Sources: American Battle Monuments Commission – Theodore Michael McDonald American Battle Monuments Commission – Rhone American Cemetery Findagrave

Name: Theodore Michael McDonald Rank: Private Service Number: (36201028), 36246219 Service: 1st Special Service Force, US Army Awards: Bronze Star, Purple Heart with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters Date of Birth: March 24, 1916 Place of Birth: Ingonish, Victoria Co., Cape Breton, NS Date of Enlistment: September 27, 1941 Place of Enlistment: Scott Field, Illinois Age at Enlistment: 26 Address at Enlistment: La Crosse, Wisconsin Occupation: Actor, Carpenter’s apprentice Height: 5 feet, 7 ½ inches Complexion: Light Hair Color: Blond Eye Color: Blue Date of Death: September 9, 1944 Age: 28 Cemetery: Rhone American Cemetery, Draguignan, France Grave: Tablets of the Missing Theodore Michael McDonald was the son of John James McDonald (1881–1956) and Rosalie ‘Rose’ (Karpinski) McDonald (1889–1980). His mother was born in Wisconsin; his father in Ingonish, NS. Theodore had three sisters, Virginia Elizabeth (1912–2002), Vivian Rose (1914–1986), and Pauline Eleanor (1919–1994). Theodore’s entire family moved to the US in 1920, his mother and the four children crossing at Detroit, Michigan on November 24, 1920, and settled in Wisconsin. Theodore attended La Crosse Central High School in La Crosse, WI. He registered for the US Draft on October 16, 1940, in Madison, WI. He was a student at the University of Wisconsin at the time, having completed two to three years of civil engineering. Upon initial enlistment with the USAAF as an Air Cadet, Theodore trained at Scott Field, Illinois, and Harvey Airport, Missouri. After a training accident at the latter, he was discharged from the air force and returned home. He re-enlisted on June 17, 1942, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Having already completed basic training, he volunteered for the First Special Service Force (FSSF) and joined the unit at Fort William Henry Harrison in Helena, Montana, in December 1942. There, he qualified for his jump wings, completed winter ski training at MacDonald Pass, and was assigned to the Fourth Company of the First Regiment. On January 14, 1943, he posed in his dress uniform wearing his jump wings and tri-colored lanyard. Following amphibious training at Camp Bradford in Norfolk, Virginia (April–May 1943) and commando tactics training at Camp Ethan Allen in Vermont (May-June 1943), the Force deployed to the Aleutian Islands. Theodore participated in the amphibious landings on Kiska Island (Quisling Cove) on August 16, 1943, and Segula Island on August 19. After returning to the US, Theodore took a furlough, reporting back to Fort Ethan Allen on September 13, 1943. On October 28, the Force sailed overseas aboard the troop transport Empress of Scotland, landing in Casablanca, moving across North Africa by rail, and finally shipping out to Naples, Italy, where the First Regiment arrived on November 17. Sergeant McDonald was wounded twice in combat. First, during an enemy mortar and artillery barrage on the Italian front on December 4, 1943, he was struck in the left thigh, left shoulder, and face. Evacuated first to Caserta and later to Tunisia to recover, he returned to duty on January 25, 1944. He was wounded a second time on May 29, 1944, just north of Artena, Italy, when a penetrating shrapnel/bullet wound struck his left thorax. He was awarded the Purple Heart in January 1944. After taking amphibious training in southern Italy, the Force landed in southern France on August 15, 1944, capturing the island of Port-Cros before fighting their way east through the coastal mountains toward the Franco-Italian border. On September 9, 1944, Theodore was part of a 12-man reconnaissance patrol (consisting of nine members of the FSSF from the 4th Co. of the 1st Regiment, and three naval artillery observers) sent to establish an observation point on Hill 1256 near Mt. Grammondo. Around 6:00 PM, the patrol encountered heavy German machine gun and small arms fire. During the firefight, Private McDonald was struck in the forehead by a bullet. Fellow members of the FSSF Ormie Carter and Karl Olson carried him to the top of the ridge before the rest of the patrol was overrun and captured. Given the severity of the wound, McDonald died shortly after, and because the remaining members were marched into captivity, his body was never recovered. Private Theodore Michael McDonald is commemorated at the Rhone American Cemetery, listed among nearly 300 names on the terrace wall outside the memorial whose bodies were never found. On the face of the Memorial, an angel peace watches over the graves, and olive trees among the headstones add to the tranquility of this peaceful place with secluded gardens providing space for quiet contemplation. The First Special Service Force was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2015, the highest civilian honor awarded by the US Congress.