S SGT 35 TK BN 4 ARM DIV WORLD WAR II SS-PH
Burial Hurst Baptist Church Cemetery Hilltonia, Screven County, Georgia, USA
Place
Ft McPherson Atlanta Georgia Date
23 May 1941
"Fourth Armored Division was name enough"; "They shall be known by their deeds alone."
4th Armored Division
The 4th Armored Division, after training in England from January to July 1944, landed at Utah Beach 11 July and entered World War II combat 17 July.
The Division participated in Operation Cobra, the Normandy Breakout. They secured Coutances, Nantes and then turned east driving across France. September had them crossing the Moselle River and in the vicinity of Nancy. They maintained a defensive posture and line from Chambrey to Henamenil into October. They returned to the line in November near Viviers and crossed the Saar River on the 21st and 22nd.
After the Germans launched their Ardennes Offensive, the 4th AD raced northwest to Belgium. Units of the 4th AD were the first Allies to reach the 101st AB at Bastogne. Following the Battle of the Bulge, the Allies went on the offensive and the 4th moved east crossing the Moselle and then the Rhine in late March and on to the capture of Lauterbach. By 12 April the Division had crossed the Saale River and continued their advance into Czechoslovakia where World War II for the 4th Armored Division ended on 6 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day.
...Germans are frightened by your superior equipment, frightened by your more skillful tactics, and above all frightened by your magnificent courage and will to win. Since the beginning of your historic drive through Orleans to the east, the Fourth Armored Division has met its assigned tasks with the greatest distinction. The manner in which it seized successfully the towns of Sens, Troyes, Vitry le Francois and Commercy and assisted in the capture of Montargis and Chalons-sur-Marne, was conspicuous evidence of its courage, its high state of combat efficiency, and the aggressive spirit of its leaders. In the establishing, defending and enlarging of our bridgehead across the Moselle, all members of the division have conducted themselves in a manner of which they may well be proud...
— MAJ. GEN. MANTON S. EDDY, COMMANDING XII CORPS, IN A LETTER TO MAJ. GEN. JOHN S. WOOD, THEN COMMANDING 4TH ARMD. DIV.
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WWII Army Enlistment Records
William T Beasley Jr Army Serial Number: 34082761 Enlistment Place: Ft McPherson Atlanta Georgia Enlistment Date: 23 May 1941 Army Branch: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA Branch: Army Race or Ethnicity: White Source of Army Personnel: Civil Life Army Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men) Level of Education: Grammar school Occupation: Farm hands, general farms Marital Status: Married Birth Date: 1914 Birth Place: Georgia Source Box Number: 0750 Source Film Reel Number: 1.267 Conflict Period: World War II Served for: United States of America