Gilbert, Gorman A.

GORMAN ALLEN GILBERT

PRIVATE
U.S. ARMY 

Gorman Allen Gilbert was born on September 9, 1924 in Huntington County, Indiana. He lived in Monroe, Indiana with his parents Realie M. Gilbert and Addie B. (Haggard) Gilbert as a young man. He also had three older brothers: Virgil, Eugene, and Ermal. Ermal had moved out before Gorman entered military service.

Gorman attended Monroe High School, where he enjoyed local notoriety as an excellent center for his high school basketball team. He was also a player for the 1938 Monroe Bearkatz softball team, which was undefeated in the county. After graduation, he would work under his father on their family farm until he joined the war effort.

Pvt. Gilbert was inducted and entered service on July 21, 1944. He trained at Camp Robinson in Arkansas, then embarked on his journey to Europe on December 25, 1944. He served in the European theatre as part of a Medical Detachment under the 20th Armored Infantry, a division in General Patton’s Third Army. The 20th Armored Infantry division fought in Central Europe. They were present in the Seine-Inferieure region of France and the regions of the Rhineland, Hessen-Nassau, and Bavaria of Germany. They also assisted in the liberation of Dachau, an infamous Nazi death camp.

Pvt. Gilbert was killed in action on March 6, 1945 in Germany. He was temporarily buried in a United States Military Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg until his remains were sent back to his family in Indiana. His funeral was held at 1:30 p.m. at the Lobenstein Funeral Home in Monroe, and then again at 2:00 p.m. at the Monroe Friends Church on August 27, 1948. He is interred in the Decatur Cemetery. 

For his service and sacrifice, Private Gilbert earned the Purple Heart, American Theatre Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal. 

Information collected and researched by Davis Macke, 2018. 

SOURCES

          “Funeral for Pvt. Gorman A. Gilbert Friday.” The Berne Witness, 23 Aug. 1948, pp. 1–2.

          “Gorman Gilbert Reported Killed on German Front.” The Berne Witness, 19 Mar. 1945, pp. 1–1.

          Indiana Historical Bureau, comp. Gold Star Honor Roll: Adams County. Bloomington: Indiana War       History Commission, 1949. Print. Vol. 1 of Indiana in World War II.

          “Order of Battle of the US Army - WWII - ETO20th ARMORED DIVISION.” U.S. Army Center of Military History, U.S. Army Center of Military History, history.army.mil/documents/ETO-  OB/20AD-ETO.htm.

          Pearce, Margie Roop. “PVT Gorman A. Gilbert.” Find A Grave,  www.findagrave.com/memorial/40829195/gorman-a_-gilbert.

          “Pvt. Gilbert Rites at Friends Church.” The Berne Witness, 25 Aug. 1948.

          “Ten Men Leave Today for Army.” The Berne Witness, 12 June 1944, pp. 1–

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