Name: Edwin Frederick Amirault Rank: Private 1st Class, United States Army Service No: 31160357 Battalion: 21st Armored Infantry Battalion, 11th Armored Division Awards: Purple Heart Date of Birth: July 8, 1907 Place of Birth: Yarmouth, NS Date of Enlistment: August 13, 1942 Place of Enlistment: Boston, Massachusetts Address at Enlistment: Wakefield, Massachusetts Age at Enlistment: 35 Height: 5 feet, 6 inches Complexion: Dark Eyes: Brown Hair: Dark Brown Weight: 140 lbs Trade: Accountant/Auditor Marital Status: Single (at enlistment) Religion: Roman Catholic Next of Kin: Ann Alice Amirault (Wife) Wakefield, Massachusetts Date of Death: January 2, 1945 Age at Death: 37 Cemetery: Luxembourg American Cemetery (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg) Grave Reference: Plot D Row 11 Grave 7 The 5th name on the WWII list of the Yarmouth War Memorial Edwin was the son of Gilbert Alexis Amirault (1867-1958) and Emma (Cotreau) Amirault. Edwin and his family lived in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia at the time of his birth. Edwin and his mother lived with an uncle and aunt in New Edinburgh, Digby Co., NS in 1921. In 1929 at the age of 22 he left Canada, departing on the SS Yarmouth and arriving in Boston on September 7, 1929. He entered the US using the name Edward; however, his name was corrected to Edwin on his US citizenship papers. Edwin completed four years of college. Following his enlistment in August 1942, he applied for US citizenship on November 24, 1942. He married Ann Alice Cottreau (1917-1998) on September 10, 1943. Ann was born in Wedgeport, Yarmouth Co., NS. At the time of his death, she resided at 15 Crystal Lake Park in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Private Amirault was killed in the push to liberate Mande-Saint-Étienne, in Bertogne, Belgium, on January 2, 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge, or Ardennes Offensive. Mande-St-Etienne had been captured early in the enemy’s offensive on or about December 19, 1944, and its recapture by the Allies, together with the liberation of Flamierge, and holding them in force, would effectively block the enemy line of communications west of Bastogne. The attack started in mid-afternoon. Both infantry and armored task forces moved into the town but were forced to fight street to street and cellar to cellar all through the night before securing full possession. Edwin was initially interred at the Grand Failly Cemetery in Longuyon, France (designated as temporary cemetery 3530 by the US Army Grave Registration Service) in Plot D, Row 6, Grave 136. He was reinterred with grave consolidation at the Luxembourg American Cemetery lies just outside the capital city of Luxembourg-City (Lëtzebuerg) of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Entering through the gates of the cemetery, the Memorial Chapel stands, encompassed by a stone terrace. The chapel includes massive bronze doors embellished with bronze cartouches depicting military “virtues,” a sparkling mosaic ceiling and colorful stained-glass windows showcasing the Army insignia representing those that rest in the cemetery. Sloping away from the terrace is the cemetery where 5,070 service members lie, many of whom lost their lives in the Battle of the Bulge and in the advance to the Rhine River. The design is a softly curving fan shape consisting of nine sections interspersed with four fountains, majestic trees, and expansive rose and rhododendron beds. It is a befittingly tranquil final resting place for these Americans who gave their all. The cemetery was established just 6 days after Edwin’s death on December 29, 1944, by the 609th Quartermaster Company of the US Third Army while Allied Forces were stemming the enemy's desperate Ardennes Offensive, one of the critical battles of World War II.

Edwin Frederick Amirault