RONALD FRANCIS O’DONNELL
b. May 7m, 1924 Perth, Canada d. Nov 28,
1944 Killed in Action Vosges, France
Pfc 36591722 Army
25th Tank Bn 14th Armored Div
Buried Epinal American Cemetery, France
Parents: Charles Thomas & Mabel M.
(McKerracher)
Sibling: John H.
Another family from Canada. They crossed into
Detroit 1929, but their father Charles had been her earlier. They moved into
the Brightmoor area, two different houses; both have been torn down. Charles
was a stenciler at a refrigerator factory. Mabel died Sept 1940 of chronic
nephritis.
When Ronald attended school he also was a news
peddler. I still remember home delivery of the newspaper by a neighborhood kid.
When he registered on June 30, 1942 he worked for Ford Motor Co. He had blue
eyes and brown hair, stood 5’7” at 135 lbs.
 |
| 25th Tank Bn at Epfig |
His unit entered combat in Nov. 1944 and the
division’s first task was a drive through the Vosges Mountains, considered one
of the most difficult enterprises facing a modern army. The division breached
the Vosges defenses, poured into the Alsatian Plain, took Haguenau, Wissembourg
and knifed into Germany.
Ronald received the Purple Heart.
This website had before and after scenes in the
battle area of France: http://www.materielsterrestres39-45.fr/fr/index.php/guerre-terrestre-france/140-vosges-lorraine/689-les-rouges-eaux
For
an excellent history of the 25th Tank Battalion see: http://www.14thad.org/25thTB/index.cfm
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