PFC William P. Rutland 20812451

PFC William “Bill” Pierce Rutland 20812451 US Army. He was born on June 21, 1915. He was the son of Redorick Pierce Rutland and Fannie Fladger Swint Rutland of Douglasville Texas and the brother of Franklin E Rutland KIA and James R. Rutland. Fannie Swint Rutland died when Bill was eight years old. His father’s second wife Eunice Lillian Bryan Rutland who married Redorick P Rutland in 1925 raised his three sons. William graduated from Douglasville High School. He served in the Texas National Guard. In October 1940 he was 5 foot 9 inches tall weighed 150 pounds had black Hair and Brown eyes. He was federalized on Nov 25, 1940 in Denison Texas when Company L 144th Infantry Regiment 36th Infantry Division was federalized. The 144th was removed from the 36th Infantry Division command on 1 February 1942 and assigned to GHQ as a separate regiment. The regiment moved to San Francisco, California, on 20 April 1942, and to Santa Rosa, California, on 7 May 1942 under the Western Defense Command. The regiment moved to Atlantic Beach, Florida 21 January 1943 for coastal patrol duty with the Eastern Defense Command. By July PFC William P. Rutland was serving in 3rd BN HQ Company 144th Infantry Regiment. He was then assigned to Camp Van Dorn. Mississippi on 23 March 1944. The 144th was reassigned to the XXI Corps on 18 April 1944. From March 1944, the regiment provided an accelerated six-week course of infantry training (four weeks of familiarization, qualification, and transition firing, and two weeks of tactical training) By July PFC William P. Rutland was serving in 3rd BN HQ Company 144th Infantry Regiment at Camp. By December 1944 he was served in the Pacific Finschafen New Guinea in HQ Det Base F USASOS and HQ Company 22nd Port. He was discharged in 1945. He died at his home on Friday afternoon Feb 4, 1949 of a hart attack at the age of 33.

 

1- Men and women in the Armed Forces from Cass County Texas

2- https://aad.archives.gov/aad/display-partial-records.jsp?s=3360&dt=893&tf=F&bc=sl%2Csd&q=20812451&btnSearch=Search&as_alq=&as_anq=&as_epq=&as_woq=

3- Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903-1982

4- The Marshall News Messenger Marshall, Texas · Sunday, February 06, 1949