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The 36th Division Archive
Private Raymond L. Reed
Rifleman
K Company, 3rd Battalion, 142nd Infantry Regiment
Raymond Lloyd Reed was born in September of 1921 to a Washington, D.C., working-class Catholic family. His father, an employee at a laundry in Washington’s upper northeast side, did well enough to eventually become a salesman for a laundry company, providing for Raymond and his younger sister throughout the Great Depression. In the late 1930s Raymond attended Gonzaga High School where he excelled on the school’s football team as a tackle, making the All High Catholic Football team with several of his classmates. After graduating in 1939, he began work with the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company as a repairman where he remained employed as the United States entered World War II. Given his important work maintaining lines in the nation’s capital, it is of little surprise that he was not drafted until June of 1944, when the need for men in service outweighed his industrial need. On June 7, he officially joined the United States Army.
Raymond's posthumous Purple Heart Medal
Raymond's posthumous Purple Heart Medal
Raymond's posthumous Purple Heart Medal
Raymond's posthumous Purple Heart Medal
Most of Raymond’s basic training was done at Fort McClellan in Alabama with the 28th Training Battalion of the 5th Infantry Training Regiment. Here he learned the basics of Army life and how to fight as a rifleman. By October of 1944 he completed basic training and was sent to Fort Meade in Maryland to join a swelling list of replacements preparing to travel overseas. In late November he boarded a troop transport heading for Europe, making his way to one of the largest combat zones in human history.
His ship arrived sometime in December and he, like thousands of other men, was huddled into one of the many replacement depots spread across Europe. The depot would have been a rather uneventful place as men waited to hear their names called to fill units in desperate need of personnel. Given that the Battle of the Bulge kicked off shortly after he arrived, however, it likely grew rather hectic as men were quickly sent to the front. For Raymond, it was not until January of 1945 that his name was called to travel towards the southern sector of the Allied front as a replacement in the American 7th Army.
On January 23, 1945, Raymond stepped off of a truck in Bischwiller, France. A mid-sized town in northern Alsace, just south of the major city of Haguenau, Bischwiller was the home of 3rd Battalion, 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. The 36th Division was stationed along the American frontline south of Haguenau as part of the 7th Army’s grand defense pushing back against the German forces of Operation Nordwind, a last-minute attempt to break the American line to the south after the failure of the Bulge. The 36th, a battle-hardened but tired division, was tasked to hold the critical sector where it was believed the German 21st Panzer Division might try to pierce the line to swing towards the key city of Strasbourg just to the south.
Troops in the streets of Bischwiller
A photo of a 142nd Infantry machine gun team in position near Bischwiller taken the day after Raymond arrived.
Troops in the streets of Bischwiller
It was here that Raymond was assigned as a replacement rifleman in the 142nd Infantry’s K Company. K Company was as seasoned as any company in the 36th Division, recently earning a Presidential Unit Citation for its sneak attack on the town of St. Marie Aux Mines and a reputation for its fierce defense of several Alsatian villages near Colmar. For now, however, the 3rd Battalion of the 142nd was tasked with fortifying and defending Bischwiller from the probing attacks of the 21st Panzer Division while the 79th Infantry Division to its north faced even greater assaults. It was a hazardous and precarious time for the battalion, however, as its platoons spread across the town holding key positions while putting up machine gun nests, street barricades, and booby traps for any Germans that may break through.
After settling in with his platoon on the afternoon of the 23rd, Raymond was put on high alert. Dozens of German tanks, halftracks, and troop clusters had been reported and the entire 3rd Battalion was made ready for possible German night attacks. In the evening, more armor was heard from the direction of Rohrwiller while several German patrols were seen just 250 yards in front of a K Company platoon. Although the men mostly stayed inside the safety of buildings during the day, Raymond and the other infantrymen were ushered into the city streets at night, as that was when battalion command believed the Germans might try their breakthrough. Fortunately, the only action that night came down the main road when one of K Company’s outposts in a factory was attacked by a twenty-man German patrol which had crossed the Moder River. A firefight broke out and six Germans were killed. That night, division engineers also completed half of a two-part minefield meant to protect the L and K Company sectors. While over 275 mines were laid that night, they were only able to cover the L Company area.
Division engineers building defenses south of Bischwiller
Division engineers building defenses south of Bischwiller
Division engineers taking a break south of Bischwiller
Division engineers building defenses south of Bischwiller
When Raymond awoke on the morning of January 24, the situation remained tense as German troop movements and artillery ramped up across the sector. Other battalions of the regiment were subject to artillery bombardments while German Panther tanks were spotted moving up and down the front. Engineers spent the day building more barricades throughout the city as the constant thuds and booms of artillery just to the battalion’s north rocked Bischwiller with their erratic rhythm. As darkness fell, the battalion made plans to continue bolstering its defenses while the Germans could not see their movements. Raymond, the new guy, and a few other men from K Company were selected to leave the safety of their billets to go out and protect a group of engineers hoping to finish the minefield in front of K Company’s southern zone that night. It was Raymond's first mission.
It was well after dark when Raymond and the joint engineer-infantry team set out into the fields immediately east of Bischwiller. It was bitterly cold with an icy wind blowing hard against the men in their densely-padded field jackets and wool scarves. A thick blanket of snow covered the ground and most of the streams surrounding the city were frozen solid. Once the team reached the southern end of the designated field, the engineers went to work. Over the next few hours, as distant artillery thundered, hundreds of mines were slowly planted in an elaborate field spanning several hundreds yards. Gradually the artillery grew closer and some rounds were seen landing just behind them in Bischwiller proper.
A map of 3/142's defense of Bischwiller, notating the minefields and location where Raymond was hit on January 25, 1945.
A map of 3/142's defense of Bischwiller, notating the minefields and location where Raymond was hit on January 25, 1945.
Sometime in the early hours of January 25, as the engineers were finishing the final patch of the minefield, German artillery began to burst all around them. Some spotter in the night had seen their movements and called in counterfire. Although it was too late to stop them from laying the minefield, the Germans did find a single mark: Raymond Reed. While others were running for cover, a round exploded near Raymond and launched shrapnel into his head and right arm. He died on the spot. Nevertheless, his comrades grabbed him in the chaos and quickly retreated back towards the city with the engineers.
Raymond was only twenty-three years old and had been on the frontline for a day and a half.
As dawn broke, Raymond’s body was sent to the rear for processing. Lt. Paul D. Jones of the regimental Service Company oversaw his transport to the American cemetery in Epinal, France, where he was taken into the custody of the 46th Graves Registration Company. He was buried in his uniform and a mattress cover on January 27, 1945.
The location where Raymond was killed while the engineers laid mines.
Epinal in 1945
Raymond's 36th Division info card.
The location where Raymond was killed while the engineers laid mines.
Private Raymond Reed rested at Epinal under a wooden cross until January 9, 1948, when he was disinterred at the directive of his mother so that he could finally return home. This began a several month journey leading to Raymond’s final trip across the Atlantic aboard the USS Robert F. Burns. He made the voyage alongside 2,805 of his fellow countrymen who had also given the ultimate sacrifice.
On April 22, 1948, Raymond was interred in grave 5258, Section 12 of Arlington National Cemetery. With his parents and sister standing beside him, final rites were given as the Reeds finally said goodbye to their soldier boy who had barely gotten his uniform dirty before giving his life for his country.
Reed's grave in Arlington
Reed prior to his service in the U.S. Army
A document discussing Reed's disinterment from Epinal.
Reed's grave in Arlington