COTTINGHAM, John Ernest, Jr.

Rank:

Second Lieutenant

Service Branch:

U.S. Army

Serial Number:

0-414304

Division:

32nd Infantry Division ("Red Arrow")

Regiment:

126th Infantry Regiment

Battalion:

First Battalion

Company:

Co. A

Function:

Status:

Killed in Action

Date of death:

November 21, 1942

Place of death:

near Buna, New Guinea

Age at death:

23

Awards:

Bronze Star, Purple Heart (posthumous)

Burial 1:

U.S. Military Cemetery near Buna, New Guinea

Burial 2:

Manila American Military Cemetery,
Fort Bonifacio, Manila, Philippines

Grave number:

Plot A, Row 14, Grave 210

Cenotaph:

Saint Paul’s Methodist Church Cemetery
Little Rock, Dillon County, South Carolina

Born:

November 3, 1919

Hometown:

Little Rock, Dillon County, South Carolina

Family:

Parents:
John Ernest Cottingham, Sr. (1890 - 1959)
Ruth Wannamaker Cottingham (1891 - 1979)

Spouse:


Children:


Siblings:
Legette Wannamaker Cottingham
Mrs. George Ashley
Ruth Cottingham

Additional information:

Attended Clemson College (ROTC program). Killed by a sniper's bullet while leading his platoon against a Japanese position near Buna, New Guinea.
See obituary, this site.

Research by: Victoria Proctor, genealogist

Sources: Dillon County War Memorial, NARA, American Battle Monuments Commission, The Dillon Herald (January 7, 1943 issue), The State (March 25, 1943 issue), Clemson University

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Copyright © 2014 Victoria Proctor. All rights reserved.