PFC Donald B. VanLaningham

Today we honor and remember PFC Donald B. VanLaningham of the 101st Airborne Division.

Courtesy of Judy Cahoon Egan

Private First Class (PFC) Donald Burnell VanLaningham of the 426th Quartermaster Company, 101st Airborne Division, was born in Mattoon, Coles County, Illinois, to Leon B. and Florence M. (Waters) VanLaningham on June 13, 1915. He had two brothers, George L. and Fred VanLaningham. Fred was an Aviation Machinist Mate, serving with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during WWII. At the time of Donald’s death, George was an aviation cadet at the Ottumwa Naval Air Station, Iowa.

Donald VanLaningham attended Mattoon Public Schools. He served for two years as Master of Boy Scout Troop 57 in his hometown. After graduation, he was employed by the Kuehne Manufacturing Company for several years. KMC produced and manufactured wood furniture, including bedroom and dining sets, at its plant in Mattoon. Donald was later employed by a gun factory in San Francisco for six months, prior to his entering the service.

He married Opal Perry of Charleston, Illinois, on Friday, March 22, 1935. They must have divorced sometime in the thirties, as the 1940 Census and his enlistment record of 1942 listed him as single.

Donald VanLaningham signed up for the draft in his hometown on October 16, 1940. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in Chicago, Illinois, on March 19, 1942. He was stationed at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and was assigned as a medic to the 426th. He sailed overseas to England with the Quartermaster Company when he boarded the SS Strathnaver on September 4, 1943.

After additional training in England, the troopers of the 426th Quartermaster Company were divided into two seaborne landing detachments to reach the shores of Normandy on D-Day +1 and D-Day +3.

The 326th Airborne Medical Company had established its hospital and command post in the Château Colombières, near Hiesville, on June 6. Just before midnight on D+3, German planes dropped three bombs on this makeshift hospital, killing eleven, including six troopers of the Medical Company, and wounding fifteen. PFC Donald VanLaningham’s Hospital Admission Card states he died from the blast effects of an aerial bomb on June 9, which makes it highly likely he died from the German attack at the Château Colombières.

PFC Donald VanLaningham’s Hospital Admission Card states he died from the blast effects of an aerial bomb on June 9, which makes it highly likely he died from the German attack at the Château Colombières.

Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅

PFC Donald VanLaningham died at the age of 28, on June 9, 1944, four days shy of his 29th birthday. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal.

Donald was first buried at the temporary military cemetery of Blosville, Normandy, at Plot I, Row 10, Grave 186. His body returned to the U.S. aboard the transport ship John L. McCarley, and his remains arrived in Mattoon on Thursday, May 6, 1948. He was reburied on Sunday, May 9, and rests eternally at Dodge Grove Cemetery in his hometown. May he rest in peace.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Donald.

Lest we forget. 🇺🇸