Bill Schulz was a next door neighbor and a HS friend of my brother Bob Strack(1940). Bill was drafted at 18 into the 264th Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division. He was sent to South Hampton, England in Nov.'44. On Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 '44 he was put on a troop ship 'SS Leopoldville' with 2300 other troops and sent to France to support the battle of the Bulge.
Five miles from France the ship was torpedoed and sunk after 2 1/2 hours afloat with a loss of 800 lives. The entire event was kept a classified military secret for over 50 years. Therefore Bill's parents were notified he was missing and never were told what had happened. His body was never recovered.
The complete rescue process was so poorly handled by the American, British and Belgium commands that many lives were lost unnecessarlly.
Bill's name is on a wall in the American Cemetery, Normandy, France.
Thomas Strack (1954)
Bill Schulz was a next door neighbor and a HS friend of my brother Bob Strack(1940). Bill was drafted at 18 into the 264th Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division. He was sent to South Hampton, England in Nov.'44. On Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 '44 he was put on a troop ship 'SS Leopoldville' with 2300 other troops and sent to France to support the battle of the Bulge.
Five miles from France the ship was torpedoed and sunk after 2 1/2 hours afloat with a loss of 800 lives. The entire event was kept a classified military secret for over 50 years. Therefore Bill's parents were notified he was missing and never were told what had happened. His body was never recovered.
The complete rescue process was so poorly handled by the American, British and Belgium commands that many lives were lost unnecessarlly.
Bill's name is on a wall in the American Cemetery, Normandy, France.
Thomas Strack(1954)