Remembering World War II

Name: Clyson Elroy Lewis Rank: Private Service Number: 31471974 Service: Company C, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, US Army Awards: Purple Heart Date of Birth: July 30, 1921 Place of Birth: Boothbay Harbor, Lincoln Co., Maine Date of Enlistment: June 27, 1944 Place of Enlistment: Fort Devens, Massachusetts Address at Enlistment: Lincoln Co., Maine Age at Enlistment: 22 Occupation: Machinist Marital Status: Married Next of Kin: Dorothy Mae Boyd, wife Date of Death: January 18, 1945 Age: 23 Cemetery: Highland Cemetery, Edgecomb, Maine Clyson Elroy Lewis was the son of Gordon Eldred Lewis (1887–1965) and Jessie Evie Hart Lewis (1889–1969). His father was born in Terence Bay, Halifax, Nova Scotia and his mother, was born in Boothbay Town in Lincoln County, Maine. The family was still in Boothbay Harbour in 1930 but by April 1940, they had moved to Federal Street in Wiscasset, albeit still in Lincoln Co. Clyson married Dorothy Mae Boyd (1923-1990), born in Boothbay, on July 24, 1940, and enlisted in June of 1944 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. After enlistment, Clyson served with Company C of the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division in the US Army. The 18th Infantry and it’s First Division assaulted Omaha Beach on D-day, June 6, 1944, and secured Formigny and Caumont in the beachhead. The Division followed up the St. Lo break-through with an attack on Marigny, July 27, 1944, and then drove across France in a continuous offensive, reaching the German border at Aachen in September. The Division laid siege to Aachen, taking the city after a direct assault, October 21, 1944. The First then attacked east of Aachen through Hurtgen Forest, driving to the Roer, and moved to a rest area December 7th for its first real rest in 6 months' combat, when the von Rundstedt offensive suddenly broke loose, December 16th (the Battle of the Bulge). The Division raced to the Ardennes, and fighting continuously from December 17, 1944 to January 28, 1945, helped blunt and turn back the German offensive. Private Clyson Elroy Lewis was killed in action in the Battle of the Bulge on January 18, 1945, and was awarded the Purple Heart. He was initially interred in Europe but his remains were returned to the United States at the request of his family and he was re-interred at the Highland Cemetery, Edgecomb, Maine. His name is also commemorated on the First Infantry Division monument in Bullingen, Belgium. The obelisk at Butgenbach (Bullingen), Belgium, commemorates the 458 soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division (“The Big Red One”) killed between December 16, 1944 and February 7, 1945. The U.S. 1st Infantry Division liberated this site on September 11, 1944. A battlefield cemetery was established on September 28, 1944.

Clyson Elroy Lewis

Sources findagrave tracesofwar

1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One) shoulder patch and the 18th Infantry Regiment Coat of Arms