Diel James L.

Monuments

Easy Company Operation Market Garden Memorial -506th Parachute Infantry Regiment

Name:

James L. Diel

Rank:

Second Lieutenant

Serial Number:

O-887945

Unit:

506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

Date of Death:

1944-09-19

State:

Illinois

Cemetery:

Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Eijsden-Margraten Municipality, Limburg, Netherlands

Plot:

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Purple Heart

Comments:

James L. Diel was born on March 3, 1922, in Jasper County, Illinois. He was the son of James Rizley Diel and Nellie Edith Ebbert Diel. He graduated from Newton High School in 1940. He underwent military training at Jefferson Barracks before enlisting, quickly rising to Sergeant in Easy Company. After completing jump training at Fort Benning, he deployed to England in late 1943 for Operation Overlord preparations.

On June 6, 1944, he parachuted into Normandy during D-Day, surviving the intense battle and earning a promotion to 1st Sergeant. After returning to England on June 12, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and reassigned to Able Company. On September 19, 1944, during Operation Market Garden, he was killed in combat near Eindhoven due to the underestimated German resistance. He is now buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Eijsden-Margraten Municipality, Limburg, Netherlands. He also has a cenotaph in the Island Creek Cemetery, Island Grove, Jasper County, Illinois, USA.

Source of information: wikiofbrothers.fandom.com