Stewart Edward Ambler - family of Nellie (Knight) Ambler of Burrton, KS - was assigned to a parachute unit. On D-Day, was "one of the first of the Americans to land in Normandy...," said the Modesto (CA) Bee, "and for 10 days was in almost constant action until wounded." He received a bullet wound of the thorax. He was hospitalized in June 1944 and remained for about five months at Hammond General Hospital.

Lorraine (McKnight) Barrows - family of Frank Trevor McKnight of Fayette County, PA - joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Corps (WAAC) and shipped overseas to England. Her first assignment was in a telephone switchboard operation in six underground floors of the Selfridges department store in London, working with a team of operators for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's London headquarters. She was part of the D-Day invasion and among 36 women who landed on Utah Beach. After arriving in Normandy, France, she and her fellow WAACs slept in tents for three weeks.

James Howard Crabtree - family of Mary Agnes (Younkin) Crabtree - a seaman first class in the Navy. He was quoted in an article in the November 1942 Reader's Digest, "Convoy to Murmansk," authored by Edwin Miller. During the D-Day operation in June 1944, now in the Atlantic, he is believed to have helped sink a ship there intentionally to obscure the invading troops coming ashore.

George DeLong - family of Mary Jane (Pring) McCollough of Shawnee, OK - landed in France on D-day plus eight. Was one of the first Americans to enter Cherbourg where more than 6,000 Germans were held as prisoners of war.

Donald Wesley "Sandy" Drain - family of Mary (Leonard) Potter of Ohiopyle, PA and Rudolph, OH - said to have driven the first LST (landing ship, tank) onto Utah Beach on D-Day. 

Stephen Augustus Duffy - family of John Miner of Mauch Chunk, PA - private first class with the 489th Anti-Aircraft Artillery, and took part in military operations in Normandy and Northern France.

Blair Eugene King - family of Bertha (Ream) Conn of Confluence, PA - served with the 325th Glider Infantry as part of the 82nd Airborne Division, and took part in the D-Day invasion.

Earl Miller King - family of Catherine (Minerd) Nesmith Dean of Uniontown, PA - 175th Infantry, 29th Division. Killed a little over a month later, on July 12, 1944, in fighting around Saint-Lô (St. Lo), France. Buried in Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France  

Howard Philip Lepley - family of Elizabeth (Sturtz) Comp of Buffalo Mills, PA - crew member of the B-24 bomber "Little Sheppard,"of the 714th Bomber Squadron, 448th Bomber Group, shot down over Evreux, France on June 10, 1944, just four days after D-Day. Howard and four other crewmen were killed in the action. His body was recovered and buried in Europe.

Albert Edward Marshall Jr. - family of Arvilla (Minard) Marshall - participant. 

Paul Silas Mayle - family of Sarepta (Kennedy) Mayle -  took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and later the Battle of the Bulge.

Charles William McClain - family of Margaret (Hoye) McClain of Smithfield, PA - "was wounded shortly after the first outfit of paratroopers landed in Normandy," said a newspaper. "Returning to England, young McClain recovered in a base hospital and returned to duty. Several weeks later he was fatally wounded in the leg." He succumbed to his wounds on Oct. 6, 1944, in Holland. His remains were not returned home for five years.

Glenn Ellsworth McKnight - family of William Stewart McKnight of Dawson, PA - was part of the Army's assault at Omaha Beach, and later saw action at the Battle of the Bulge. Was wounded and received the Purple Heart medal.

William Lawson Miller - family of George W. Ingles Ogle - joining the U.S. Navy in 1943, participated in the invasion of Normandy.

Thomas Minerd - family of Thomas Minerd of Smithfield, PA - 79th Infantry Division of Patch's 7th Army, a unit commended "for making the fastest progress (1800 yards in 72 hours) of any infantry division in warfare," said a newspaper. "Also awarded a citation for their skill near Strasbourg, the unit was the first to cross the Seine River and the Belgium border. First stationed in England, he participated in the D-Day invasion and fought in the battle for Cherbourg. Moving on across France, he fought in several battles under General Patton."

William Byron Minerd - family of Thomas Minerd of Smithfield, PA - was shipped overseas in February 1942 and "spent seven months at secret bases," said a newspaper. "He later spent 19 months in Belgium Congo, Africa, after which he was sent to England until D-Day, when he participated in the invasion."

