Musser, Fred 

FRED MUSSER

PRIVATE
U.S. ARMY

Fred Musser was born June 14, 1913 to Christian and Minnie (Hall) Musser of rural Madison Township in Allen County. Christian was a tenant farmer and Minnie took care of their 9 children. Fred was the sixth child and had seven brothers (Eli, Seth, David, John, Edward, Raymond, and Harry), and one sister Viola (Zurcher). By 1920, the large family was living in Union Township in Adams County, just outside of Decatur, Indiana. In 1924, however, Christian Musser died leaving Minnie and the family widowed. Minnie later married Louis Brunner of Decatur, Indiana. Fred attended Decatur High School graduating in 1932. Fred and his family were members of the Reformed Church at Decatur.  

After graduation, Fred began worked for a short time at the Decatur Daily Democrat in the composing room and then as a printer in Berne, Indiana. On his October, 1940 draft registration card, Fred listed his residence as Garrett, Indiana and that he was employed with the Great American Tea Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1941, Fred married Olive Rose Teeter and moved to Fort Wayne where they had a son, Fred Roland Jr. Olive Rose was a teacher at the Justin N. Study School in Fort Wayne while Fred worked at the Zollner Machine Works and the Sunoco Oil Company. 

Fred was drafted into the U.S. Army on August 24, 1943 at the age of 30 and reported for military service that September. He completed his basic military training at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi and training to be an army cook at Fort Meade, Maryland. He was sent overseas in June, 1944 as part of an infantry replacement group. On January 1, 1945, however, he was assigned as a replacement with the 319th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division located in Luxembourg.

The 80th Infantry Division was activated on July 15, 1942 and set sail on July 4, 1944 aboard the SS Queen Mary eventually landing in Greenock, Scotland. From there, the 80th Division moved on to France, landing on Utah Beach on August 3, 1944. The 80th "Blue Ridge" Division was part of General George Patton's Third Army organized to defeat German forces in Western Europe. The 80th Infantry served in numerous campaigns including Northern France, Rhineland, and Ardennes-Alsace. Additionally, elements of the 80th participated in the liberation of both Buchenwald and Ebensee Concentration Camps (Mauthausen) in April 1945.The division recorded 239 days of combat and became inactive on January 5, 1946. The 80th Division, known as the "Blue Ridge" Division lost over 3,500 men in combat from D-Day to VE Day. Included in these numbers are eight men from Adams County. 

Private Musser was killed in action just seven days after arriving in combat. His wife, Olive, received a letter from him the day before she received the death notification indicating his new address in Luxembourg. He was buried at a temporary American Cemetery in Luxembourg.

Upon conclusion of the war, on July 30, 1948 Private Musser's remains were returned to Decatur by train. A funeral was held on Thursday August 5, 1948 at Zwick & Jahn Funeral Home and he was laid to rest at the Decatur Cemetery, in Decatur, Indiana. 

For his service and sacrifice, Pvt. Musser earned the WWII Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the Purple Heart for injuries resulting in death.

SOURCES

           "80th Infantry Division - WWII." 80th Infantry Division - WWII. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.

“AncestryClassroom.” Ancestryclassroom.com, 2021, www.ancestryclassroom.com/search/collections/2238/records/41217302?_phcmd=u(%27www.ancestryclassroom.com/search/?name=Fred_Musser&event=_indiana&birth=1913&searchMode=advanced&successSource=Search&queryId=a1eff7e5-3e28-4f86-921c-536148ca7512%27. Accessed 8 May 2025.

Decatur Daily Democrat 4 August 1948 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana’s Digital Historic Newspaper Program.” In.gov, 2025, newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=DCDD19480804.1.1&srpos=17&e=------194-en-20--1--txt-txIN-fred+musser------. Accessed 7 May 2025.

"Decatur Daily Democrat 23 January 1945 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana’s Digital Historic Newspaper Program.” In.gov, 2025, newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=DCDD19450123.1.1&srpos=5&e=------194-en-20--1--txt-txIN-fred+musser------. Accessed 8 May 2025.

“Decatur Daily Democrat 30 July 1948 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana’s Digital Historic Newspaper Program.” In.gov, 2025, newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=DCDD19480730.1.1&srpos=6&e=------194-en-20--1--txt-txIN-fred+musser------. Accessed 8 May 2025.

 “Fred Musser (1913-1945) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Findagrave.com, 2022, www.findagrave.com/memorial/43214921/fred-musser. Accessed 5 May 2025.

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