William Musser

Woodstock, IL.

Date of Birth: 18 March, 1918

Date of Death: 1 April, 1943

Branch of Service: United States Army

Rank: Private First Class

Unit: Company C, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division

Place of Death: Vicinity the town of El-Guettar, south-central Tunisia, North Africa

Private First Class William Musser

May 10^th, 1948, was a morning like any other at the Musser home at 914 Jewitt Street, Woodstock, Illinois. Until with a knock at the door, John Musser learned that his son William was finally returning home. Among his effects that eventually made it home to Woodstock were a baseball glove, a bible, swim trunks, and a preserved four-leaf clover.

The War Department’s Memorial Division had spent relentless efforts following the cessation of hostilities to meticulously track and honor all those killed in action around the world. He had initially been buried in 1943 at the Temporary American Military Cemetery at Gafsa Cemetery, Tunisia. This designated section of a much older graveyard had been temporarily filled with the young service members that had given their lives liberating Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.

PFC William “Bill” Musser was born March 18^th, 1918. He had three brothers and a sister, with two of them also in the Army Air Corps and Army. After graduating from Woodstock High, he worked at Oak Manufacturing Company along Crystal Lake Avenue for three years. The company, founded in the midst of the Great Depression, focused on the fabrication of various pieces for the burgeoning radio industry. Then, like so many others, he felt the call to serve and joined the Army in 1941 at age 22. Part of the 47^th Infantry Regiment, he and his comrades in arms were tasked with clearing North Africa across the desert from the Atlantic coast to the heart of the Mediterranean.

After completing basic training, Bill and the 47^th performed an amphibious invasion against Vichy France territory with Operation Blackstone. Clearing Morocco in November 1942, they pushed east relentlessly. The 47^th Infantry Regiment then engaged German and Italian forces in the Battle of El Guettar, among the country’s central oases. Here, he fell in battle as part of the grander Battle of Tunisia on April 1^st, 1943. “He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live, and grow, and increase its blessings.” PFC Musser was 25 years old.