Roman Guttierrez Padilla (service #39913169) was born on 23 September 1924 in Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada. His father, Roman G. Padilla, a Mexican native, was a laborer in a lime plant. His mother, Vicenta Gutierres Padilla, also a Mexican native, was a homemaker. Roman had two brothers, Balerio and Hilbert, and one sister, Francisca.

Roman grew up in Goodsprings, Clark County, Nevada. Unfortunately, I could not find any information about Roman in the day's newspapers. He completed grammar school (8th grade) but apparently could not attend high school. Goodsprings was primarily a mining town booming in the 1920s when Roman was a boy. Things slowed down during the Depression time of the 1930s. While Goodsprings’s heyday was a thing of the past, it remains a historic tourist destination.

On 24 December 1942, Roman registered for the draft from his home in Las Vegas. At the time, he worked for McNeil Construction Company. He stood five feet ten inches tall, weighed 150 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes.

Roman enlisted in the Army on 27 April 1943 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was single and did not have any dependents. After basic training, Private (and later Tec 4) Padilla served with the 732nd Railway Operating Battalion. The 732nd was formed on 21 July 1943 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. It was one of several railway-operating battalions created during the war to manage the extensive railroad networks that crisscrossed Europe and Asia.

Tec 4 Padilla was deployed to Europe with 732nd, where he helped operate and manage the rail systems, ensuring the efficient movement of troops, equipment, and supplies across Europe. After liberation, the 732nd played a significant role in repairing damaged rail infrastructure, including bridges, tracks, and stations. Tec 4 Padilla was involved in this effort after May 1945, when the Allies defeated Germany.

Details are unclear, but on 27 September 1945, Tec 4 Padilla was killed in a non-battle-related incident in France. He was buried in the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial (Block B, Row 9, Grave 6), Draguignan, Departement du Var, Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, France.

Tec 4 Padilla was survived by his parents, Roman and Vicenta, and his siblings.

Thank you, Roman, for serving our country in times of war and in the reconstruction effort after the war.

I was unable to find a photo of Tec 4 Roman G. Padilla. If

you have one, please contact rcrife@gmail.com.

Sources:

Global Find A Grave Index

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56511147/roman-g-padilla

1930 U.S. Federal Census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/107839960:6224

World War II Draft Cards

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/13446001:2238

World War II Army Enlistment Records

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/12315:8939

U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/12315:8939

U.S. World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/109948:4283

American Battle Monuments Commission

https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/padilla%3Droman

Honor States

https://www.honorstates.org/profiles/89666/

"This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

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Added by: rcrife@gmail.com;

rcrife@storiesbehindthestars.org

Roman G Padilla