"I sometimes felt that was the bullet that had my name on it." (Interview)

Burton Ruby

Burton Ruby [detail] War: World War II, 1939-1946 Branch: Army Unit: L Company, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division Service Location: Camp Wheeler, Georgia; Utah Beach, Saint-Lô and Paris, France; Germany Rank: Sergeant Place of Birth: Chicago, IL

After attending a military high school and enrolling in ROTC at the University of Wisconsin, Burton Ruby was eager to enlist in the service in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack. But the military didn't seem to be interested in him, so he married and began a family, only to be drafted in 1943. As a sergeant with an infantry regiment, Ruby and his men were on Utah Beach on June 7, when there were still plenty of bullets to dodge. They made it inland about one mile that first day, but there were many more obstacles to overcome, including frostbite that winter in the Hurtgen Forest.