WWII · Battle Death Record
Willard Bowsky
Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army · New Jersey
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Willard Bowsky
- Entered the Service From
- New Jersey
- Rank
- Second Lieutenant
- Service
- U.S. Army
- Unit / Regiment
- 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 14th Armored Division
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- November 27, 1944
- Awards
- Silver Star, Purple Heart
- Burial / Memorial
- Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial, Saint-Avold, France
- Grave
- Plot D, Row 13, Grave 38
Their story
Willard Gustav Bowsky was a motion-picture animator at Fleischer Studios, known for Popeye the Sailor and Betty Boop cartoons, before being commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army during World War II. Serving as a platoon leader in the 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 14th Armored Division, he and four of his men were killed in action on November 27, 1944, during a nighttime firefight with German forces in eastern France. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.