Lee F. McAllister
Private Lee F. McAllister of the 302nd infantry, the ninth division, should have received a Purple Heart; the medal bestowed upon those injured in war fighting for the United States. Lee F. McAllister's family last received a letter from Lee dated January 11th, 1945. Little did they know that Private McAllister would die shortly after on February 3rd, 1945 from wounds received in action. This tragic affair would enable him to obtain the Purple Heart. Sadly however, he was never to receive this medal personally in consequence of his death in the war.
Lee F. McAllister was born on November 13th, 1920 in Wisconsin. He lived most of his life in Wisconsin Rapids at the beginning of the Roaring Twenties. This was a time when people in the United States started to loosen up a bit more on traditional moral principles. People began to dress and dance in new styles. Lee, like many other young boys at the time, might have played a lot of baseball, a huge sport back then. 1920 was also the year that the 18th amendment on prohibition and the 19th amendment on women's voting rights went into effect. The Roaring Twenties, contrary to its name, was a relatively peaceful time in the U.S. However, things started to shake up when the Great Depression began and ended and World War II started.
Many young men that enlisted in the service to fight during World War II enlisted because they wanted a change of pace and they wanted to see the world. Lee F. McAllister definitely did get to see the world. Lee entered the army on November 18th, 1942. He was previously employed at Rued's Service Center or gas station in Wisconsin. He began his training at Camp Phillips in Kansas and ended it at Camp McCain in Mississippi. He went overseas to England in August 1944. Lee was later transferred to somewhere in the mainland of Europe. (The mainland of Europe is basically Europe excluding the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iceland.) We know that Private Lee F. McAllister eventually died from wounds received in action somewhere in Germany on February 3rd, 1945 at the young age of twenty-four.
What was going on in the world the year and day Private Lee F. McAllister died? On that specific day, February 3rd, 1945, the U.S. Sixth Army attacked the Japanese in the Philippines in the city of Manila. During that year, Germany and Japan surrendered to the Allied nations and the war was then over. Private McAllister came so close to living out the war, but instead he died for thousands of other people and their freedoms.
Private McAllister was just one of thousands of people who died during World War II fighting for the United States. Without him and without men and women like him, the turnout of the war would have probably been very different indeed. We remember the veterans of World War II and other wars because they risked their lives defending their nation and fighting for a common cause, freedom. We shall never forget what they did for their country...
Other Sources
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/pacificwar/timeline.htm
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~sebring/index.htm
Emily Nordin, Student
Marshfield Junior High
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