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1919 Homer Edwin Dutcher


Born: Jan. 10, 1919 in Nineveh Junction (Afton), Chenango County, NY 

Died: Nov.  3, 1944 in the Hurtgen Forest, near Vossenack, Germany

He is buried in Ardennes American Cemetery at Neupre, Liege, Belgium.
His gravesite is at Plot D, Row 3, Grave 32.

Neupre is in the Walloon region, province of Liege, Belgium.

There is also a memorial marker for him in the cemetery at
the Nineveh Presbyterian Church in Nineveh, NY.  

His father was 1886 Floyd W. Dutcher.

His mother was 1897 Gertrude Gail Roberts.

In 1920 he was an infant and living with his parents and grandparents
on "East Side River Road" in Afton (or Nineveh?),  New York.  
At that time the household consisted of:

  1858  Edwin R. Roberts           (Head of Household, age 62)
  1861  Mary E. Roberts            (Wife, age 59)
  1886  Floyd Dutcher              (Son-In-Law, age 33)
  1899  Gertrude Roberts Dutcher   (Daughter, age 21)
  1919  Homer Edwin Dutcher        (Grandson, infant)
  1860  James Arnold Dutcher       (Father of Floyd; Homer's Grandfather, age 60)
  1904  Viola Dutcher              (daughter of James; born 1904 or 1905, age 15).

In 1940 he and his brother F. Herbert were living with
their uncle William Roberts and aunt Mary (Burnett) Roberts,  
on Afton-Nineveh Road in Afton, Chenango County, New York.  The census
record shows that they had lived in the same house since at least 1935,
and that Homer had completed four years of high school.  At that time
he had no cash income or income from other sources. 

Also living there was his cousin 1916 Rose Roberts.
Homer was employed at the Bendix/Scintilla Plant in Sidney, NY.

Homer was a 1937 graduate of Bainbridge Central High School.

He enlisted and entered active duty in the U.S. Army on Nov. 23, 1942.
He was stationed for training at these army bases in the U.S.:

  Dec. 1942  Camp Livingston, GA
  Jan. 1943  Camp Livingston, LA
  Mar. 1943  Camp Gordon Johnston, FL

He was married in 1943 to Margaret Caroline Livingston.

They were married only a few months before he shipped out to Europe.

Homer was assigned to Company 'D', 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Division;
his company commander was 1Lt. Donald Pyle.  His MOS was 521.
His service number was 32587947.

He received the Purple Heart Award.  He was killed in action 
on November 3, 1944 in the Hurtgen Forest, Germany, at L040355.

In the 'Bainbridge News & Republican' newspaper dated Apr. 12, 1945
is a small item under "Local Soldiers Killed in Battle or Imprisoned"
which states:  
 
 "Private First Class Homer Dutcher of Afton, Chenango County, NY
  was killed in action on Nov. 3, 1944.  His wife has just been
  notified by the War Department."   

At that time Margaret's mailing address was R.D. #1, Nineveh, NY.

In the photo at top right, Homer is about seven years old.  The
next photo was taken for his high school graduation in 1938. In
the photo at center right, taken early 1943, Homer is in uniform 
and home on leave from the army; I think this was his wedding day.

The photo at bottom right shows Homer with his wife Margaret; the
other woman in this photo is most likely his aunt Mary D. Roberts,
nee Burnett, as Homer's mother Gertrude Roberts had died in 1930.

Following is a list of relevant viewable documents in PDF format:

  1950 War Department Document
  
  1943 Army Disposition Card - Medical Treatment
  
  1946 War Department Memo Routing Slip

  Information about the discovery of Homer's remains.

  Map of the area where Homer was KIA
  
  1948 Graves Registration Document
  
  1949 Letter to Margaret Dutcher

  1948 Notarized signature - Margaret Dutcher
  
  1948 Letter to Margaret Dutcher
  
  1947 Report of Internment
	
Here is his listing in the "Fields of Honor" database
Here is his Listing in American Battle Monuments Commission

Here is a Photo of the Ardennes Cemetery

Here is a link to its Wikipedia page

Thanks to Ryan Blum, in 2017 curator of the Ardennes Military Cemetery,
and to Jennifer Holik, professional researcher, for her work in 
discovering much information about Homer's military history.
Here are some photos, all taken on March 26, 2017, showing me
with Bernd Henkelman of Vossenack, Germany, taken near the spot 
where Homer was killed in action.  This is just outside a local
German military cemetery less than two miles from both Hurtgen and 
Vossenack/Hurtgenwald.

Here is a link to a video documentary about the
battle of the Hurtgen Forest.

Here is a link to a video documentary about the
battle of the Hurtgen Forest.

Here is a link to some local history as taken
from local newspaper clippings, many from 1944.

Here is a link to the story of a comrade in arms Roy E. Barrett
which I came across - it is an interesting and touching story. 
The German interpreter who drew the map of the location where
Homer was KIA, George Geist, was the same man who worked with
the American Graves Registration people in the Ken Barrett case.
The woodsman who found Ken's remains was not the same man who
found Homer's remains, although the location was very close by
and only a month apart in time.