William Peters

11Nov1924 – 10Nov1945

Edison Days

William graduated with the Class of June 1943. He was involved with Hi-Y.

Military Service

Rank: Sergeant

Branch: United States Army

Unit: A Troop – 18th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron – 14th Cavalry Group

Wiliam was inducted into the Army in June 1943, right after graduating from Edison. It is unknown where he attended basic training.

It is likely that William joined his unit soon after basic training.

After nearly 1 year of training in the US, the 18th arrived in England on 5Sep1944. On 30Sep1944 they crossed the English Channel, landing at Omaha Beach. 19 days later they were in Belgium stationed near the Losheim Gap near the German Siefried Line.

During late October through November 1944, the squadron conducted active patrols, maintained defensive positions, and performed reconnaissance in this sector. This was a period of relative stalemate along much of the front, with the unit engaged in outpost duties, patrolling to monitor German activity, and preparing defensive positions.

On 16December1944, the Germans launched the Ardennes Offensive (the Battle of the Bulge).

The following excerpt is from a history of A Troop.

Ed Wrench echoed a similar narrative, the attack on December 16 started at 5:20 am by
my watch. It started with a bombardment, as far as I know no one was killed by that
bombardment. I believe that the shells that they were firing were armor piercing instead of high explosive. The shelling was followed by a group of at least three armored vehicles; there is some contention between historians as to whether they were tanks or mobile artillery. We had two 76mm anti tank guns from the 106th Division that had come into the position within the last week. I have no first hand knowledge but I understand that both of them were knocked out during the first attack from the tanks. When I first saw the tanks I was in a house in the backside of Roth and somebody yelled that the outfit was pulling out and that the tanks were lining up on the road. I went up on the top floor and looked out and saw three of these German armored vehicles on the road, having bypassed the town. After they pulled out it was very quiet for most of the day. You could see German troops moving on either side of the town out along the horizon and there was quite a bit of sniping from our people in Roth but there were no massive attacks on the troops themselves. I understand that there was an order given to try and pull out and that the Captain Porche sent a patrol or possibly more than that to reconnoiter the road back to the west. The attempt was not successful and some of the group was captured and at least one man named Peters from Minneapolis was wounded in that attempt.

William was wounded and captured by the Germans in the first hours of the Battle of the Bulge.

William would remain a POW until he was liberated by Allied forces on 16Apr1945.

In June 1945 William arrived at Gardiner Hospital in Chicago, Illinois for treatment of his injuries. On 10November1945 he died of pulmonary tuberculosis. He likely contracted the disease while a prisoner of war.

William’s body was returned home for burial.

William is buried at Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.