PFC Warren R. Wartluft SN15077939 Army - HQ Company 79th Infantry Division

Warren Robert Wartluft was born 14 April 1921 in Paris Township, Stark County Ohio. His father was Robert D. Wartluft who worked as a superintendent at a milk depot. His mother was Susan R. Bricker Wartluft who was a homemaker. Warren was one of 8 children. He attended Louisville High School in Louisville Ohio. He registered for the draft on 15 Feb 1942 when he was 20 years old and working for the Diebold Safe and Lock Company in Canton Ohio. He was living with his parents at RD1 Paris Township, Stark County Ohio.

He enlisted in the army on June 20, 1942, at Fort Hays, Columbus Ohio. He was 21 years old and single with no dependents. He trained at Camp Picket, Virginia, Camp Blanding, Florida and Camp Phillips, Kansas before going overseas. He was in England before the invasion at Normandy and was wounded June 20, 1944, in Normandy France. He later returned to action.

He was serving with the HQ company, 79th Infantry Division. The 79th Infantry Division had a special designation the “Cross of Lorraine”. The insignia was a gray Lorraine cross on a blue shield with a gray border; it was adopted during World War I. Having distinguished itself at Montfaucon, in Lorraine, the division selected the Cross of Lorraine, a symbol of triumph since the 15th Century, as its insignia.

The 79th Infantry division fought in the campaigns at Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, and Central Europe. They served in Europe from June 1944 until April 1945.The 79th was given its first important mission: a major share in the assault on Cherbourg, France. While its 314th Infantry Regiment scaled the tough sides of Fort du Roule, on the outskirts of the port, patrols of the 313th sneaked into the city and later the rest of the regiment followed up, smashing through Cherbourg street by street and house by house, and winning for the Division the proud right to claim—First in Cherbourg.

Cherbourg surrendered on July 26 and the next day the 79th, having tasted only briefly the fruits of liberation, was on its way to La Haye-du-Puits, the nerve center of the German supply system for the enemy forces in northern France. Through hedgerows honeycombed with artillery and automatic weapons, and despite dug-in enemy tanks raking them at pointblank range, the Cross of Lorraine men swarmed into the town and took it on July 8. They headed south through Avranches and Fougères, and southeast to Le Mans, where, after bridging the Sarthe Rivér, they helped to close the Falaise pocket.

Swinging east, the 79th raced ahead of all other forces toward the Seine, reaching it at the ruined city of Mantes-Gassicourt. No other American outfit reached the Seine as soon, and the 79th, by getting there and holding the rubble of Mantes-Gassicourt, greatly facilitated the liberation of Paris. The Germans were stunned by this swift dash of the Cross of Lorraine; they thought at first that the 79th had suddenly become airborne and had been dropped near the Seine. Recovering from their surprise they hit the Division with Nebelwerfers and a revived Luftwaffe, but it didn’t get them anywhere.

Shifted to the First Army front in Belgium, the 79th set off in high gear and in 72 hours had crossed the Somme and was ready to fight in Belgium, 180 miles away, after making what a corps commander called “one of the fastest opposed advances of comparable distance by an infantry division in warfare.” Later the Cross of Lorraine was shifted far to the south, on the Seventh Army flank, and fought at the Meurthe River, in the Forêt de Parroy, in the city of Lunéville, and across the Rhine deep into Germany.

It is not clear exactly where PFC Wartluft was on Oct 10, 1944. But the 79th Division was in the Forêt de Parroy in October 1944 fighting to capture the forest from the Germans. Hitler had given the Germans a direct order to hold the forest at all costs because he had fought there in WWI. The Germans attempted to break up the attack plans with heavy artillery. But the 79th division took the forest. By 25 October 1944 the Forêt de Parroy had been completely cleared of the enemy. Members of the79th Division had successfully completed a most difficult task.

PFC Warren Wartluft was killed in action on October 10, 1944. He was 23 years old. He was temporarily buried in the Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal France. His body was returned to the United States arriving in New York City in May 1948 and then taken directly to Gettyburg National Cemetery for burial on May 19, 1948, in Section 2 grave 403.

He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and the Silver Star. He was listed on the NARA Honor Roll for Stark County Ohio. He was survived by his parents Robert and Susan Wartluft and his 7 brothers and sisters: Donald, Floyd, and Mary Jane Wartluft at the family home, Grant Wartluft of RD1, Mrs. Fern Lutz of RD2, and Lawrence Wartluft and Mrs. Betty Martellaro of Canton Ohio.

PFC Warren R. Wartluft, thank you for your service, your courage, and your sacrifice. You are not forgotten.

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. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen’s name and read his/her story.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at srd225@yahoo.com or feedback@storiesbehindthestars.org."

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Warren R Wartluft