William Washington Downs, Jr.

Conflicts & Campaigns

• European Theater of Operations August 7, 1942 - May 13, 1945
• French Morocco; Tunisia; Sicily (Invasion); Italy; Normandy (June 6, 1944, Invasion); Northern France; Rhineland; Belgium

Significant Duty Stations

• Inducted; Fort McRee, Fort Barrancas, Florida. Company C, 16th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 1st Division

Decorations & Citations

• World War II Victory Medal; European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with eight battle stars; Bronze Star; Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster and Prisoner of War Medal

Notes

US Army serial number 07-800-61. From the Cairo Messenger: Captured twice by the enemy only to escape shortly afterward. Wounded twice. Sgt Downs is a veteran of eight major campaigns. First captured by the Germans June 30, 1943, during the Tunisian campaign. He survived when the ship which was transporting him to Germany was sunk by a US dive bomber. Shortly after, he was rescued by Allied Forces. Returning to his unit in North Africa, Sgt Downs was in the first assault wave during the Invasion of Sicily. When the Mediterranean Campaign was in its last stages. Sgt Downs was moved to England for the Normandy Invasion. There he was again in one of the first assault waves. Only Sgt Downs and three others were all that was left from a company of 190 men. Shortly after an assault on the Siegfried line he was wounded and again taken prisoner by German forces. Because he was wounded and unable to walk, the Germans abandoned him when they were forced to retreat. Treated in a field hospital and flown to England for recovery he was soon returned to his old unit in Belgium, where shortly after his return he was again wounded. Murdered by Talmadge Miller with a 22 caliber rife. Miller was provoked because Downs had crossed his property while bird hunting. Employed by Sunnyland Packing Company, Thomasville, Georgia, at time of death. Born in Grady County, Georgia. Permanent mailing address: RFD Rt. 2, Cairo, Georgia. Burial; Tired Creek Methodist Church Cemetery, Grady County, Georgia.