WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - PFC Paul E. Singer

 Private First Class Paul Edward Singer

No photo could be found for Pvt Singer, a medic. This is a 
stock photo of a medic.

Paul Edward Singer was born in Paulding County, but his parents, John Charles and Florence Sarah (Donier) did move to Defiance.

He attended St. Mary's Parochial School, ended his education there, and then he farmed awhile in Paulding County. 

Born on August 31, 1917, he enlisted in the army at the age of 25, on October 14, 1942. Toledo was his enlistment place, but then he moved on to Camp Perry and then Camp Attenbury, Indiana. He was trained and assigned as a medic in a detachment to the 330th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division.

His group departed the United States on March/April 6, 1944, arriving in England on the 16th. He underwent intensive training there and in Wales before setting out for one of the biggest battles of the World War II, Normandy Beach. (Differing sources on date of departure)

The 330th Regiment on its way through the English Channel to Normandy, France.

One of Pvt Singer's fellow soldiers told of his own experience there in a small history of the 330th:

"We landed on Omaha Beach June 23, 1944, after lying offshore a week while a storm raged that almost doomed the beachhead.  After assembling in the vicinity of Bricqueville, Normandy, we moved into the lines southeast of Carenten, relieving elements of the 101st Airborne Division.

The 4th of July, 1944, was no holiday for the infantrymen of the 330th. On that day at 0500 hours, we attacked...the first of hundreds of attacks which were to carry us from the hedgerows of Normandy to the flat plains beyond the Elbe River.

It is difficult to describe now what we did and how we felt then. We knew hate then...and fear...the kind of fear that becomes actual pain. We attacked every day for twenty-three straight days, from dawn to dark.  We repulsed the enemies counter-attacks and we moved forward. We became exhausted physically and mentally. It showed in our dirty and drawn faces. We lost our closest friends, reinforcements became veterans in a few days - if they lasted.

On July 10, 1944, during this battle, Private Paul E Singer lost his life, most likely trying to save someone else's as a medic. "Others before self."

His official place of death was recorded as Department de la Marche, Basse - Normandie, France. His body was temporarily buried in France but returned to the states in 1949. 

His obituary appeared in the Paulding Democrat on January 20, 1949:

"BODY OF PFC PAUL SINGER SENT HOME

The body of Pfc Paul E. Singer son of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Singer, just south of Defiance on state route 66,who was killed by a shell in France, July 10, 1944, arrived at the Mansfield Funeral Home, Defiance on Friday morning.  Services were in St. Mary's Catholic Church at 9 a.m. Saturday and burial in Riverside.

Pfc Singer lived just south of Ney on Route 66 with his parents before entering the service on Nov. 28, 1941. Previously he had farmed in Paulding County.

He was a member of the 23 (83) division with the medical corp. at the time of his death which came when he was 27 years old. He was born Aug. 31, 1917. He began his army career at Camp Attenbury, Ind. and was in several other camps before shipping to England in March 1944.

He was a graduate of St. Mary's Parochial School. He was unmarried, being survived by his parents and two brothers Raymond and Glenn, both of Brown Township, Paulding County.

A military escort accompanied the body home."

Riverside Cemetery, Defiance, Ohio

Dan Hasch - Researcher