David Harmon Duncan was born on December 4, 1912 in the small village of Galahad in Alberta, Canada to Leander Potter “Lee” Duncan and Lena B. Duncan, nee Misner. David’s siblings were Ella, Allen Eugene, and Donald. Lee Duncan was born in Illinois but moved to Alberta, Canada to homestead. He owned a farm near Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The family moved to Washington on January 17, 1924. In 1930, the family lived in Longview, Cowlitz County, Washington, where Lee worked as a maintenance man at a lumber mill. Leander died in 1937 in Longview. David’s mother, Lena, married Clifford Alexander Miller in 1940. The 1940 Federal Census recorded David Duncan living with his younger brother, Allen, his sister Ella, and Ella’s husband, Francis Barber, in Longview. David, Allen, and Francis all worked in a lumber camp as “timber fallers.”

David Harmon Duncan registered for the draft on October 16, 1940. He was 27 years old, 5’7” tall, and weighed 130 pounds. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a light complexion. He lived in Longview and was unemployed. He entered the United States Army on April 6, 1942 in Tacoma, Washington. His residence was Cowlitz County, and he was working as a lumberman. He was single, without dependents, and had completed two years of high school.

David Harmon Duncan entered a petition for naturalization on September 25, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. At that time, he was serving as a Private in Battery D, 260th Regiment (Anti-Aircraft). Two sergeants from the 260th Regiment served as his witnesses.

Corporal David H. Duncan later served in the 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. The 60th Infantry spearheaded the November 1942 invasion of French Morocco in Operation Torch. The Regiment landed at Palermo, Sicily on August 5th. The Regiment flanked the city of Troina allowing other U.S. divisions to easily capture the city.

On June 11, 1944, the 60th Regiment landed at Utah Beach in Normandy, France. It spearheaded the American advance out of the beachhead into the Cotentin Peninsula. Following the breakout at St. Lo, the regiment rushed south in Operation Cobra and helped relieve the battered 30th Infantry Division. Next, the regiment turned east and helped in the closure and clearing of the Falaise Pocket. Continuing east, the regiment crossed the Marne, Aisne, and the Seine Rivers. After the bitter and bloody struggle in the Hurtgen Forest, the Regiment fell back to the Monschau area, where it fought in the snow and bitter cold of the Battle of the Bulge. Continuing south, the Regiment participated in the Battle of Remagen. From March 7 to March 25, the Allies unexpectedly captured the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine intact. They were able to hold it against fierce German opposition and build further temporary crossings in relative safety.

David H. Duncan was killed in action on March 11, 1945 in Germany, probably in the Battle of Remagen. He is buried in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial, Liège, Belgium (Block D, Row 11, Grave 55). He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

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.

SBTSProject/Washington/Cowlitz

Sources:

U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954, https://www.fold3.com/record/702875842/blank-us-wwii-hospital-admission-card-files-1942-1954

American Battle Monuments Commission, https://www.fold3.com/record/529866254/david-h-duncan-american-battle-monuments-commission

WWII Army Enlistment Records, https://www.fold3.com/record/90823355/david-h-duncan-wwii-army-enlistment-records

1930 United States Federal Census, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/111626347:6224?tid=&pid=&queryId=92de68fc96d4fc22b8d3cc875eaed54c&_phsrc=xOR57786&_phstart=successSource

1940 United States Federal Census, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/62501877:2442

Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/29483:9170

Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56280786/david-harmon-duncan

Washington, U.S., Petitions for Naturalization, 1860-1991, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/310244:2531

World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/36922321:2238

1916 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/759836411:1556

1921 Census of Canada, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/6179551:8991

David H Duncan