Eugene Harrell Barwick (Gene)

Conflicts & Campaigns

• Christmas eve, 1944. The SS Leopoldville, a Belgian passenger ship converted to a troop transport, sailed into the English Channel. Aboard were 2500 men of the 262nd and 264th Regiments of the 66th Infantry Division. Reinforcements for the Battle of the Bulge bound to Cherbourg, France from Southampton, England. Five miles from shore, the Leopoldville was struck by a torpedo from the German submarine U-486, commanded by Obit Gerhard Meyer. Several hundred troops were killed in the initial blast. Although the ship sank slowly, a combination of errors, delays, over-sites and communication problems eventually resulted in the death of several hundred more.

Significant Duty Stations

• Browning Automatic Rifleman, Company B 264th Infantry Regiment, 66 Infantry Division (The Black Panther Division)

Decorations & Citations

• Soldiers Medal; Bronze Star Medal; Purple Heart.

Notes

Gene graduated from Cairo High School in May of 1941 and was Class Valedictorian, achieving the second highest grade point average ever recorded as of that time. His Salutatorian was Ruth Webster Walker, who happened to be his girl. Played basketball, football(halfback and punted), Cairo High School. He also played and punted for the Mercer Bears football team. By 1943, Gene had completed over 2/3 of the curriculum required for admittance to a medical college. He was ranked in the top ten of his class. However the war was raging...The Army initiated a program called "Army Specialized Training Units" designed to allow students studying medicine and engineering to continue their educations, but in a military status. In June of 1943 Gene was inducted into the Army, enrolled in the University of Missouri and continued his studies as a member of the Enlisted Reserve Corps of the Army. When Mercer started a similar program Gene began the process of transferring to the Navy so he could return to Mercer. However, before this could happen, the Army canceled the program and ordered all students into active service. Gene was was assigned to the 66th Infantry Division. He became a Browning Automatic Rifleman with Company B 264th Infantry Regiment. Gene was stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama near his beloved Southwest Georgia sweetheart. Gene and Ruth were married May 5 1944 at Fort Rucker. Nov. 15 1944 Gene went to New York and was shipped to to England. On Christmas Eve of 1944.... Each Christmas Gene's family were reminded of his untimely death. His young bride eventually remarried and had two children. However on Christmas Eve, 20 years after Gene died, she took her own life. Leopold Disaster Memorial at Fort Benning, Ga. was dedicated November 7, 1997. All 763 names are engraved on the memorial. Honored: Tablets of the Missing, Normandy American Cemetery, St Laurent-Sur-Mer, France. Memorial Marker: Barnett Creek Cemetery, Thomas County, Ga.