left Oran in French Algeria with cargo and troops. Off Béjaïa, Algeria the convoy was attacked by an estimated 60 German Luftwaffe Heinkel 177's. One of the 177's, piloted by Hans Dochtermann, released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side and she eventually sank.
1,138 men were killed, including 1,015 U.S. personnel. The attack is the largest loss of US troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. 35 U.S. troops of the 2,000 originally embarked later died of wounds.
Cleo was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 37413698
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
Other Records
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Records on Ancestry
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Missouri, U.S., Marriage Records, 1805-2002
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1930 United States Federal Census
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U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949
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U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
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Missouri, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-current
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