James E. Hand

Company A 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

4th Infantry Division

KIA 11/17/1944

James E. Hand was born on January 11, 1921.
His home of residence was listed as Chicago, Illinois.
His religion was listed as Protestant.

His Army serial number indicates he entered the Army prior to the Selective Service Act of 1940.

The date of his assignment to the 22nd Infantry is unknown but he was with the Regiment
at least by December 1942 as his name is listed in a Company roster on a menu for the
Christmas Dinner of Company A 22nd Infantry at Camp Gordon, Georgia in December 1942. *

He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal as a Private First Class in Headquarters 22nd Infantry
General Orders No. 5 dated June 8, 1943 at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

He was promoted from Private First Class to Sergeant on the battlefield
in Normandy on June 16, 1944.

Sergeant Hand was killed in action in Germany in the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest on November 17, 1944.

Decorations of James E. Hand

James E. Hand's younger brother Herbert A. Hand was killed in action in the Philippines,
with the 128th Infantry, during the battle for the island of Leyte on November 26, 1944,
only nine days after his brother James was killed.

James E. Hand was buried overseas in the Henri-Chappele Cemetery in Belgium and in 1948 his body was returned
to the United States where he was interred in Illinois on August 28, 1948. The body of his brother was also returned at
about the same time and the two brothers rest side by side in the Camp Butler National Cemetery.

Burial:
Camp Butler National Cemetery
Springfield
Sangamon County
Illinois
Plot: SEC 3, 987-L

Grave marker for James E. Hand

Photo by BjJ from the Find A Grave website

* Courtesy of Julien Woestyn

Top photo of James E. Hand by Jaap Vermeer from the Find A Grave website
Note: the newspaper clipping indicates his rank as Staff Sergeant, but the Roster of WW2 Dead
from the Quartermaster General's Office indicates his rank as Sergeant

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