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Bird Howard Gray

Name:
Howard Gray Bird
Rank:
Private
Serial Number:
37502077
Unit:
3206th Quartermaster Service Company
Date of Death:
1944-04-28
State:
Kansas
Cemetery:
Cambridge American Cemetery, United Kingdom
Plot:
Tablets of the Missing
Row:
Grave:
Decoration:
Purple Heart
Comments:

Howard Gray Bird was born on September 26, 1915. He was the son of Chester G. Bird and Bertie I. Gray Bird. Howard entered the military service in Kansas and served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a Private in the 3206th Quartermaster Service Company. He was killed during the Exercise Tiger--one of the large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. This took place in April 1944 in Slapton Sands, Devon in the UK. An Allied naval convoy involved in the exercise was attacked by German submarines, and coordination and communication problems resulted in friendly fire deaths. At least 749 American servicemen were killed. Because of the impending invasion of Normandy, the incident was highly classified and the full story did not come out until years later after the war. He was declared "Missing in Action" on April 28, 1944 and is commemorated on Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. He also has a cenotaph located in Greenlawn Cemetery, Pratt, Pratt County, Kansas, USA.