Hitztaler Anthony J.

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Anthony J. Hitztaler is honored on the following 1 monument(s) in our database:

H�mevez 7 American Parachutist Monument -82nd Airborne Division

Name:

Anthony J. Hitztaler

Rank:

Private First Class

Serial Number:

33267488

Unit:

507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne

Date of Death:

1944-06-06

State:

Pennsylvania

Cemetery:

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France

Plot:

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Purple Heart

Comments:

Anthony J. Hitztaler was born on January 15, 1917, in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. He served in the Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, as a Private during World War II.

On June 6, 1944, Pvt Hitztaler, one of the paratroopers from the 507 PIR jumped from C47 #42-92382 far from their intended drop zone following a brief firefight by a German convoy and was taken prisoner by the Germans. Pvt Hitztaler with six other captured paratroopers were interrogated and then taken back to a wooded area where they were executed by the Germans. They were shot in the back of the head and buried in a hastily dug pit. Local villagers exhumed their bodies and reburied them in the communal cemetery of H�mevez. Pvt Hitztaler is now buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. He was posthumously awarded the Prisoner Of War Medal, and the Purple Heart in recognition of his bravery and sacrifice.