Henry P. Dupuis Co. F, 309th Infantry, 78th Division

Henry P. Dupuis was born on 22 Jan 1916 in Worcester, MA, the son of Horace Dupuis and Fanny Germain. Henry married Blanche Alice Bombard at St Joseph Church in Burlington, VT on 18 Dec 1937. His residence was Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester, VT. The record also stated that he was baptized at Holy Name church in Worcester, MA. on 26 Jan 1916. Blanche was born in Burlington, the daughter of Joseph Bombard and Almeda Wilford. His only child, a daughter named Nancy was born in Burlington on 4 Mar 1940 and was baptized at St Joseph church on 17 Mar 1940 using the name Mary Nancy Jean Dupuis. On 15 Feb 1958 Nancy married Norman A. Templeton at St John Vianney church in So. Burlington, VT.

In the 1930 census the family was still located in Worcester, MA., but in the 1940 census he was living in Burlington with his wife Blanche and daughter Nancy at 17 Johnson, Street. He was a laborer on a Sewer Project.

Information on his draft card as of 16 Oct 1940 stated that he was 24 yrs old, weighed 150 lbs had a ruddy complexion with brown eyes and hair and was 5 ft 10 ¼ inches tall. He registered at Brattleboro, VT.

He enlisted 26 Jan 1943 and his service number was 31253456. He was 70 inches tall and weighed 137 lbs and had 4 years of High Schooling. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Machinist and also as married.

Burlington Free Press: On 28 Sep 1943 Henry P Dupuis of 30 Pitkin Street was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army, in the Coast Artillery Corps. Upon completing the officer candidate course at the antiaircraft artillery school at Camp Davis, NC. His officer Service # O-1060419

2nd Lt Henry P. Dupuis was a member of Company F, 309th Infantry, 78th Division when killed in action at Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. He was initially wounded on 25 Feb 1945 and died on 11 Apr 1945.

Henry was "Killed In Action" in Germany during the war and was awarded the Purple Heart. _“The 78th held the area it had taken from the _Siegfried Line_ against German attacks throughout the winter. The Division attacked, 30 January 1945, and took Kesternich, 2 February, the town of Schmidt on the 8th, and captured intact the vital Schwammanauel Dam the next day. In the advance, the Roer River was crossed, 28 February, and the division joined the offensive of the First and Ninth Armies toward the Rhine.”_

Burlington Free press said that his wife was notified that he was killed on 10 Mar 1944.

On his headstone application his service number was 0-1060419. He was a 2nd LT when he died. He was in Co. F 309th Infantry Regiment and the 18th Division. It was filled out by his Wife Blanche Bombard Dupuis at 24 Murray Street in Burlington, VT but the stone was for the Notre Dame cemetery in Worcester, MA where he was born. Instead of having the name Henry P. on the stone, they preferred H. Paul Dupuis.

REFERENCES:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84742494

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/78th_Infantry_Division_(United_States) Where KIA

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.