Edward James Wells was born December 10, 1920 to Birney M. Wells (1891-1931) and Laura E. Loudon (1896-1983). His parents were married October 26, 1919 in Oneonta, NY.  According to U.S. Census records, both his parents were from New York. His dad was a driver for a local dairy company and his mom may have worked as a house lady for a local hotel. (Census records are hard to read on her). Early in his childhood they lived on East St. in Oneonta, NY. His dad, who served overseas in WWI with the 303rd Infantry, died in May of 1931 when Ed was just 10 years old. Ed graduated from Oneonta High School in 1939 where he was on the debate team, took four years of French and was known to be "Fair and square in dealing with others." After graduating, U.S. Census records show he lived with him mom on Tilton Ave. in Oneonta. He worked for the local Grand Union store until his enlistment. 

Ed enlisted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on October 8, 1940. He received his basic training at Fort DuPont, Delaware, Fort Devens, Mass., Camp Blanding, Fla. and Fort Benning, Ga. before going overseas to join The Big Red One in July 1942. His battalion landed with the initial forces in the North Africa invasion in November 1942. In 1943, the battalion cleared underwater obstacles and destroyed enemy pillboxes during the landings on Sicily. During the Normandy landings at Omaha Beach in 1944, the battalion led the assault forces, breaching gaps in the extensive enemy mine and wire obstacles and clearing the combat trails leading off the beaches. From there the battalion fought its way through northern France, into Belgium and then on into Germany. An incredible record of combat that took its toll on the men that lived through it.

S/Sgt. Wells had been overseas a total of 35 months and had five battle stars and 118 points, more than enough for an honorable discharge. When, on May 8, while the world was celebrating VE Day, the 1st Division liberated the concentration camps at Zwodau and Falkenau an der Eger, both subcamps of the Flossenbürg concentration camp. The horror was well documented and hard to imagine. Ed lost his life* on May 29, 1945 in Franzensbad, Czechoslavakia, just days after his unit had liberated Falkenau.

He was buried on June 1 in the US Military Cemetery #1, Nurnberg, Germany Grave 162, Row 7, Plot D. His body was disinterred and reburied (per his mother's wishes) at the Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold , France, Plot D, Row 8, Grave 21 on January 20, 1949. In June of 1945 a memorial service is held for Ed at the Main Street Baptist Church in Oneonta, NY. His name is etched on a memorial plaque in the main hallway of his high school. 

*Author's note.  PTSD was not well understood during World War II.  Commonly referred to as "Battle Fatigue", thousands of service men suffered from it.  

If you notice anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact Jim Greenberg at nez13820@gmail.com. 

Sources

Fold3,(https://www.fold3.com/publication/831/wwii-army-enlistment-records:

accessed January 8, 2023), database and images,

https://www.fold3.com/publication/831/wwii-army-enlistment-records

Find a Grave, for Staff Sgt. Edward J. Wells, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56662145/edward-j-wells, accessed January 8, 2023.

Find a Grave, for Laura Wells, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/228698434/laura-e-wells, accessed January 8, 2023.

Find a Grave, for Birney Wells, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/228698312/birney-m-wells, accessed January 8, 2023.

G.I. Honored After Death, Binghamton Press, Press and Sun Bulletin, Binghamton, NY, June 18, 1945, pg. 2.

Image of Falkenau courtesy of Jonathan Rosenbaum's Falkenau, the Impossible, Samuel Fuller Bears Witness, accessed at https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2022/11/falkenau-the-impossible-samuel-fuller-bears-witness-2/, January 9, 2023.

Headstone Inscription and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949. Series A1 43, NAI ID: 7408555. Records of the American Battle Monuments Commission, 1918–ca. 1995. Record Group 117. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.

Moore, Edwin, Oneonta Scrapbook Series, Huntington Memorial Library, Oneonta, NY.

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

The Oneontan 1939, Yearbook for Oneonta High School, accessed at the Oneonta Historical Society, Main St. Oneonta, NY

Year:1940; Census Place:Oneonta, Otsego, New York; Roll:m-t0627-02717; Page:11A; Enumeration District:39-34

Supporting Files