Private First Class David Robert Altman, United States Army. Service Number: 36283262

Early Life

David Robert Altman was born on 11 October 1912 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

His father Robert David Altman, born 20 August 1876 in New York, died 12 February 1969 in Los Angeles, California, was a Mail Carrier. His mother Nettie Greenberg, who was a Social Worker, was born about 1881 in Wisconsin and died on 6 May 1964 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Robert was the younger of two children in the family and had an older sister.

The 1940 Census indicates Robert had completed two years of college and at the time worked as a Laborer for a shipbuilding company.

Military

David R. Altman registered for the Draft on 16 Oct 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At that time he worked for the Great Lakes Transit Corporation.

As a zealous anti-Fascist, David Altman had fought with the Lincoln Brigade of American volunteers during the Spanish Civil War from April 1937 to December 1938. He was wounded during this war and was initially turned down because of his wounds when he tried to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces. But he was finally accepted for limited service in the Army Medical Department (probably as a Medic) on 14 November 1942. He was transferred overseas in January of 1944.

He served with Company E, 63rd Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division. The 6th Division deployed from the west coast of the United States to Hawaii in July and August 1943 to assume defensive positions on Oahu, training meanwhile in jungle warfare. It moved to Milne Bay, New Guinea, 31 January 1944, and trained until early June 1944. The division first saw combat in the Toem-Wakde area of Dutch New Guinea, engaging in active patrolling 14–18 June, after taking up positions 6–14 June. Moving west of Toem, it fought the bloody Battle of Lone Tree Hill, 21–30 June, and secured the Maffin Bay area by 12 July.

After a brief rest, the division made an assault landing at Sansapor, 30 July, on the Vogelkop Peninsula. The 6th secured the coast from Cape Waimak to the Mega River and garrisoned the area until December 1944.

The division landed at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, in the Philippines on D-day, 9 January 1945, and pursued the Japanese into the Cabanatuan hills, 17–21 January, capturing Muñoz on 7 February. On 27 January, Special Operations units also attached to the Sixth United States Army took part in the Raid at Cabanatuan. The division then drove northeast to Dingalan Bay and Baler Bay, 13 February, isolating enemy forces in southern Luzon. The U.S. 1st Infantry Regiment operated on Bataan together with the Philippine Commonwealth forces, 14–21 February, cutting the peninsula from Abucay to Bagac.

Death

Private First Class David R. Altman was Killed in Action on 15 January 1945 on Luzon Island in the Philippines. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal and was initially buried in Luzon. His remains were later returned to the U.S and he was buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Plot: G7L3B8S1.

Sources

https://www.fold3.com/page/638797763/david-r-altman

https://www.fold3.com/page/89618417/david-r-altman

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2238&h=199078255&tid=&pid=&queryId=8c88308c6486ecf4da86e870678a083f&usePUB=true#?_phcmd=u('https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/39/?name%3Ddavid_altman%26event%3D_wisconsin-usa_52%26event_x%3D0-0-0_1-0%26name_x%3D1_1%26successSource%3DSearch%26queryId%3D8c88308c6486ecf4da86e870678a083f','successSource')

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=546733

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/71959728/the-wisconsin-jewish-chronicle/

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8939&h=2851363&tid=&pid=&queryId=7728eb25cc429d15854e3ac491617afb&usePUB=true&_phsrc=5ru1766037&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/974244:2375?tid=&pid=&queryId=7728eb25cc429d15854e3ac491617afb&_phsrc=5ru-259826&_phstart=successSource

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126636454/david-r-altman

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