CPL Donald B. Francis
CPL Donald B. Francis
Today we honor and remember CPL Donald B. Francis of the 101st Airborne Division.
Corporal Donald Berte Francis of George Company, 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, was born in Gates, Monroe County, New York, to Edward R. and Ida H. (Eccles) Francis on September 4, 1921.
Donald had seven brothers, Edward R., William C., Kenneth C., James, Robert E., Roy B., and John Francis. His father Edward passed away in 1928, after which his mother re-married with Frederick De Mallie in 1940.
Three of his brothers also served in combat during WWII.
Kenneth C. Francis served as a Private in the U.S. Army and Roy B. Francis was an engineer-gunner in a bomber of the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF). SSGT Roy Francis flew 50 missions over Germany, Austria, and Southern France, and was bestowed with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. Both brothers survived the war. Roy went on to serve as an instructor at Chanute Field, Illinois, after his return home.
William C. Francis served as a Private First Class (PFC) in the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, while Donald’s youngest brother John, enlisted in the USAAF in 1945 and served overseas in Europe as part of the “Marshall Plan Army.”
Donald attended Spencerport High School and after graduation he worked in the lumber industry. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in Rochester, New York on September 9, 1942. At the time of his enlistment, he was employed by the Crouch and Beahan Corporation, a lumber and millwork firm in Rochester. Donald would be assigned to George Company, 506th PIR.
CPL Don Francis jumped in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. After his jump he tried to reach the target area of his unit, two bridges located over the Douve River.
On the next day, June 7, a group of men he was with left their positions for the final advance to the bridges, but the men ran into a group of approximately 150 German paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger) who were trying to get back to their lines.
The enemy kept the U.S. paratroopers pinned down with gun and mortar fire on the forward slope of a hill. CPL Don Francis was lying on PFC Jim ‘Pee Wee’ Martin’s left side, up against his shoulder. In the dim light of the early morning, a German soldier probably saw the white painted ace on Don’s helmet and used that as an aiming point. He got hit in the right side of his forehead by a machine gun shell, which exited through his left forehead.
Don Francis never regained consciousness and died in 3rd Battalion’s aid station at Fortin Farm, Normandy, France, on June 7, 1944.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
Unfortunately his family experienced tragedy again that same year when his brother William was killed in action in the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge, Belgium, on December 19, 1944. Besides his wife Ruth, William left behind his children William C., Jr. (age 14), Harriet (age 12), Ronald (age 10), Carol (age 4), and Ida Mae Francis (age 2).
CPL Donald B. Francis died when he was just 22 years old. He was temporarily interred at the Blosville Cemetery, Carentan, at Block J, Row 2, Grave 30, and was later re-buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer, Basse-Normandie, France, where he was laid to rest in Block E, Row 17, Grave 18.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Donald.
Lest we forget. 🇺🇸
Sources
Family Search
The Democrat Journal, Rochester, New York; Friday, June 30, 1944
The Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York; Friday, March 2, 1945
Tonight We Die as Men, by Ian Gardner and Roger Day
Three of the Last WW2 Screaming Eagles, by LTC (R) Jos Groen