Barnthouse, Robert M. 

ROBERT MARION BARNTHOUSE

CORPORAL
U.S. ARMY

Robert Marion Barnthouse was born on June 6, 1920 in Bluffton, Indiana, and is the son of Marion and Euriel Barnthouse. He is joined by his younger sister of 3 years, Imogene Wilma Barnthouse who was born July 23, 1923. Marion and Euriel married on March 16, 1918 in Adams County. As a young family they lived in the Wells County area while Marion worked as a street worker and Euriel stayed home with Robert and Imogene. Upon the death of his father, Marion, his mother remarried Otto Gase on July 30, 1941 and moved to Decatur. Otto himself was a veteran of the U.S. Army in WWI where he earned the Purple Heart for losing his arm in combat.

As a teen, Robert attended 4 years of schooling at Bluffton High School and got the reputation of being “The Thinker”. He didn’t participate in any sports in his high school career, but he was a part of the athletic council and took numerous academic classes. During his high school years Robert wanted to be a cartoonist when he grew older. After graduation he worked at Isch Hardware in Bluffton before enlisting.

On October 7, 1941 Robert Barnthouse enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana. He received basic training in Camp Walters in Texas and was then  transferred to Fort Benning in Georgia, and then, finally to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. From Fort Bragg, Robert was shipped overseas to prepare for action in the European/African theatre arriving in England by June 1942. 

Robert was assigned to the 3d Battalion (Airborne) 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion; this battalion is nicknamed “The Honorary Red Devils”, because of the red berets that they were "awarded the right to wear" by the Commander of the British 1st Airborne Division. The 509th was the first American Airborne Division to deploy overseas. Robert served in four campaigns, and made four combat jumps over two continents with the 509th seeing combat in  Tunisia, Italy, France, and  Belgium. In November of 1942, the 509th conducted the first American airborne operation of the war when they seized Tafarquay Airport in Oran, Algeria. This would go down as the longest airborne operation in U.S Army history (over 1600 miles from England to Algeria). While in Algeria, the 509th engaged the German Afrika Korps with the goal of liberating North Africa and taking pressure off the British Army in their goal to secure the Suez Canal from German attacks. 

According to the Decatur Daily Democrat (DDD), an official message sent to Robert's mother stating he was reported "Missing in Action" on September 15, 1943. The article also states that his mom had received a letter from Robert written on the same day he was reported as missing and "evidently he was sent on his mission following the writing of the letter". On October 8, 1943 another letter arrived announcing that he was "found safe" after being dropped behind enemy lines in Sicily during Operation Husky. The November 5th story in the DDD stated, "Nazi soldiers came within two feet of where he was sleeping alongside the road". 

The same month they made a combat jump into Avellino Italy to cut off German supplies. While in Italy they were requested to support combat operations in Anzio on January 21, 1944. For preventing the Germans from overwhelming the allies at the beach head, the battalion earned its first of two Presidential Unit Citations. In August 1944, the battalion dropped in Southern France as part of Operation Dragoon where Robert was wounded by shrapnel in the jaw and forefinger earning him a Purple Heart for his combat related injuries. 

While the 509th battalion was in France a French regiment awarded them with its regimental crest the motto on the medal said “J’y suis – J’y reste” (“Here I Am – Here I Remain”), this was for linking up with the French and going after the Afrika Korps together. 

By December, a recovered Corporal Barnthouse was on the move again to Belgium where they were attached to the 3d Armored Division to fight off the German offense in the Battle of Bulge between December 22 and 30 of 1944. The 509th had little ammunition and food but held their ground at the front against German artillery and tanks. For gallantry, the 509th earned their second Presidential Unit Citation. On January 21, 1945 twenty-four year old Corporal Robert Barnthouse was killed in action while serving near Eupen, Belgium. 

The Battle of the Bulge left the 509th devastated with losses and injuries. Of the nearly 700 paratroopers that entered the battle, only 48 enlisted men and 7 officers remained after the Battle of the Bulge. On March 1, 1945, the unit was disbanded and most of the survivors were transferred into the 82nd Airborne Division. 

The 509th battalion remains the most decorated American Parachute battalion in all of WWII, with 1,718 Purple Hearts. 

Robert was laid to rest temporarily overseas at Henri- Chapelle, an American cemetery over in Belgium. Upon conclusion of the war and at the request of the family, his remains were returned February 21, 1948. He is interred at Elm Grove Cemetery, in Bluffton, Indiana.

For his service and sacrifice, Corporal Barnthouse was awarded the American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal.

Information researched and compiled by Avery Sonnenberg, 2018.

SOURCES

82d Airborne Division. "82d Airborne Division War Memorial Museum." 82d Airbornne Divison Museum, www.82ndairbornedivisionmuseum.com/general-information/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018.

The Army Historical Foundation. "509th Infantry Regiment." The Army Historical Foundation, 28 Jan. 2015, armyhistory.org/509th-infantry-regiment/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018.

Bluffton News Banner. "Memorial Planned Cpl. Barnthouse." The Bluffton News-Banner, Bluffton, 1945.

"Bodies of Four Wells County War Dead Being Brought Home from Belgium aboard Transport Robert Burns." Bluffton News-Banner, Bluffton, 1947, p. 1.

Liby, Thomas. "CPL Robert M Barnthouse." Find A Grave, 23 Dec. 2011, www.findagrave.com/memorial/82311250. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018.

Pearce, Margie, editor. "World War II Deaths from Adams County." The USGenWeb Project, www.ingenweb.org/inadams/Military/WW2Deaths.html.

U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans. "Robert M Barnthouse." Ancestry, 

Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., search.ancestryclassroom.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=BKI179&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&qh=gol9BF86Aq/Cs69sDZoRcg%3D%3D&gss=angsc&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=robert%20m&gsfn_x=0&gsln=barnthouse&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=Wells%20County,%20Indiana,%20USA&msypn=3117&MSAV=1&uidh=exc&pcat=34&h=264897&dbid=2375&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018.

Woodward, Wava, editor. Retrospect 1938. 1938.

World War II Enlistment Records. "Robert M Barnthouse." Ancestry, Ancestry.com, search.ancestryclassroom.com/cgibin/sse.dll?_phsrc=BKI194&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&qh=L3870EtHG2slo9NJ%2BRYZ6A%3D%3D&gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=robert%20m&gsfn_x=0&gsln=barnthouse&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=Wells%20County,%20Indiana,%20USA&msypn=3117&msbdy=1920&msddy=1945&msdpn__ftp=Belgium&msdpn=5035&catbucket=rstp&MSAV=1&uidh=exc&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=3096784&dbid=8939&indiv=1&ml_rpos=7. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018.

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