PVT John Mitchell Holt 1923-1944 (left photos), Killed in Action December 10th 1944 in Mertzwiller France, buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold France.
He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live, and grow, and increase its blessings. Freedom lives and through it, he lives - in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men.
I'm researching my uncle John Mitchell "Red" Holt who was in the 36th, company H. I don't have his military records but I have a decent collection of letters he wrote home.
John joined the 36th when he was 20 years old, after the North Africa landing but before the invasion of Sicily. He did four amphibious landings: Sicily, Salerno, Mairoi, and Anzio. He wrote a short poem about those experiences that was published in a local paper. He described his duties as "among hundreds of other things our duties are to remove enemy mines and booby traps and when necessary put out a few of our own, build bridges and blow up bridges, make tank traps, fix roads, and fight as infantrymen when we are needed. We also do demolition work behind enemy lines at times." While serving in Italy in early 1944 he got trenchfoot and frostbite in the wet and cold winter conditions, and spent some time in a military hospital in March 1944. After rejoining the unit he participated in the invasion of southern France.
On December 10th 1944 the 325th was going to install a bridge in a town called Mertzwiller on the French border with Germany, they were ambushed and shelled with mortars before daylight. There were no infantry units to support so H company of the 36th was sent in to support. They were moving through the town in a double column and a mortar hit a building above the unit and killed John and several others and injured their LT. There were 8 total KIA that day and they took them to the cemetery in nearby Hochfelder where they buried them about 5 pm the same day. John was later re-interred in St. Avold Cemetery. This information was from an "after action report" letter that his brother Francis Holt wrote after interviewing people from his company in late 1945. He spoke with Paul and Russel Carrell, brothers out of Pikeville, KY, who were with the unit through the whole war. Also Page Willever of Morris Plains, NJ; John Grabbel of Pittsburg PA; Manual Castillo from Texas.
I'd be glad to hear from anybody with information about the 36th or who has record of John. I am busy getting what I have scanned and cleaned up to post.
