Name:
Jake L. Wertich
Rank:
First Lieutenant
Serial Number:
O1304472
Unit:
80th Airborne Anti Aircraft Battalion
Date of Death:
1945-01-08
State:
Missouri
Cemetery:
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Belgium
Plot:
C
Row:
9
Grave:
4
Decoration:
Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart
Comments:
Jake L. Wertich was born in 1915 in St. Louis County, Missouri. He enlisted in the United States Army on January 31, 1941. Lt. Wertich was killed when he refused to retreat from a hill above Trois-Ponts, Belgium, and continued to man his gun in the face of a German advance. He was killed on December 21, 1944, but his body was not recovered until January 8, 1945.