Herbert Charles Carney was born April 19, 1920 in Plesant [sic] Valley, N.Y. (Pleasant Valley, Pleasant Valley near Oriskany Falls, New York, is a historic rural area and hamlet located in the adjacent town of Sangerfield, NY. It sits right along Pleasant Valley Road, stretching between the village of Oriskany Falls and the village of Waterville ) to Terance Hugh Carney (1880-1960) and Agnes Mary Hayes (1886-1930). His parents were married on May 25, 1910 in Waterville, NY. His dad was a laborer on a road crew and later the manager of a milk plant. Herbert was the fifth of their 11 children which included George (1912-1976), Lee (1914-2004), Raymond (1916-1992), Ann (1918-1993) all older and Donald (1922-1990), Richard (1923-2002), twins Alice (1924-2012) and Rose (1924-1994), Walter (1925-2008) and Lillian (1928-2007) all younger. In 1925 the family lived on Cottage St. in Oriskany Falls, NY and by 1930 they had moved to Madison St. in Oriskany Falls, NY. His mom died in 1930. His enlistment papers note he had a grammar school education.

When Herbert registered for the draft on July 1, 1941 in Rome, NY he was 5'-7" tall, weighed 134 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. He reported working as a Buffer at Oneida Ltd. in nearby Sherrill, NY. He was drafted into the service through Ft. Niagara, Youngstown, NY on February 6, 1942 with service number 32233001. He did his basic training at Fort Meade, Maryland and by June the next year was stationed at Ft. Read, Trinidad and Tobago in the British West Indies (BWI). In April 1943 local newspapers report his engagement to Beverly Ann Meeker. On September 18, 1943, while stationed at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi he was given a 20 day furlough which local papers reported. He married Beverly on September 23 while on furlough and they spend their honeymoon in the Adirondaks. His rank at that time was Cpl. He was sent overseas in April 1944. (He must have gotten promoted just before going overseas because a May 1, 1944 Morning Report from Camp Van Dorn reported him being promoted to Staff Sgt.)

It didn't take him long to get in some trouble. An August 2, 1944 Morning Report recorded him at Camp Davenport, in Shropshire England and that he was reduced from a grade of S/Sgt. to Pvt. Another Morning Report from August 27, 1944 puts him at "S 2 66916 Near Fontainebleau" just southeast of Paris, France. In September 1944 the 135th Engineer Combat Battalion was attached to the 1139th Engineer Combat Group and was heavily involved in the 3rd Army's advance toward the Moselle River in the drive toward Metz.

A November 14, 1944 Morning Report listed him as MIA in "vic of Basse-Y eff Nov 12". This report was from "V U 7982 Nord De Guerre Hayange". This places his unit in the area around Hayange in the Fensch Valley, northwest of Metz and southwest of Thionville. What happened in Basse-Yutz on November 12, 1944 is well documented. Basse-Yutz is a suburb of Thionville, located directly on the banks of the Moselle River. On November 11-12, this spot was the focal point of a massive Allied effort to establish a bridgehead across the river to encircle Metz. Pvt. Carney was lost in this fighting. His body is never found and a year and a day later, November 13, 1945 he was declared killed in action. He is memorialized in the American War Cemetery in Luxembourg.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

Coe, Hugh M., The Lorraine Campaign, United States Army in World War II, The European Theater of Operations, Historical Division, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1993. Library of Congress Card Number 50-60957

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55956744/herbert_c-carney: accessed 5 Sep 2026), memorial page for Pvt Herbert C Carney (unknown–13 Nov 1945), Find a Grave Memorial ID 55956744, citing Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, Hamm, Canton de Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Maintained by MAJ Jimmy Cotton (contributor 48803557).

"Herbert Carney Killed", The Clinton Courier, Clinton, NY, November ?, 1945, pg. 4

National Archives, Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records) 

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri;Record Group 64: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration; Series: Morning Reports; Morning Reports for August 1944: Roll 630; NAID: 567015514.

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147

New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA; New York State Birth Index

“Oriskany Falls News”, Carney-Meeker, The Waterville Times, Waterville, NY, September 30, 1943, pg. 3

Oriskany Falls, "Herbert Carney, 23, Killed in Action", Rome Sentinel, Rome, NY, November 24, 1945, pg. 5.

Oriskany Falls, Daily Sentinel, Rome, NY, May 22, 1942, pg. 15.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Oriskany Falls, Oneida, New York; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0003; FHL microfilm: 2341354

Year: 1940; Census Place: Oriskany Falls, Oneida, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02700; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 33-3

Supporting Documents