Clifford W. Aldrich
Clifford W. Aldrich, Private First Class, U.S. Army.
Private First Class • U.S. Army • Serial 42110735
Company I, 386th Infantry Regiment, 97th Infantry Division
Entered service from New Jersey • Died April 10, 1945
Buried at Netherlands American Cemetery, Plot H Row 8 Grave 2, Margraten, Netherlands
Awards: Purple Heart
Introduction
Private First Class Clifford William Aldrich was born in Michigan in 1926 to Clifford Chilson Aldrich and his wife Clara. His father was born in North Uxbridge, Massachusetts; his mother was born in Holland and brought to America as a young girl. Clifford W. Aldrich was the middle child, coming after sister Jane and before baby sister Donna. The family moved to Worcester, Massachusetts shortly before the April 1930 Federal Census. By April of 1942 the family had moved to New Jersey, taking up residence in Merchantville at 20 Chapel Avenue, where Clifford C. Aldrich worked at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard in Camden. Clifford Aldrich had two years of high school and worked as a driver before being drafted.
Clifford W. Aldrich was inducted into the United States Army at Fort Dix NJ on March 28, 1944, and was eventually sent to join 3rd Squad, First Platoon, Company I, 386th Infantry Regiment, 97th Infantry Division at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. He was trained as a rifleman and to use the Browning Automatic Rifle. In July 1944 the 97th Infantry Division moved to Camp San Luis Obispo, CA for amphibious training, then to Camp Cooke, CA in September 1944. In February 1945 the division departed from New York for Europe, arriving March 1, 1945 at Le Havre, France.
The 97th Infantry Division crossed the German border west of Aachen on March 28, 1945, and took up a defensive position on the west bank of the Rhine River opposite Düsseldorf. The division entered the battle of the Ruhr Pocket, crossing the Rhine near Bonn on April 3, and then the Sieg River on April 7. Private First Class Clifford W. Aldrich was killed in action on April 10, 1945, in fighting between the Sieg River and Drabenderhohe. He is buried at Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten, Netherlands. His parents and sister Donna were still living in Merchantville as late as 1947.