Name:
Benjamin Harold Wirtz
Rank:
Staff Sergeant
Serial Number:
35434827
Unit:
2nd Ranger Battalion
Date of Death:
1944-06-06
State:
West Virginia
Cemetery:
Athens Cemetery, Athens, Mercer County, West Virginia, USA
Plot:
Row:
Grave:
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Benjamin Harold Wirtz was born on August 17, 1917, in Athens, Mercer County, West Virginia. He was the son of Ben and Florence (nee Barber) Wirtz.
Benjamin had two years of high school, had a civil occupation as a semiskilled miner and mining machine operator, and was separated without dependents upon enlistment.
Benjamin entered military service in Huntington, West Virginia, on July 3, 1942. He served in Company D, 2nd Ranger Battalion, as a Staff Sergeant during World War II. He was Killed in Action on June 6, 1944, at the age of 26, at Pointe du Hoc, during the American assault on Omaha and Utah beaches in France. He has a cenotaph located in the Athens Cemetery, Athens, Mercer County, West Virginia, USA.