Sergeant Marion C. Fordham Jr.

Marion C. Fordham Junior, a Sergeant in the 397th infantry regiment of the 100th infantry division, was born in 1922 and died November 12th, 1944.[1] Marion’s father Marion C. Fordham Senior was born in Statesboro, Georgia May 1^st, 1896, and served in the First World War after enlisting May 24^th, 1918.[2] Marion’s mother Zerith Fordham, also a native of Georgia, was born December 6^th, 1897. On October 26^th, 1921 Marion Sr. and Zerith Fordham married in Polk County, Florida, and less than a year later Marion C. Fordham Jr. was born.[3] By 1935, the family moved from Arcadia in Desoto County, Florida, where they lived in 1930,[4] to Fort Myers in Lee County, Florida.¹ Here Marion would stay until around 1940 when he and his parents settled down in Tampa, Florida.[5]

In 1943, Marion C. Fordham Junior married Ann Yarbrough in Tampa, Florida where they lived together until Marion joined the Army[6]. He enlisted just a year later at about 19 years-old on November 13th 1942 from Milledgeville, Georgia.[7]

For the next two years Marion would serve in Company A of the 397th infantry regiment, part of the 100th infantry division. His regiment would not see combat until the campaign in the Vosges Mountains of France where they would meet the enemy outside of the town of Baccarat on November 12th.[8] In early Novemeber, the soldiers got a taste for life in a foxhole in the cold rain. On November 11, the men readied themselves for the Seventh Army's enormour winter offenseive to break through the Vosges Mountains, know to be well defended by the Germans. On Novemeber 12 at 0900 the First Battalion attacked, with Company A (including Fordham) to the North. Their mission was to seize the communication center of Raon L'Etape on the banks of the Meurthe River, which was situated on high ground[9] 

This fighting was new to the green and untested men of the 397^th and proved trying as the enemy possessed a well-fortified position on higher ground with heavy machine guns. Marion’s squad advanced towards one of these machine gun nests which had been halting the company’s progression when he was struck by enemy fire and wounded.[10] But Fordham did not seek help, instead he rose into full view of the enemy and advanced on the position as he fired his rifle. Once he was in throwing distance, he began hurling grenades as the machine gun continued to fire. He closed the last few yards by fixing his bayonet and charging the remainder of the enemy squadron engaging them in hand to hand combat. Fordham silenced the enemy position that day and saved many of his men and fellow soldiers, but he gave his life in the effort. For his actions on that day, Marion C. Fordham Jr. received the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy . "Sergeant Fordham's gallant actions and selfless devotion to duty, without regard for his own safety, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army"[11] He was also awarded the Purple Heart.