PVT Robert I. Haseltine Jr.

Today, we honor and remember PVT Robert I. Haseltine Jr. of the 101st Airborne Division.

Private (PVT) Robert Ingersoll Haseltine Jr. of the Medical Detachment, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Robert I. and Anna C. (Lewis) Haseltine on May 3, 1915. He had three sisters: Marjory (Haseltine) Benedict, Ann (Haseltine) Benedict, and Marion (Haseltine) Grace. Their mother, Anna Haseltine, passed away on September 12, 1933, after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.

Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army in Fort Devens, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on February 6, 1942. He volunteered for paratroop duty, received his wings in June 1942, and was assigned to the Medical Detachment of the 502nd. Shortly before he traveled overseas in September 1943, he married Alice May Smith in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on July 27, 1943.

PVT Haseltine Jr. jumped into Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and was assigned to Dog Company as a medic. Soon after, he was with a patrol that came across two seriously wounded American troopers. Haseltine decided to stay with them to tend to their wounds.

When the Dog Company patrol returned, they found Robert and the two other wounded men dead. Based on their wounds, the Germans must have found the three troopers and executed them without mercy (source: Mark Bando). War is hell!

Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅

According to the Morning Reports, PVT Robert Haseltine Jr. was seriously wounded on June 6 and died of his wounds on June 8, at the age of 29. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal. After his initial internment in Normandy in a temporary military cemetery, he was reburied and laid to rest in Fairmont Cemetery, Moretown, Washington County, Vermont, after his body had returned home in June 1952. May he rest in peace.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Robert.

Lest we forget. 🇺🇸

Source: Find a Grave, Robert Haseltine Jr.