1st lieutenant Louis E. Raffety O-1320181
1st lieutenant Louis E. Raffety 0-1320181 officer,(20739938 enlisted service number) was the son of Mrs. Hazel Raffety Lemons and the husband of Mrs. Alice Campbell Raffety of Pine Bluff ARKANSAS. He was born in Pine Bluff ARKANSAS on May 12, 1921. He attended Pine Bluff High School and was a student there and caretaker of the National Guard Armory until entering military service with the National Guard on December 23, 1940, at the age of 19. He received his basic training at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, and then saw service with his unit in Alaska. Returning to this country, he entered the Officer’s Candidate School OCS at Fort Benning, Georgia, as a master sergeant February 23, 1943, and was commissioned a second lieutenant May 26, 1943, at the age of 22. Appointed instructor in the Officer’s Candidate School, he transferred to the Parachute Troops in August, 1943, and attended the Airborne School. After graduating from this school, he was sent to Rigging and Maintenance School and then to Camp McCall, North Carolina, for rigorous overseas training. Lieutenant Raffety arrived in Northern Ireland in February, 1944, and later was moved to England in preparation for the invasion of France. Assigned to the 501st parachute infantry regiment, 101st Airborne Division, he was one of the first paratroopers to land on French soil, as well as the battle for Sherbourg. He later returned to England for a rest period and on September 17, 1944, participated in the invasion of Holland, serving at the Battle of Eindhoven which was the initial dropping zone for the 101st Airborne Division. He was wounded by shrapnel in the legs September 22 at Eindhoven and was killed in action in this battle September 30, 1944, at the age of 23. He is buried in the Airborne Cemetery in Zon, Holland, in the vicinity of Eindhoven, where so many of our paratroopers fell. Lieutenant Raffety was Awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Ribbon, European Theater Ribbon (ETO), Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon (PTO), American Theater Ribbon, Presidential Unit Citation for the Normandy invasion and the Purple Heart Medal (PHM), Combat Infantryman Badge the World War Two Victory Medal. He was also qualified as a sharpshooter with the rifle, B.A.R. and pistol. Lieutenant Raffety is survived by his wife and daughter.
Source:
1- Fighting men of Arkansas – The Arkansas Historical Institute – 1946
3- His Gravestone