PFC Robert Roy Blankenship

After taking Noville, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment was ordered to move further up the road to Houffalize on January 16, 1945, to capture the small town of Rachamps. The attack was supported by Combat Command B of the 11th Armored Division.

Overrunning the village, the 1st and 3rd Battalions continued east across the Houffalize highway. 3rd Battalion halted in the Neuf Moulin area, while 1st Battalion took a position on the high ground between the 3rd and 2nd Battalions in Rachamps.

The 506th PIR losses for the day amounted to 49 casualties, including nine enlisted men killed in action. One of these men was PFC Robert Roy Blankenship of Dog Company, 2nd Battalion.

SGT Louis Truax of Dog Company witnessed from his position the German tanks and infantry going up a hill behind Rachamps. He also heard the incoming German 88mm shells landing behind him.

“Some of them must have killed Blankenship and Sherbon,” he stated.

Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅

Born in Boggs, Webster County, West Virginia, on June 27, 1924, PFC Blankenship died at the age of 20 on January 16, 1945. He left behind his wife, Katherine L. (Ellis) Blankenship, his mother, Mrs. Viola (Steel) Blankenship, two brothers, and seven sisters. His father, Willis J. Blankenship, had passed away on March 15, 1935.

PFC Robert Blankenship was first buried in the Temporary American Military Cemetery, Grand Failly, France, at Section I, Row 8, Grave 198. He now rests eternally at the American War Cemetery in Luxembourg, at Plot G, Row 12, Grave 7. PFC Blankenship was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal.

Lest we forget! 🇺🇸