Melvin E. Williamson, World War II CasualtyPorter County Data on World War II Casualties . . . .
Melvin E. Williamson
Private First Class, Company H, 262nd Infantry, 66th Division
Date of Birth: 1925
Date of Death: December 25, 1944
Cause of Death: Missing in Action
Date of Enlistment: February 8, 1944
Monument: Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer
Basse-Normandie, France
Awards: Purple Heart
Hometown: Valparaiso
Newspaper Notices:
3 Porter County Servicemen On Casualty Lists
Another Porter county man has lost his life on the western front and a second is
reported missing in action in the same theater of war. A third was reported
wounded.
These casualties were listed by the War Department in telegrams received
yesterday by relatives.
The dead soldier is Corporal Charles J. Yucus, 30, member of the U. S.
Engineers, and son of Mrs. Frances Yucus, Valparaiso RFD 2. He was reported in
Tuesday's Vidette-Messenger as missing in action in Germany since December 27.
Last night his mother received a message announcing he had been killed in
action.
The missing soldier is Pfc. Melvin E. Williamson, 19-year-old member of Company
H, 262nd Infantry, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Williamson, reside at 866
Kinsey street, Valparaiso. He was reported missing in the European area since
December 25, in a War Department message received.
Williamson attended Valparaiso high school and was inducted into the service by
the Porter county selective service board on February 8, 1944. After receiving
his army training at Camp Blanding, Fla., and Camp Rucker, Alabama, he went
overseas last November.
Prior to his induction on March 10, 1943, Corporal Yucus was employed at the
Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation in Gary. He received his basic training at
Camp Butler, N. C., with the Engineers of the 78th Division and was sent across
in April, 1944.
Besides his mother, Cpl. Yucus is survived by five sisters, Mrs. Ted Serynek,
and Mrs. Michael Evolga, Jr., of Gary; Mrs. D. E. Johnston, of Green Acres, and
Josephine and Marian Yucus, at home.
A Chesterton man, Sgt. Wallace Zehrung, son of Frank Zehrung, was wounded on
November 16, in France, his father was informed by the War Department.
Transferred from glider troops to the infantry in May when he went overseas, he
had been fighting with that outfit in France. He was hit by shrapnel, but has
recovered and is now back at the front.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana;
January 17, 1945; Volume 18, Page 1, Column 2
Return to
List of
Porter County World War II Casualties
Information abstracted and transcribed by Steven R. Shook