PVT Leslie B. Nussbaum
Source: Find a Grave
Private (PVT) Leslie Blake Nussbaum of Item Company, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division, was born in Dalton, Wayne County, Ohio, to Christian C. and Elizabeth (Schumacher) Nussbaum on March 6, 1921. He had six brothers, Gillis H., Loris L., Wilfred R., Eldon J., Robert D., and Harley W. Nussbaum, and four sisters, Bernice, Alice E., Ada M., and Alma M. Nussbaum.
Three of his brothers also served in the military. Harley served as a Seaman First Class in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during WWII. Robert served as a private with Co. F of the 36th Engineer Regiment in March 1944 at Anzio, Italy, and later in Southern France, as a participant in Operation Dragoon (August – September 1944). Eldon was inducted at Fort Hayes on November 27, 1943, and served as a Technician Fifth Grade in the U.S. Army, receiving training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, in the fall of 1944.
Leslie attended Dalton High School before working at Union Drawn Steel Company, a prominent manufacturer of cold-finished steel bars in Massillon, Ohio, and at Eaton Manufacturing Company, where he had worked for one year as a wire drawer in plant no. 2 of the company before his induction.
On Saturday, January 15, 1938, Leslie experienced a car collision close to his hometown, in which no one was injured. Three years later, on Monday, January 13, 1941, he hit a pedestrian at an intersection in Dalton, Ohio, but it was cited as a minor incident. Then on Saturday, March 21, 1942, he caused an accident in which his car tore up about 100 feet of guardrail by driving too fast. A local judge finally revoked his driver’s license for one year and fined him $25 for repairs. Apparently, he was not meant to drive!
Leslie signed up for the draft in Orville, Wayne County, Ohio, on February 14, 1942. He enlisted at Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio, on July 13, 1942, and received his basic training at Camp Forrest, Tennessee. He was also instructed in ranger tactics before joining the paratroops in May 1943.
Leslie sustained a broken ankle during jump training at the Paratrooper School, but after his recovery, he successfully completed his parachute training in September 1943 with Co. F of the 1st Parachute Training Regiment at Ft Benning, Georgia. Leslie was then transferred to Baker Company, 515th PIR on September 20, 1943. On October 13, 1943, he arrived by train in Camp Shanks, New York, awaiting his transportation by ship to England.
On November 8, 1943, PVT Leslie Nussbaum was assigned to the Regimental HQ Company, 502nd PIR, from the 10th Replacement Depot, but was then transferred to Item Company one month later, on December 7th.
PVT Nussbaum made his first combat jump on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and according to the company’s morning report, he was lightly injured in one of his legs that day. His wounds must have been more than serious, as he was evacuated to the 76th General Hospital, and then to the 4177th U.S. Army Hospital in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, for further treatment.
He returned to Item Company on August 4, 1944, and made his second combat jump into the Netherlands on September 17 for Operation Market Garden.
PVT Nussbaum landed at 13.35 hrs with the other Item Company paratroopers at the drop zone close to the Dutch town Best, encountering hardly any ground resistance. Item Company reported little skirmishes with the enemy on September 18, and was involved in an attack at the Wilhelmina Canal, supported by British armor the next day. During the combat actions of that day, PVT Nussbaum was killed in action, caused by a fatal head wound.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
The temporary military cemetery of Son, with PVT Nussbaum’s grave in the second row. Source: www.europeremembers.com
PVT Leslie Nussbaum died at the age of 23 in the Netherlands on September 19, 1944. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal with an Oak Leaf Cluster. Leslie was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of Son, the Netherlands, at plot A, Row 3, Grave 50. He was disinterred on June 14, 1948, and moved by rail from the American Cemetery at Margraten, the Netherlands, to the port of Antwerp, Belgium, where his casket was placed on the USAT Barney Kirschbaum on December 7, 1948. After arriving in New York Harbor, he was transported by train to Orrville, Ohio, on Wednesday, January 26, 1949. He was reburied three days after returning home. PVT Leslie Nussbaum rests eternally at the Dalton Cemetery of Wayne County, Ohio.
May he rest in peace.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Leslie.
Lest we forget. 🇺🇸
Sources:
Family Search
IDPF
NARA