- SURNAME
Belt
- FORENAME
William B. ("Billy")
- UNIT
2 Ranger Bn (Company F)
- RANK
Private First Class
- NUMBER
37745729
- DATE OF DEATH
28th March 1945
- AGE
24
- GRAVESITE
Woodlawn Cemetery, Macon, Macon County, Missouri, USA
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
resided Macon County, Missouri
born 17.07.1920, Leonard, Shelby County, Missouri
father Roy M Belt (1893-1959)
mother Ethel (nee McEwen) Belt (1900-1979)
attended Macon High School
1941 married Norene Anita Lyman (1923-2004)
child Larry Byron Belt (1944-1981)
brother Byron Roy Belt also KIA Germany 23.02.1945
KIA Kirschberg, Germany (first soldier lost after crossing Rhine)
Funeral services for S/Sgt. Byron Belt, who was killed in Germany on Feb. 23, 1945, and for his brother, Pfc. William B. Belt, who was killed in action, near Aachen, Germany on Mar. 28, 1945, will be held at 2:30 o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the Macon Christian Church conducted by the Rev. J. L. Shoemaker of Shelbina. Burial will be in the Woodlawn Cemetery.
Both bodies arrived in New York the last week of March aboard the Robert F. Burns transport and were then sent to Kansas City. They arrived in Macon yesterday and were taken to the Stephens & Goodding Funeral Home where they will remain until one o'clock tomorrow afternoon.
The Albion E. Robison Post No. 29, American Legion, will be in charge of the burial.
Byron graduated from Macon High School with the Class of 1939. He entered the service on Aug. 1, 1941 and went overseas Dec. 1, 1943. He was reported missing in action Feb. 24, 1945, and it was not until July of that year that Mr. & Mrs. Belt learned of his death through a letter written by Ray Hogan to his parents, Mr. & Mrs. James Hogan.
Ray told his parents that he had been standing near Byron when he (Byron) had been struck by an artillery shell.
Billy, who entered the service on July 9, 1944, was killed on Mar. 28, 1945. Mr. & Mrs. Belt received a letter shortly therafter from Lt. John W. Henderson, Jr. relating that Billy was the first soldier lost after the platoon crossed the Rhine river, and that his loss was greatly felt among the remainder of the troops.
He said Billy was hit in the head and died instantly.
The Belt brothers are survived by their parents, Mr. & Mrs. Roy Belt; and two sisters, Frances and Imogene, all of Macon.
Billy is also survived by two children, Trudy and Larry, who are now living in California.
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