Hometown Heroes of WWII
Pvt. 1st Class Armand LaFleur, U.S. Army
By Michael Rocchetti
In early December 1944, the 106th Infantry Division sailed from Southampton England to Le Harve France where they were then taken by road through France and Belgium to the Schnee Eifel region in the Ardennes. The area was deep in snow with sub-zero temperatures and thick fog. These inexperienced troops relieved the battle-hardened 2nd Infantry Division and took up positions along a front line that stretched 21 miles in a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges.
Little did they know that they occupied the sector that was directly in the path of the main German thrust during the Battle of the Bulge, which kicked off on Dec. 16, 1944. The 106th division’s 422nd and 423rd Infantry Regiments were encircled and cut off by a junction of enemy forces in the vicinity of Schönberg. The two regiments of the 106th regrouped for a counterattack, but were blocked by the enemy. The two regiments surrendered on Dec. 19. The Germans gained 6,000 prisoners in one of the largest mass surrenders in American military history. Some of the soldiers of the 106th evaded captivity and withdrew over the Our River and joined other stragglers in St Vith. From there they mounted a five-day holding action from the 17th to Dec. 21.
It was somewhere in this vicinity on Dec. 21, 1944, where Armand Lafleur was wounded and captured. Seven days later, on Dec. 28, 1944, he died of his wounds at a German prison camp. However, official military records note that he was either executed, or shot while attempting to escape.
Private 1st Class Armand Lafleur was assigned to the 423rd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division. He was born on Jan. 31, 1917, in N. Grosvenordale, the son of French Canadian immigrants Felix-Philip Lafleur, and Marie-Louise Martel. Armand Lafleur enlisted in the Army on June 2,1941. He is buried at Plot H, Row 12, Grave: 24 at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten, Netherlands. He was survived by his father, his wife Yvonne Bourque Lafleur, his five brothers, and two sisters.
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