Ailey, Burl William – ww2 Europe

Rank and Name, Private Burl William Ailey.

Unit/Placed in, 262^nd Infantry Regiment (E-Comp, 3^rd Bn), 66^th Infantry Division “Black Panther”.

Burl is born on Feb. 28, 1926 in Tennessee.

Father, James F. Ailey.

Mother, Mamie L. (Colette) Ailey.

Sister(s), Garnetta , Viola, Cornelia, Grace and Anna Ailey.

Brother(s),J. F. and L. D. Ailey .

Burl enlisted the service in Tennessee with service number # 34989179.

Burl was MIA onboard the SS Leopoldville, while going from Southampton to Cherbourg Landing, when it suddenly was Torpedoed by the German U-486 on Dec 24, 1944, he is honored with a Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, WW II Victory Medal.

BurI buried/mentioned at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France.

He also has a Memorial Grave at Mount Pleasant United, Methodist Church Cemetery, Talbott, Jefferson County, Tennessee, USA.

Thanks to, http://www.66thinfantrydivision.org/leopoldville.html

https://wwiiregistry.abmc.gov/honoree-plaque/?honoree_id=2657570

https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?13287

https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/3399.html

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G91B-QDH

Jean Louis Vijgen, ww2-Pacific.com ww2-europe.com

Air Force Info, Rolland Swank.

ABMC Website, https://abmc.gov

Marines Info, https://missingmarines.com/ Geoffrey Roecker

Seabees History Bob Smith https://seabeehf.org/