SGT Carl R. Snyder
Sergeant (SGT) Carl R. Snyder of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR), was born in Barberton, Summit County, Ohio, to Earl L. and Emma M. (Pitz) Snyder on March 3, 1914. He was their youngest child. Carl had two brothers, Russell L. and Donald T., and two sisters, Ida M. and Bernice L. Snyder.
Carl enlisted in the U.S. Army at Ft Benjamin Harrison, Lawrence Township, Marion County, Indiana, on March 18, 1942, and was assigned to the 327th.
SGT Snyder was not sent into Normandy by air as there were not enough planes available to tow all the glider troops to France. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 327th landed on Utah Beach with the seaborne elements of the 101st Airborne Division on D-Day. By the night of D+1, both battalions were completely assembled at St. Marie du Mont, ready for combat.
The 327th GIR participated in the attack on Carentan, commencing the advance on the town on June 10. After the 101st Airborne units took the city, the Germans tried to regain the lost ground with several unsuccessful counterattacks.
The last real combat actions of the Screaming Eagles in Normandy took place on June 16th and 17th, but that did not mean all the fighting had ended. For the next two weeks, the 101st units continued to hold their defensive positions south and southwest of Carentan. Both sides were very active with patrolling, which meant there were still daily skirmishes, in addition to the intermittent artillery and mortar fire on the frontline positions.
All the ongoing warfare meant the units suffered casualties every day, and SGT Snyder was killed in action defending the Carentan frontline on June 18, 1944.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
SGT Carl Snyder died at the age of 30. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal. After his initial burial in the temporary Military Cemetery of St.-Mère-Église #1, France, at Plot I, Row 8, 148, he was reburied at Lakewood Cemetery, Akron, Summit County, Ohio, in the spring of 1948. May he rest in peace.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Carl.
Lest we forget! 🇺🇸
The sources used for this article are known to the author and available on request.