AUSTIN MELVIN SCHULTZ

* Friday, May 31, 1912 † Sunday 26 November 1944.

Serial Number: 36682130
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Unit: 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion, Company C
Buried: USMC Henri Chapelle, Belgium. Plot B,Row 3,Grave 40.
Date of Burial: 22 Jun 1948
Austin Melvin Schultz was born on Friday, May 31, 1912, in Rock Falls, Illinois. He was the second child born to German immigrant father, August Schultz (1886 – 1945) and US born mother, Mildred Shierry Schultz (1891 – 1964).

In early 1943 Austin received his draft notice. Austin was 30 years old and married. He married Eleanor Morse (1913 – 1998).

Summary of Austin's Service History:
• July 1943 – entry into service, drafted, Camp Rucker, Alabama
• September 1943 – promoted to Corporal
• November 1943 – promoted to Sergeant
• March 1944 – left US for Europe aboard the HMT Queen Elizabeth
• April 1944 – arrived Tiverton, Devon County, England
• June 1944 – D-Day – landed Utah Beach in support of 8th Infantry, 3rd Battalion
• July 1944 – promoted to Staff Sergeant
• September 1944 – arrived Hürtgen Forest, Germany (vicinity)
November 1944 – KIA – vehicle hit land mine

Austin would spend the last weeks of his life in the Hürtgen Forest area of Germany.
Austin was killed by a land mine on November 26, 1944, during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest (location of death was 2 miles east of Schevenhütte(Stolberg),Germany).
At the time of his death Austin's body was identified and tagged at the 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry Aid Station. However, the EMT paperwork accompanying his body was either partly destroyed or was not legible , causing Austin to be marked as unidentified "X-138" and placed in a temporary grave. His temporary grave was remarked in January 1945 after his remains were identified through fingerprints, dental records, and body markings. He was buried in his permanent grave at Henri Chapelle in June 1948. He was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.
He is lovingly remembered by those who knew him and his family.

Text: courtesy of his nephew John Amicucci.