Oscar “Murl” Stevens was born on 1917 in Campbell County, Tennessee to Solomon Edward Stevens and Cora Jane Stevens, nee Broyles. Murl’s siblings were Ocea, Odea, Clossie, Effodena, and Andy Elmer Stevens. In 1920, the family lived in Chelan County, Washington, where Solomon worked in a lumber mill. By 1930, they had moved back to Campbell County, where Solomon owned a truck farm. Murl Stevens and Merton Eldridge applied for a marriage license on March 29, 1941 in Claiborne County, Tennessee.

Oscar Murl Stevens’ original draft registration card was destroyed by fire in 1943. The replacement card only noted that he registered for the draft in Jacksboro, Campbell County and that he resided in the town of Pioneer, Campbell County, Tennessee. He enlisted in the United States Army on October 23, 1943 in Portland, Oregon. His residence was Campbell County, Tennessee, and he was working as a welder. He was married and had completed two years of high school.

Private Oscar M. Stevens served in 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division. The 30th Division landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy on June 11, 1944. They moved south through the hedgerow country of the Cotentin Peninsula toward the city of St. Lo. After the city of Avranches was taken, the 1st Infantry Division captured the nearby town of Mortain. Shortly afterward, the 30th Division took a defensive position. On August 2, Hitler ordered the Panzer Corps to retake Avranches and Mortain and open the corridor to the west coast of France at all cost. Although the German counterattack didn’t begin until August 6th, Private Oscar M. Stevens was killed in action on August 5, 1944 in Mortain, France. He is buried in the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial, Saint-James, Basse-Normandie, France (Plot A, Row 5, Grave). 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:

WWII Army Enlistment Records, https://www.fold3.com/record/90952667/oscar-m-stevens-wwii-army-enlistment-records

American Battle Monuments Commission, https://www.fold3.com/memorial/90952667/oscar-m-stevens/sources

Findagrave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56353540/oscar-m-stevens

1920 United States Federal Census, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/71155915:6061

1930 United States Federal Census, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/68400714:6224

1940 United States Federal Census, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/33444992:2442

Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/57119:9170

Tennessee, U.S., Marriage Records, 1780-2002, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/509132:1169

World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/201452875:2238

Oscar M Stevens