Name:
John E. Shields
Rank:
Corporal
Serial Number:
32233576
Unit:
3rd Armored Division
Date of Death:
1944-12-21
State:
New York
Cemetery:
East Ripley Cemetary, Ripley, New York.
Plot:
Row:
Grave:
37306313
Decoration:
Purple Heart
Comments:
Cpl Shields was killed in Soy, Belgium on Dec. 21, 1944, in the Battle of the Bulge. He was declared missing in action for four years, having been buried under a German tank. A farmer walking in his field with his 17-year-old son caught the glint of a dog tag, pushed to the surface over the years, and they uncovered his remains. John, known as Ep to his family, finally was buried in his hometown of Ripley, N.Y., thanks to the Lambert family in Soy. A postscript to this story: the 17-year-old, Florent Lambert, years later etched the face of Ep on granite, unveiled in a memorial ceremony 50 years later in Erezee Belgium. www.36air-ad.com