Missing Lehigh Soldier Reported Dead in France
Lehigh—First reported missing in France since Feb. 16, Pfc. John William Linn was killed in action on that date, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Linn of Lehigh have been notified by war department telegram.
The 19-year-old soldier was serving with the infantry and had been overseas only three months.
Besides his parents, he is survived by five sisters, Mrs. Eva Shafer, Mrs. Ethel O’Hearn and Mrs. Marian Swanson, all of Lehigh, Mrs. Clair Doyle of Thompson and Mrs. Susan Engelbritsen of Reckon, Ill.
A graduate of Stratford High School with the class of 1943, Linn was employed by the Nissen Packing plant in Webster City before entering the armed forces in February, 1944.
He received training at Camp Fannin, Tex. and Camp Van Dorn, Miss. before going overseas in December. Johnny Bill was killed shortly after the Battle of the Bulge, in France. He was awarded a Purple Heart medal.
He is buried in the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial, Epinal, France. His parents had a marker placed on their lot in McGuire Bend Cemetery at Lehigh, Iowa.
Source: Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA - Mar. 20, 1945
John William Linn, Pfc. U.S. Army - MIA/KIA
John William ‘Johnny Bill’ Linn was born in 1925 to John and Lottie Echelberger Linn. He died Feb. 16, 1945 and is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial, Epinal, Departement des Voges, Lorraine, France. He has a cenotaph at the McGuire Bend Cemetery at Lehigh, IA.
Pfc. Linn served with the 255th Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division. He was first reported as missing in action (France) and then killed in action at the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.
Sources:
Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA
ancestry.com
World War II Memorial
World War II Honoree
