Wednesday, June 9, 2021

G3: Philip Keown & Jane Harte

Jane Harte marries Philip Keown in April 1942. He was born in Ireland in 1907, and is killed March 1945 in Germany during WW2, and is buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56300482/philip-keown





This would have been typical for his unit, the 771st Tank Battalion:

Note '771' on left lower hull. 'C' on right lower would mean Charlie company; I'm trying to find roster to see which company Philip was in.

In Beffe, Belgium, there's a monument giving thanks to the US Army.

The blue plaque to the right says '771', indicating the tank belonged to the same 771st Tank Battalion.

This is the link to the after-action report for the 771st:

https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll8/id/3464/rec/1

Philip should be listed in here, but a large part of the document is hard to read.

According to this site, Philip was in A Company:

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=330808



The above was sent to Jane in 1960 (by which time she had re-married), regarding Philip's burial in the Netherlands. Note under "Decorations" it says BSM and PH:

PH - Purple Heart, injured in combat

BSM - Bronze Star, impressive, but sad.


Jane, widowed, returning to NY from a visit to Ireland, 1947:



1 comment: