MCQUILLAN, FRANCIS B. May 18, 1945 age 19 MIA/KIA Okinawa

FRANCIS B. MCQUILLAN  b. 1926 Michigan d. May 18, 1945 Missing in Action/Killed in Action

Pvt 16177511 Army 307^th Inf Reg 77^th Inf Div

Buried Honolulu Tablets of the Missing, Hawaii

Parents: LaVerne William & Hortense Elizabeth (Gable)

Siblings: William, James Thomas, Edward Joseph, Margaret Patricia , George Arthur,  Bruce

15552 Wakenden, Redford

LaVerne was born in Howell and Hortense in Flint. In 1917 they married in Flint. For a time they lived in the very rural area of Nankin Twp (later divied up between various western Wayne Co cities). He was a die maker and by the time they had their house on Wakenden in Redford he worked as a designing engineer for an auto factory. In addition to the 2 parents there were 7 children in their 1,200 sq foot home, but at least no boarders or in-laws.

Francis graduated from Redford in Jan 1943; even thou he lied in Redford Twp, students were eligible to attend Detroit HS due to the lack of a full service high school. He then attended University of Detroit college of engineering. He worked as a junior draftsman at Ex-Cell-O Corp. and was an A.S.T.P. student at Michigan State College. He had plans for a great future.

Then he enlisted Sept 20, 1944 at Fort Sheridan, Ill. Sent overseas in Feb 1945. 2 of his brothers were also in the military.

From History.net: Along the 96th Division’s western flank, the 77th Infantry Division battled through its own hell, particularly at Ishimmi Ridge, a 350-foot rise one-third of a mile in front of Shuri. Before dawn on May 17, Lieutenant Theodore S. Bell led 204 men of the 307th Regiment to its crest, then waited for the enemy barrage that would inevitably come once daylight arrived. The Japanese delivered a deafening response, as mortar and artillery fire mixed with unbelievably thick machine-gun fire from both flanks and the nearby heights at Shuri. By 10 a.m., all but one of the regiment’s 60mm mortars had been destroyed, and most of its radios had been knocked out.

All day long the regiment withstood heavy fire as supplies rapidly diminished. By nightfall, the isolated unit pulled back to its command post in a last-ditch stand to hold onto the ridge, hoping that reinforcements would arrive before the Japanese overran their positions. One relief force tried to reach the beleaguered men, but had to turn back before gaining the crest because of stiff Japanese resistance.

Fighting continued the next morning. When soldiers exhausted their supplies of grenades or bullets, they crawled to the bodies of fallen comrades to retrieve whatever ammunition they could find there. Some wounded men asked their buddies to prop them up and put a weapon in their hands so they could help fight, but by late afternoon only six reinforcements–one officer and five men–had been able to battle through the Japanese to reach the perimeter. Later that day a few more men arrived with fresh supplies, but the situation for the 307th looked bleak. Help finally arrived late on the third day, when men from the 306th Regiment punched a corridor through to the surrounded men. As each fresh soldier checked in, an exhausted GI from the 307th was able to leave his position and stumble down to rear areas for much-needed rest. The regiment paid dearly for Ishimmi Ridge. Of the 204 men who charged up on May 17, only 48 returned on May 20 without serious injury.

Francis was listed as Missing in Action. There is a hospital admission card from May 1945 that lists him KIA battle casualty, but a casualty list indicates he is ‘nonrecoverable’. He did not make it off the ridge.

He received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.