Hal Fitzgerald Crain was born on September 12, 1918, in New York. He was the son of Emma Cornelia “Lily” Best and Harold Davidson Crain. He was married to Evelyne Gottschalk. He was a West Point Military Academy graduate in the January 1943 class. He served in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division, as a Captain during World War II. 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.

Cpt Crain 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.

Soldier's Medal Citation:
(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Soldier’s Medal to Captain (Infantry) Hal Fitzgerald Crain (ASN: 0-13284), United States Army, for heroism at the risk of life not involving conflict with an armed enemy as Commanding Officer, Company F, 2d Battalion, 262d Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division, following the sinking of the LEOPOLDVILLE on 24 December 1944. Captain Crain knelt at the top of a ladder, pulling soldiers up onto the deck. As he did so, he asked each man if he had seen anyone from Company F. When no more soldiers emerged, Captain Crain headed down the ladder without any hesitation to the compartments below in search of his men, probing Compartment E-4 without success. Struggling against the oily water in the deep darkness of the demolished blocks, Captain Crain saved man after man, plunging into the flooded compartments. He was later observed on a ladder, this time with water up to his chest and with waves breaking over his head. Captain Crain gave his own life jacket to another and saved many men from the sinking ship from death, and in so doing, lost his own life.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.fold3.com, weremember.abmc.gov, valor.militarytimes.com