Gone for Soldiers: Davis Stevens Pearson (1919 - 1945), Soldier

Davis Pearson is a fifth cousin of mine--we are both descendants of Jesse Warren, Sr.* His father died when Davis was six years old and his mother married a second time when he was eleven. Military and census records state that Davis completed only one year of high school before he had to help his step-father on the farm.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army on October 22, 1940, and was killed in action on January 21, 1945. I found this blurry photo of him on Findagrave.com.

[Davis S. Pearson. Source: Findagrave.com Memorial ID 3113374;

photo added by Rhunae Helms Cross]

Here's his name on the Army's casualty list for Hancock County, Georgia:

[Page 23 WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualty List - Fold3]

From this newspaper article in the Atlanta Constitution we learn that he was probably buried originally in Belgium** and his body was shipped home to Georgia in 1947.

[26 Oct 1947, page 62 - The Atlanta Constitution at Newspapers.com]

All of this left me wanting to know where Davis died because it isn't stated in any of the above records. Fortunately his mother's application for his headstone him as belonging to Company M of the 23rd Infantry Regiment.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Microfilm publication M1916, 134 rolls. ARC ID: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92. National Archives at Washington, D.C.Applications for Headstones, compiled 01/01/1925 - 06/30/1970, documenting the period ca. 1776 - 1970 ARC: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.]

As part of the 23rd Infantry, here's what Davis experienced in the last eight months of his life beginning with the Normandy Invasion through his death during the Battle of the Bulge:

On 8 June, 1944, the Twenty Third Infantry landed on Omaha Beach with the first invasion forces. 

In slow, painful hedgerow fighting, the Regiment inched its way forward day after day against hard fighting enemy paratroop elements. St. Georges d'Elle, Hill 192 (which commanded St. Lo), St. Jean des Baisants, Etouvy, Vire, Truttemer le Grand and Tinchebray were scenes of bitter fighting up to August when the organized German resistance in Normandy collapsed. A short respite, the first one up to that time, was interrupted by an overnight motor march of 210 miles to Brest. From 21 August to 19 September the Regiment battled the 2nd German Paratroop Division which fanatically defended the surrounding hills and villages. Knowing that the fortress seaport, which housed German U-boats, was greatly needed by the Allies for the purpose of establishing supply routes into France, Hitler ordered the garrison to hold for at least 90 days. 

However, Brest, the scene of some of the most savage and bitter street fighting of the war, fell in 39 days. Formal capitulation of the Fortress to the 2nd Division occurred on 18 September, 1944. Its hard-driving leader, General Herman B. Ramcke, was captured the following day on the nearby Crozon Peninsula. 

Another rapid motor and train move of 720 miles on 30 September, 1944, saw the 23d Infantry crossing France and Belgium to new battle positions on the German border. Defensive positions were taken up along the Siegfried Line just north of Luxemburg.
The first ceremony of American troops on German soil was a 23d Infantry parade in November, south of St. Vith. Major General W.M. Robertson, Divisional Commander, presented decorations for heroism to officers and men of the Regiment. On 12 December, the Regiment moved 30 miles north to the vicinity of Sourbrodt, Belgium. 

The German break-through on 16 December found all three battalions of the 23d Infantry fighting savagely in the line. The failure of the enemy to accomplish a penetration in the division sector, despite repeated tank and strong infantry. attacks, upset the entire German plan of action to reach and cut off the vital supply nets at Liege. The Regiment stopped attack after bloody attack. 

This action was summed up by General Courtney Hodges, Commanding General of the 1st Army, who declared, "What the 2nd Division has done in the last four days will live forever in the history of the United States Army." 

During the period of 13 to 23 Jan. while attached to the First Division, the Regiment fought under the most severe climatic conditions. It spearheaded a drive that broke the determined enemy resistance in the vital Ondenval-Iveldingen Pass to clear the way for armored thrusts into St. Vith, Belgium. Sleet, rain and bitter cold froze the men's clothing to their bodies as they, struggled through waist-deep snow over rough terrain. The enemy forces, principally the 8th Regiment, 3rd Panzer Division, were decimated. So heavy were enemy losses in men and material that the 8th Regiment ceased to exist as a fighting force.***

Davis Pearson was one of the more than 19,000 American soldiers who died during the Battle of the Bulge. He's buried in Wisteria Cemetery in Union Point, Greene County, Georgia.


*Chapter and verse according to Ancestry.com

**Henri-Chappelle Cemetery in 1945:

***This information is taken from an official booklet printed after V-E day and sent home to soldiers' families as found on the website LoneSentry.com.



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