Remembering World War II

Name: Daniel Arthur Mahoney Rank: Private First Class Service Number: 31287180 Service: Company K, 330th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Division, United States Army Awards: Purple Heart Date of Birth: January 1, 1922 Place of Birth: North Adams, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts Date of Enlistment: March 18, 1943 Place of Enlistment: Springfield, Massachusetts Age at Enlistment: 21 Address at Enlistment: North Adams, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts Height: 5 feet, 3 inches Complexion: Light Hair color: Brown Eye color: Blue Occupation: Stock clerk Marital Status: Single Date of Death: February 25, 1945 Age: 23 Cemetery: Southview Cemetery, North Adams, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts Daniel Arthur Mahoney was the son of John Edward Mahoney (1892–1970), and Mildred Ann (Hudgins) Mahoney (1884–1971). His father served as a Sergeant in the US Army Quartermaster Corps during the First World War. Dan’s father was born in North Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and his mother was born in Kingston, Kings County, Nova Scotia. He was the brother of Dorothy Mildred Mahoney (1919–1978), John Edward Mahoney II (1920–1992), William Bernard Mahoney (1927–2010), Mary Ann Mahoney (1929–2001), and Elizabeth Frances Mahoney (1936–2002). One of Daniel’s hobbies was skating, and Daniel was the 1942 New England Amateur Ice-Skating Champion. He registered for the US Draft on June 30, 1942, in North Adams, Mass. and enlisted the following spring in March of 1943. He was assigned to the 330th Infantry Regiment of the US Army. The 83rd Infantry Division, which included Daniel’s 330th Regiment, had moved to the Hürtgen Forest, and thrust forward from Gressenich to the west bank of the Roer. It entered the Battle of the Bulge, December 27th, striking at Rochefort and reducing the enemy salient in a bitter struggle. With the Allies pushing the enemy back to their original positions from where they were prior to launching their offensive in December of 1944, the Battle of the Bulge was over by the beginning of February 1945. In some newspapers in Massachusetts, Daniel is reported as having died in the Battle of the Bulge but more accurately, his death occurred during the beginning of the second phase of the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest. East of Aachen, the Allies launched an attack all along the Western Front. General Montgomery and the British advanced in the north, and the Americans in the center and south with General Hodges in the center, and General Patton in the later. The 330th Infantry Regiment crossed the Roer River on February 24, 1945, in the vicinity of Jülich, Germany. Daniel’s Company K was tasked with taking the town of Pattern the next day. At 1 pm, Co. K moved into the western part of the town and Private First Class Daniel Arthur Mahoney was killed in action during the fighting on February 25, 1945. Pattern is located near the road from Aachen to Düsseldorf, about 4.5 km from Jülich near Mersch. Daniel’s family chose to repatriate his remains rather than having him buried in an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery in Europe, and he is interred at the Southview Cemetery in his hometown of North Adams, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. His family marker features a cross with inlaid poppies. Daniel is also remembered on the North Adams Veterans Memorial which includes the North Adams Vets from WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

Daniel Arthur Mahoney

Source: findagrave.com The North Adams Transcript, North Adams, Massachusetts, US