Theodore J. Pivoras

Private First Class • U.S. Army • Serial 32756729

759th Light Tank Battalion

Entered service from New Jersey • Died July 29, 1945

Buried at New St. Mary’s Cemetery, Bellmawr, New Jersey

Private First Class Theodore J. Pivoras was inducted into the United States Army on April 14, 1943. After completing his basic training he was assigned to the 759th Light Tank Battalion.

The 759th Tank Battalion was a tank battalion of the United States Army active during the Second World War. It was activated in June 1941 as a light tank battalion, equipped with M3 Stuart tanks, and sent to Iceland as part of the garrison force in mid-1942. After a year it moved to the United Kingdom in mid-1943, and landed in Normandy on D+10, June 16, 1944. It was attached to the 2nd Infantry Division and fought in the St-Lô area. When the 2nd Division moved westward towards Brest in mid-August, the battalion was attached to the 4th Cavalry Group. Moving eastward, the 759th Light Tank Battalion crossed the Seine north of Paris in late August with VII Corps, then over the Meuse, entering Germany on September 13. In December, it moved north into the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge, and was the first unit to receive the M24 Chaffee tank. It then took up defensive positions, before reaching the Rhine in early March. It moved through Germany capturing a number of small towns in April, and ended the war in Aschersleben, eastern Germany.

Private First Class Pivoras died due to reasons not related to combat on July 29, 1945. He was 21 at the time of his death. His body was returned to the United States in November of 1948 and he was buried at New St. Mary’s Cemetery in Bellmawr, New Jersey.