Myers, Alva Adrian

ALVA ADRIAN MYERS

PRIVATE 1st CLASS
U.S. ARMY

Alva was born on the 16th of January in the year 1926. His parents were Samuel and Bessie Myers. He was the oldest of 7 children in the Myer's household including sisters: Georgia, Edna, Minnie, Judith; and brothers John, and David. Alva grew up in Wilshire Indiana, and went to school in Pleasant Mills. Alva completed two years of high school before he took a job at the Decatur Casting Company with his father. 

On April 8, 1944, Alva was drafted into the U.S. Army. Alva's enlistment terms were to serve for the duration of the war plus six months. He was assigned to the 80th Infantry Division and eventually attained the rank of Private First Class (PFC). 

The 80th Infantry Division landed on Utah Beach on August 3rd, 1944, and was assigned to Patton's 3rd Army. Their first mission was to stop the German attack at Avranches, France. The Division then attacked Argentan which resulted in the encirclement of German Army Group B. This was a decisive victory which eventually paves the way for the liberation of Paris and an allied path to Germany. The Third Army dashed across France cutting through St. Mihiel, Chalons, and Commercy in pursuit of the retreating Germans until stopped by the lack of gasoline and other supplies at the Seille River in eastern France. It was around this time that PFC Myers would join the 80th Infantry Division as a replacement soldier. In October 1944, the 80th Infantry Division maintained defensive positions on the western shore of the Seille River in preparation for the push into the industrially vital Saar River Basin. The attack began on 8 November with the 80th advancing through Delme Ridge, Faulquemont, and St. Avold.In St. Avold where it was ordered to stop for two weeks of rest, reorganization, and training before advancing any further. 

The 80th, however, was ordered to move without delay in response to the German advance through the Ardennes in what became the Battle of the Bulge. After the allies blunted the final German offensive, with now limited resistance, they pushed east into Germany crossing the Siegfried Line, the Rhine River, the Danube and ultimately into Austria by the time of the German surrender on May 8, 1945. While the 80th navigated crossing the German "Siegfried Line" defenses, PFC Myers was killed somewhere near Weilerswist Germany on March 3, 1945. 

The 80th Division was activated on July 15, 1942 would 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 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 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. 

PFC Myers was temporarily buried at the Henry Chappelle American Cemetery in Belgium. and later in Wilshire Cemetery, Wilshire Ohio. He was nineteen years old at the time of his death.

For his service and sacrifice, PFC Myers earned the Purple Heart, American Theatre Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal. PFC Myers also earned the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Information researched and collected by Zach Myers, 2014. 

SOURCES

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

Indiana Historical Bureau, comp. Gold Star Honor Roll: Adams County. Bloomington: Indiana

The Berne Witness 19 Mar. 1945, Obituary sec. Print.

War History Commission, 1949. Print. Vol. 1 of Indiana in World War II.

Year: 1930; census place: Monroe, Adams, Indiana; roll: 574; page: 1B; enumeration district: 8; image: 137.0; FHL microfilm: 2340309

Year: 1940; census place: blue creek, Adams, Indiana; roll: T627_1024; page: 1A; enumeration district: 1-1

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