Wallace Eugene ROCK

“Bud”

Source : Arnaud Gaté

Parents : Wallace & Leta Holland ROCK

Sister : LTC Marjorie J  

Source : F Lavernhe

P-47 Thunderbolt - type D-20-RE - s/n 42-76455 A6*M

Macr : 6271

Mission : Beach coverage towards Cherbourg (50)
Take-off station 408 Beaulieu, Hampshire
Shot down in air combat by fighter at 2:20 pm

Map of Normandy American Cemetery

Source : Fold3

Originally Second Lieutenant Rock was listed as Missing in Action or non-recoverable.

His name was permanently inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Later, 2LT Rock's remains were recovered, identified and interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Rosetta medal When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite. 

Hillcrest Cemetery Heuvelton,

St. Lawrence County, NEW YORK

Source : F 

First Lieutenant Wallace Eugene “Bud” Rock (O-816159) was born April 6, 1924 in Sea Cliff, Lond Island, New York, to Wallace Henry and Leta Holland Rock. His father was a carpenter. Wallace had one sister, Marjorie, who was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Nurse Corps who served in North Africa and Italy.

 Wallace graduated from Heuvelton Central High School in Heuvelton, New York, in 1942 where he earned seven letters in sports and was a member of the band, orchestra, and chorus. He was single when he enlisted in the Army Air Forces on August 4, 1942. He trained as a fighter pilot and earned his wings and commission as a Second Lieutenant. He was assigned to the 386th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group (“Hell Hawks”), Ninth Air Force and was sent overseas where the 365th FG flew P-47 Thunderbolts on missions out of AAF-408, Beaulieu, England.

 RAF Beaulieu/ USAAF AAF-408 is located on Hatchet Moor one mile west of the village of East Boldre, about two miles west-southwest of the village of Beaulieu and 4 miles northeast of Lymington. The 365th Fighter Group took over the Beaulieu field from the RAF on March 1, 1944. They operated in close support of the ground troops flying missions from prior to D-Day to the end of the war as the Allied forces moved east across France and Germany. They flew interdictory missions, strafing and bombing troop concentrations, railroads, highways, bridges, ammunition and fuel dumps, armored vehicles, docks, and tunnels. The 365th FG moved to ALG A-7 at Azeville, France, on 26 June 1944.

 On April 27, 1944, 2 Lt. Rock’s P-47, #42-76455, collided with P-47 #42-75418 in a taxiing accident at Beaulieu. Both planes were repaired and flew again. 2 Lt. Rock flew before, on, and after D-Day.

 On June 22, 1944, 2 Lt. Rock departed AAF-408, in P-47D-20 D5- #42-76455 on a beach cover mission in the Cherbourg, France, area as a wingman with a flight of the 386th Fighter Squadron. During the mission, flying at 12,000 feet, the flight was bounced by three enemy Me-109s. One of the enemy was seen diving down at 2 Lt. Rock. He was radioed to take evasive action, but before he could do so, the enemy plane made several hits on his cockpit and canopy. His plane went down in an uncontrolled spin and was last seen at 10,000 feet. Captain David L. Gross (O-793505) then destroyed the enemy Me-109 that had downed 2 Lt. Rock. Capt. Gross himself was later killed in combat on August 6, 1944. MACR 6271

 On June 22, 1944, at 1420 hours, 2 Lt. Rock was shot down by an enemy Me-109G-6, crashed, and was killed 1.6 miles north-northeast of Marchésieux, France, one mile southwest of Le Moulin, and 110 miles south of AAF-408.

He was 20 years old.

 Originally, 2 Lt. Rock was listed as Missing in Action or non-recoverable. His name was permanently inscribed on the Walls of the Missing in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, France. This cemetery, sited on a bluff high above the coastline of Normandy, France where the legendary D-Day beach landings took place, is one of the world’s best-known military memorials. These hallowed grounds contain the graves of 9,386 American military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing, in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial, are inscribed 1,557 names.

 His plane and remains were unearthed in 1993 near Marchésieux, France, by a French butcher whose hobby was unearthing WWII sites. His remains were not identified for three more years. When it finally was, the body was repatriated to the US and buried by the 10th Mountain Division with full military honors on May 21, 1977 at in the Rock family plot in Hillcrest Cemetery, Heuvelton, St. Lawrence County, New York.

There is a memorial stele to 2 Lt. Rock 0.3 miles from the site of his plane crash on the edge of the D57 between Marchésieux and the D29, 2.6 miles southwest of Le Moulin (49°12'35"N 1°16'52"W).

 There is another memorial to 2 Lt. Rock in the town of Marchésieux off the southern edge of the D94, near the intersection with D433 and near the town church (49°11'16"N 1°17'27"W). It is a small glass-walled wooden house holding the remains of 2 Lt. Rock's plane and bearing a small plaque on its outer wall commemorating the airman. It was inaugurated by his sister, Marjorie, on June 7, 1998.

 He was awarded the Air Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters and the Purple Heart.

Thank you for your sacrifice and service, 2 Lt. Rock … Rest in Peace.

Sister of 

Wallace E

Marjorie J. ROCK

Source : Leon Burnap   

Parents : Wallace & Leta Holland ROCK

Brother : Wallace Eugene

Hillcrest Cemetery
Heuvelton, St. Lawrence County, NEW YORK

Source : Anne Cady