PFC Eugene C. Roman

Today we honor and remember PFC Eugene C. Roman of the 101st Airborne Division

Source: Fields of Honor

Private First Class (PFC) Eugene C. Roman of HQ Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), was born in Tomhicken, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, to Paul and Rose M. (Bertie) Roman on June 6, 1924. Exactly twenty years before his jump on D-Day in Normandy!

He had one younger brother, Paul Roman.

Eugene attended the West Hazleton High School, a public high school located in Hazle Township, but dropped out after two years. He was a member of the Holy Trinity Slovak Roman Catholic Church in Hazleton.

Eugene registered for the draft on June 30, 1942, at Nanticoke, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and was unemployed at the time. He entered military service from Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania on August 10, 1942.

PVT Eugene Roman started his basic training in Camp Pickett, Virginia, located in the Piedmont region, which was a field training area for many WWII infantry divisions. He received additional training at Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky; Camp Wheeler, Georgia; Goldsboro, North Carolina; and Fort Benning, Georgia. He would be assigned to the 506th PIR and traveled overseas with the regiment in September 1943.

PVT Eugene Roman jumped into Normandy with the Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, on June 6, 1944. He would be awarded the Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) for his participation in the invasion of France.

The morning reports of HQ Co, 2nd Bn, have no entry of his promotion to Private First Class in the period after Normandy, but in the CIB list of June 1944, Eugene’s rank is still a buck Private.

PFC Roman made his second combat jump into the Netherlands on September 17, 1944. On October 8, while fighting the Germans at an area that was dubbed The Island, a piece of land in between two big rivers, he was killed in action in the vicinity of Randwijk. No information was found about the circumstances of his death.

Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅

PFC Eugene Roman died at the age of 20, on October 8, 1944. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal.

Source: Find a Grave, courtesy of Des Philippet.

After his initial internment in the temporary military cemetery of Molenhoek, near Nijmegen, the Netherlands, at Block G, Row 7, Grave 131, he was reburied at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, at Block G, Row 2, Grave 18, in the winter of 1949. May he rest in peace.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Eugene.

Lest we forget. 🇺🇸