Lloyd Harvey Mort - family of Levi Rose - as a member of the 1st Infantry Division, saw action in the North Africa, Sicily and Normandy campaigns, and was injured or wounded, receiving a Purple Heart.

Clayton Nagle - family of Margaret (Halfpenny) Nagle of Berwick, PA -  was a tank commander and, on D-Day, "drove a tank onto Utah Beach from a landing ship that didn't quite reach the shore," said the Bloomsburg (PA) Press Enterprise. "He kept going, even though the water in his tank rose to his neck before it started going down." Purple Heart recipient.

Donald Leroy Plants - family of Ollie Margaret (Miner) Plants of Ashtabula, OH - was an "amphibious engineer" involved in the landing at Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bulge, and was captured as a prisoner of war. Guest speaker at our 1998 national family reunion.

Delbert L. "Bert" Ravenscroft Sr. - family of Sarah Jane (Rankin) Addis of Farmington, PA -  with the 6th Army Group, 961st Field Artillery Battalion, was deployed to Iceland and England and landed at Normandy on July 18, 1944. Made news with his unit when crossing the Blies River without a single casualty, unleashing 155-mm. howitzers on a concrete and steel fortress at Sinserhoff, repulsing a German panzer division which threatened to halt the Allied breakthrough. 

Stanley John Segal Jr. - family of Mamie W. (Swearingen) Courtney Haley - took part in the Normandy beach landing. Two months later, was captured at Mortain, France and for the next eight months was held as a prisoner of war in Poland in an officer's prison known as an "Offizierslager." With the war's end nearing, and the Soviet army approaching, he was among 1,500 POWs to be released. 

Charles E. Shipley - family of Mary Todd (Jennings) Shipley of Ohiopyle, PA - was a member of the 4th Signal Company, 4th Infantry Division and took part in the invasion at Normandy and in liberating Paris, for which he earned a French Jubilee of Liberty Medal.

Lawrence S. "Rusty" Sifton - family of Catherine (Minerd) Nesmith Dean of Keisterville, PA - 36th Engineers, said to be the only unit that made 5 landings on D-Day, among the first wave on the beach. Served for 27 months in Northern Africa, Anzio, Sicily and Southern France, wounded by mine shrapnel on Nov. 21, 1944, on the advance toward the Rhine River. 

Herbert Roland Stotz - family of Edna Essie (Miner) Asmus of Haskins, OH - 23rd Infantry, Company E - took part in combat in Normandy, Northern France and the Rhineland. 

William P. Straitiff - family of Lucinda Jane "Jennie" (Miner) Turner Stevenson Paolone - paratrooper with the A Company of the 506 PIR, 101st Airborne Division, with a jump into France during the D-Day invasion. The Uniontown (PA) Morning Herald said that he "was the only serviceman from Fairchance during World War II to serve with the paratroopers."

Warren Wilkie Stroop - family of William McKnight - took part in the Normandy invasion, with his unit moving through France, Belgium and Germany. Was wounded by shrapnel twice in battle in Aachen, Germany.

Wayne M. Sutter - family of Luther Minerd Sr. - with the U.S. Navy, served in World War II in the Normandy Landing and campaigns in Sicily and Italy. In 1946, he was stationed on the U.S.S. Albemarle at Bikini atoll with an atomic bomb patrol.

Minor Fay White - family of Charles Minor White of Wichita, KS - was engineer-pilot of a C-47, named "Nina Mae" in honor of his mother, the lead plane on paratroop-drops at Cherbourg, France. Writing home, he said that "Never in my life have I seen so many troop carrier planes and gliders in the air... Undoubtedly D-Day sponsored the greatest air show the world has ever seen... As we winged our way over the channel, heading towards Hitler's Festung Europe, we were escorted by fighter planes... In passing over occupied France those fighters really did a magnificent job in knocking out enemy installations... As we approached the [Drop Zone], we were surprised at the scarcity of enemy fire, which was light and ineffective."

Orville O. Willis - family of Charles Addison Dillow of Clinton, IL - joined the U.S. Army and was deployed to England in January 1943. Took part in the 1944 Normandy campaign and was commended by his commanding officer for "his driving in difficult weather and over shell-pocked highways in the blackout," said the Clinton Daily Journal and Public. Then in early 1945, was with a military police guard in Belgium, driving German POWs from the front lines to the stockades.

Lee W. Ziegler - family of Clarence Warren "Bobby" Lytle - took part in the invasion of Normandy and additional maneuvers in northern France and the Rhineland.