29Aug1918 – 8Mar1943
Edison Days
Robert withdrew from Edison in 1939. These are the only 2 potential pictures of Robert that were found in the Wizard yearbook.
Military Service
Rank: Private First Class
Branch: United States Army
Unit: 175th Field Artillery Battalion – 34th Infantry Division
Robert enlisted in the Minnesota National Guard on 10Feb1941, likely with the 151st Field Artillery Battalion based in Minneapolis. Robert and the 34th Infantry Divion went to Louisiana from April 1941 to January 1942. Also in January 1942, the 151st Field Artillery Battalion was split into 2 battalions. The 151st, and a new 175th Field Artillery Battalion. Robert was assigned to the 175th. From Louisiana, their next stop was Belfast, Northern Ireland. The entire division was in Ireland by early May 1942. After 6 months of additional training, Robert and the rest of the unit boarded ships to North Africa to participate in Operation Torch, the Allied Invasion of North Africa, and our first combat with Nazi Germany.
The 175th Field Artillery Battalion entered combat on 19Nov1942 at Medjez-El-Bab, Tunisia, and they are credited as the first American unit to fire artillery at the Germans in World War 2.
The 34th Infantry Division participated in several major engagements in North Africa in the following months including Sened Station, Sidi Bou Zid, Faid Pass, Sbeitla, the Fondouk Gap, and the Kasserine Pass. Robert was likely to have participated in all of these actions.
On 8Mar 1943 Robert was fatally injured in an accidental explosion.
Initially buried in a temporary cemetery in North Africa, in 1960 Robert was re-interred at the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthage, Tunisia. Robert is the only Tommie among the 2,841 Americans who are buried there.
Edison Heroes 