James McKenzie

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PFC James McKenzie

Son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe McKenzie Wittensville

KIA Germany February 7, 1945

 

     Pvt. James McKenzie are the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe McKenzie of Wittensville.  Pvt. James McKenzie was reported killed in action on Feb. 7 and the following letter has been received by Mrs. McKenzie by Captain Roy G. Mosher, of the 357th Infantry:

Dear Mrs. McKenzie;    

    The officers and men with whom he served have asked that I express to you their heartfelt sympathy over the death of your son, Private First Class James McKenzie who was killed in action against the enemy on February 7, 1945.  In your hour of grief it is their wish that you know that the men with whom he fought so valiantly share your loss. He fell during the fighting in the Siegfried Line defenses of western Germany.  His company had participated with the other units of the Battalion in a successful night attack on its objective, the high ground near a small town, and was consolidating its positions against an expected enemy counter-attack.  He was helping the men in his squad to dig in their machine gun when he was killed instantly by hostile fire. He was buried in a plot set aside as a United States military cemetery.  A protestant chaplain officiated at the service when he was laid to rest. It is given, perhaps, only to those who have stood on a battlefield to know of the high courage with which your son and his comrades have so successfully carried the fight to the enemy.  His devotion to duty, his loyalty and his acceptance of responsibility will forever be a credit to him and the nation he served so well. There is nothing that I might say that can in the least measure ease your irreparable bereavement. Yet there is pride in his contribution to the cause of freedom.  Our ultimate victory will provide a symbolic monument to augment the white wooden cross which now adorns his grave.

 

    Roy G. Mosher, Capt.
           357th Infantry, Asst. Adj.

©Paintsville Herald
Thursday
March 29, 1945