SGT Lloyd Ross Stewart 137th Army Infantry, 35th INF Div.

Lloyd Ross Stewart sacrificed his life for our freedom. He was born Oct 10, 1920 to Francis Ross Stewart (1891-1968) and Clara Elizabeth Hamilton (1895-1977) Francis Ross Stewart was born in Milburn, Utah and worked as a farmer. Clara Elizabeth Hamilton was born in nearby Fairview, Utah and was a homemaker.

Lloyd was eleven years old in 1931 when his eldest brother Ted died at the age of seventeen from a lingering illness. In 1934 his older brother Lyle died at the age of sixteen from a ruptured appendix. In 1937 his younger brother Mont died as an infant leaving Lloyd Ross Stewart as an only child.

Lloyd graduated from North Sanpete High School in 1938. He was a member of the Future Farmers of America. Lloyd was a good student, mild mannered and soft spoken. Comments in his EN ESS Aitch yearbook mention him as a swell kid and a fan of world history.

Lloyd worked as a farmer until he was selected for induction November 28, 1942.

He trained at Camp Carson in Colorado, Camp Polk in Louisiana, Camp Roberts in California and Fort Meade in Maryland. His initial rank was PFC. He was shipped overseas in June of 1944. He was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries suffered in France and returned to duty December 14, 1944. On December 30th he was wounded in Belgium while engaged in the Battle of the Bulge.

A description of the days events is from WWII Battles, 137th Infantry Regiment, Chapter Four, The Ardennes; On December 29, the 137th Infantry attacked again in the Surre Woods against bitter machine gun and tank fire. The Regiment attacked to the northeast in its zone, bounded by the 134th Infantry on the left and the 320th on the right.

The 2nd Battalion attacked through the woods, following an air strike, and met heavy tank and self-propelled gun fire. The Battalion advanced against this fire to the last tip of the Surre Woods. The 1st Battalion jumped off at 0810 and ran into heavy fire also. Companies C and A, from left to right, led the attacking troops and advanced toward the town of Villers-la-Bonne-Eau. The 2nd Battalion had Companies E and G forward, with Company E in Surre. The 3rd Battalion reported that it had two TD's knocked out from direct fire from enemy tanks. By 1550, Company I had contacted the 134th Infantry on the left flank of the Regiment. The CO of the 3rd Battalion also estimated that he had knocked out at least nine heavy machine gun emplacements during the day.

The 137th was ordered to cease its attack at 1800 and continued the attack on December 30 at 0800. All roads leading into the area were to be mined and blocked. Roadblocks were to be in depth, several on each road. The Regiment halted its attack and buttoned up for the night. Enemy artillery fire was very heavy in the Regimental area during the night, with the Regimental CP area receiving several barrages of rockets.

On December 30, the 137th patrolled vigorously to the front during the night, while the front lines and rear areas received heavy artillery and rocket fire. The snow that had fallen the previous day had frozen over, and the ground and roads were extremely slippery. Harlange and Villers-la-Bonne-Eau remained the points of enemy resistance. The 3rd Battalion was operating southwest of Villers and the 1st Battalion assembled at Livarchamps, with Company A manning roadblocks to the east, in the gap between the 3rd and 2nd Battalions. The 2nd Battalion had two companies on the edge of the Surre Woods, meeting heavy enemy fire from the vicinity of Harlange and Betlange.

At 0645 Company E advanced toward Harlange, passing through Company G. The Company advanced with moderate resistance until it reached a position within 400 yards of Harlange, when it received severe machine gun and mortar fire, which pinned it down. The enemy also opened up on them with flanking fire from the right and left flank. The threat to the right flank was stopped. Company E withdrew from the open field under a protective barrage, moved up a draw on the left flank of the enemy to outflank the enemy position, and ran into tough opposition near Betlange.

At 0645 the 3rd Battalion held four buildings in Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, and by 0900 the enemy activity and resistance in the town increased considerably. Enemy assault guns and SS troops moved into the town in the morning to reinforce the enemy garrison, and the armored guns moved in and around the town shooting into the houses occupied by elements of the 3rd Battalion. Two of these guns were knocked out by bazooka fire, and the rest withdrew out of bazooka range and shelled the houses with direct fire. Heavy fighting continued all during the day in the town, until Companies K and L were considered cut off from the rest of the Battalion.

Lloyd was sent to a hospital in England where he died from wounds received in action on January 10th 1945. Memorial Services in Fairview, Utah on March 3rd 1945 were well attended as Francis Ross and Clara Elizabeth buried their only child.

Thank you SGT Lloyd Ross Stewart for your sacrifice.

References: Find a Grave, digital newspapers, Mt Pleasant Pyramid, application for memorial headstone, family search, North Sanpete High En Ess Aitch yearbook and WWII 137th regiment battle records.

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 smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Lloyd R Stewart