Kenneth Jay Webb

KIA in the Battle of the Bulge in Foy, Bastogne, Belgium.

Full Name: Kenneth Jay Webb

Military: Company E ("Easy Company"), 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

Resided: Sanitaria Springs, Broome County, New York

Kenneth joined the Army and signed up for a new division called the 101st Airborne. He was assigned to Company E ("Easy Company"), 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment which was made famous in the 11-hour HBO miniseries and documentary called, "Band of Brothers" produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Included in the documentary was an actor who played a brief and fairly inaccurate role of Kenny. I say "inaccurate" as he was portrayed in the show as young and naïve. In real life, he was well educated, smart and very mature; serious most of the time, and resolute in succeeding in whatever he set out to accomplish.

The 506th Parachute Infantry received their training at Camp Toccoa in Georgia at the foot of Currahee Mountain and began each day by running 3 miles up the mountain and 3 miles back down. The regimental patch that they wore had the word Currahee and an outline of the mountain on it. Their battle cry was "Currahee".

Kenneth participated in three major operations: 1) Operation Neptune (D-Day at Normandy on June 6, 1944) in which he and his company were air-dropped behind enemy lines in Vierville, (roughly 2 - 3 miles from Utah and Omaha Beach) in the middle of the night the morning before the great invasion began in order to clear out mortar teams and machine gun nests from behind. Eight days into the operation, Kenneth was hit with gunfire and wounded and had to be airlifted to a hospital in England to get fixed up in time for; 2) Operation Market Garden in Holland on September 17, 1944; and 3) on December 19, 1944, the Battle of the Bulge in the Bois Jacques woods of Foy, where Kenneth was shot and killed on January 13, 1945.

Kenneth with his company, had been air dropped to the front line to face off a German division and to hold them back from Bastogne. It was expected that they would be relieved within a few days. In hindsight, the enemy turned out to be prepared for battle as Hitler had anticipated the invasion. Hitler had sent his finest and fiercest divisions to the area who then completely surrounded Kenny's company. It turned into an epic 4 week battle known as the Battle of the Bulge and the turning point of WWII with Germany. In addition to being trapped and under constant fire, Kenneth and Easy Company were short of food, ammunition, warm clothing and medical supplies and it was during a blistering cold period in knee deep snow. It became so bad that his company called in air strikes on themselves to push the Nazi's back. On January 13, Kenneth was shot and killed - the day before the Allies broke through to save the remainder of the company.

Ken was one of four siblings in a family in which he was the only son together with three sisters (2 older, and 1 younger then Kenneth): Agnes May (Webb) Lawrence, Leona (Webb) Tuminella, and Mary Lou (Webb) Stevens. Kenny worked at the Bendix plant in Sydney, NY. He helped his closest friend and cousin Leo Albert get a job in electronics at the same plant. Leo was transferred to the GE Plant in Schenectady, NY to work on a special project called "radar", while Kenny joined the war. Leo wanted to join, but was rejected because he was thought to be more valuable working on the project that could help turn the tide of war. Unfortunately, Leo was killed shortly thereafter in a freak electrical accident.

Ken was the son of Levi Irving Webb (called "Leon") and Mabel May (Morris) Webb of Sanitaria Springs, NY.

Obituary from the Binghamton Press, Feb 1945

"Pfc Kenneth J Webb Gives Life in Action

Pfc. Kenneth J. Webb, 24 who held the Purple Heart for wounds suffered last June, was killed in action Jan. 13 in Belgium. This was reported in a War Department telegram to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Leon Webb of Sanitaria Springs. No further details have been learned here.

Private Webb, a paratrooper, was among the first troops to descend behind enemy lines in Normandy on D-Day. He was wounded in action June 14 and subsequently hospitalized in England. He returned to active duty in time to participate in the September airborne invasion of Holland.

A former carrier boy for The Binghamton Press, Private Web attended Port Dickinson School and North High School in Binghamton and was employed at the Sidney plant of Scintilla Magneto Division before entering the army Aug., 11, 1942.

He received training at Fort Benning, GA and was assigned to England in September, 1943. Surviving besides his parents are three sisters, Mary Lou of Binghamton, Leona, of Philadelphia, and Agnes, of Detroit, Mich."

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Kenneth wrote extensively to his aunt and uncle in St. Petersburg, Florida where his uncle worked for the St. Petersburg Times, which printed some of his letters. He wrote about his first experience jumping out of a plane. To read the article simply Google "First 'chute jump from plane something to remember"

Note: the article is no longer available on the internet (at least it wasn't last time checked), but can be found in the photo section of this memorial (see above tabs). Use the slide bar to access all pictures to the far right to read the article.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 2 2019, 1:41:44 UTC