FIELDS, LAURENCE Sept 15, 1944 age 31 DOW Germany

LAURENCE EUGENE FIELDS  b. Dec 23, 1913 Kansas d. Sept 16, 1944

Died of Wounds Germany

S Sgt 36123954 Army 39^th Inf Reg 9^th Inf Div

 

 

Buried Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Belgium; Memorial in family plot McPherson, Kansas

Parents: Samuel Adams Jr. & Fannie Rachel (Young)

Sibling: Laurel – twin (Frick), Galen Wayne

With this individual a different problem was encountered. Namely whether the name is spelled with a W or U. Yes, there are two  individuals with one letter difference; but only one died in the war. What follows is information that fits best, and it is thus misspelled on the plaque.

15015 Ashton

The Fields worked a family farm in McPherson Co., Kansas. Only Laurence moved to Detroit sometime in the 1930’s where he lived with his Uncle and Aunt Clay and Hazel Young, both from Kansas. Also in the household were their 3 children, a mother-in-law and another nephew.  Clay sold life insurance and rented a very comfortable house in Rosedale Park.



When Laurence did his draft registration 16 Oct 1940 he worked for Ford Motor Co, stood 5’5” 144 lbs with blue eyes and brown hair. He enlisted the next year July 23, 1941.

The first battles were in North Africa then on to Sicily with the 9th. He was wounded Sept 1943 in Sicily – wound was a lacerated neck from shrapnel.  The 9^th Div. went on to land at Normandy and fight their way through France and Belgium.

 

39th Inf Hurtgen Forest

By the afternoon of September 12th 1944, no less than three American units had laid claim to having set foot on German soil. New orders came thru: the 9th Infantry Division was to break through the German West Wall, the Siegfried Line, and push through into the Ruhr River area. A new long battle was about to begin. On September 13th, 1944, the 39th Regiment swept forward to begin a long and costly drive through the Hurtgen Forest in Germany. It moved past the Dragon Teeth (anti-tank constructions made out of cement blocks) and closed in on the fortified town of Roetgen, Germany. On September 14th, the town fell to the 39th and would be the first German city captured in World War II. Day by Day throughout the rest of September, October and the first week of November, the 9th Infantry Division battled its way through the Hurtgen Forest. These were terrible fights, and often named the “worst of all battles” according to many veterans of this Division.

His obituary was in the Hutchinson New-Herald, Hutchinson, Kansas newspaper, Nov. 27, 1944:

Memorial Service McPherson-A memorial service was held here Sunday afternoon at the Baptist church for S-Sgt Laurence Fields, who died from wounds received in an action in Germany Sept 15. He was with Gen. Patton’s army in North Africa, Sicily, and France, in nine major battles. Staff Sergeant Fields has a cenotaph in Kansas.

He received a Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.

9^th Div Tribute Video – Hurtgen Forest battle. 

https://9thinfantrydivision.net/9th-infantry-division-tribute-video/