Everett Ezra Birkholz was born on May 9, 1924, in Colorado. He was the son of Benjamin Ezra Birkholz. He was married to Irène Baca Birkholz. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 6, 1942, shortly after his 18th birthday, and rose to the rank of Private First Class. Everett served with Company F, 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division, known as the Black Panthers, and trained extensively in the United States before deploying to England in late 1944. In December 1944, the 66th Infantry Division arrived in England and was quickly ordered to France as reinforcements during the Battle of the Bulge.

On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1944, more than 2,000 soldiers of the U.S. Army’s 66th Infantry Division were crossing the English Channel aboard the Belgian troopship SS Leopoldville, traveling from Southampton to Cherbourg, France. Only a few miles from port, the ship was torpedoed by the German submarine U-486. The blast and swift flooding plunged the ship into chaos amid freezing darkness, while rescue efforts were hampered by poor communication, a shortage of lifeboats, and confusion within the harbor. As a result of the disaster, 763 American soldiers were killed, and 493 were never recovered. Some perished trapped below deck, others drowned in the icy waters of the Channel, and several courageous officers and enlisted men lost their lives while trying to save their fellow soldiers.

PFC Birkholz was among the soldiers lost at sea, listed as Missing in Action, officially declared dead on December 25, 1944, and his remains were never recovered. His name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Département du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. He also has a cenotaph in the Fort Logan National Cemetery, Denver, City and County of Denver, Colorado, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, weremember.abmc.gov, au.forceswarrecords.com