Dennis D Garland
Dennis D Garland (left) and Gene Gilbreath in Washington DC June 1944
Born in Boone County Iowa on June 20th 1925, Dennis Garland enlisted
in the US Army in October 1943 at CP Dodge Herrold, Iowa. At the
tender age of 18, Dennis had completed 4 years of High School when
he joined up and in his strive for excellence made his way into the
paratroopers with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
Headquarters. As a Private in Headquarters Company, Dennis served
his country in the European Theater of Operations where in January
1945 he found himself situated in the deep snows around Foy fighting
in the Battle of the Bulge. On January 14th while the 506th PIR
attacked the area around Foy towards Noville, Dennis was hit and
seriously wounded by a “screaming meemie” (Nebelwerfer) and taken to
a hospital just outside Noville, Belgium. He was later transferred
to a field hospital in Luxembourg where tragically he died from his
wounds. Later Dennis’s family returned his remains back to the USA
where he was buried on December 10th 1948 with full military honors
at Keokuk National Cemetery, Lee County, Iowa in Plot 183.
