Sgt. Marion C. Fordham Jr. (1923 – November 12, 1944)
397th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division
by Casey Carnes
Early Life
Marion C. Fordham Jr. was born in 1923 and died November 12th, 1944.1 His father, Marion C. Fordham Sr., was born in Statesboro, GA, on May 1, 1896, and served in the First World War after enlisting on May 24, 1918.2 Marion’s mother, Zerith Forehand, also a native of Georgia, was born on December 6, 1897. Marion Sr. and Zerith married in Polk County, FL, on October 26, 1921, and less than a year later Marion Fordham Jr. was born.3 The family lived in Arcadia, Florida, before moving to Fort Myers, FL, sometime before 1935. The family moved once more, to Tampa, FL, around 1940.4
Military Service
Fordham Jr. enlisted in the US Army on November 13, 1942, from Milledgeville, GA.5 For the next two years, he served in Company A of the 397th Infantry Regiment, part of the 100th Infantry Division. During this period, he married Ann Yarbrough in 1943 in Tampa.6 Fordham’s regiment did not see combat until the campaign in the Vosges Mountains of France, where they met enemy forces outside of the town of Baccarat on November 12th, 1944.7
In early November, the soldiers got a taste for life in a foxhole in the cold rain. On November 11, the men readied themselves for the Seventh Army’s enormous winter offensive to break through the Vosges Mountains, know to be well defended by the Germans. On November 12 at 9:00 a.m. the First Battalion attacked, with Company A (including Fordham) to the North. Their mission was to seize the communication center of Raon L’Etape on the banks of the Meurthe River, which was situated on high ground.8
This fighting was new to the green and untested men of the 397th and proved trying as the enemy possessed a well-fortified position on higher ground with heavy machine guns. Fordham’s squad advanced towards one of these machine gun nests which had been halting the company’s progress when he was struck by enemy fire and wounded. Rather than seeking help, Fordham rose into full view of the enemy and advanced on the position as he fired his rifle. Once he was in throwing distance, he began hurling grenades as the machine gun continued to fire. He closed the last few yards by fixing his bayonet and charging at the remainder of the enemy squadron, engaging them in hand-to-hand combat. Fordham silenced the enemy position that day and saved many of his men and fellow soldiers, but he gave his life in the effort.9
Legacy
For his actions, Fordham received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy. The General Orders posthumously granting him that honor stated: “Sergeant Fordham’s gallant actions and selfless devotion to duty, without regard for his own safety, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.”10 He now rests at the Epinal American Cemetery in France.11
1 “World War II Army Enlistment Records,” database, National Archives and Records Administration (https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=929&mtch=1&cat=WR26&tf=F&sc=25005,25022,25006,25025,25007,25020,25028,25023&bc=,sl,fd&txt_25005=%0914163808&op_25005=0&nfo_25005=V,8,1900&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=131519: accessed April 1, 2021), entry for Marion C. Fordham; “Marion C. Fordham Jr.,” American Battle Monuments Commission, accessed April 1, 2021, https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/fordham%3Dmarion.
2 “World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 10, 2016), entry for Marion C. Fordham.
3 “Florida, County Marriages, 1830-1957,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FW44-TB6 : accessed 24 October 2016), entry for M. Clifton Fordham and Zerith Forehand, 26 Oct 1921.
4 “1930 U.S. Census,” database, Archives.gov (http://1940census.archives.gov: accessed October 10, 2016), entry for Clifton Fordham, Florida, Desoto County, Arcadia, enumeration district 0009, page 12B, dwelling 266, family 293, line 5; “Florida State Census, 1935,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNVF-BZQ: accessed November 14, 2016), entry for M C Fordham Jr.; “1940 U.S. census,” database, Archives.gov (http://1940census.archives.gov: accessed October 10, 2016), entry for Marion C. Fordham, Florida, Hillsborough County, Tampa enumeration district 70-25, page 12B, dwelling 2114, family 404, line 64.
5 “WWII Army Enlistment Records.”
6 “ Florida, U.S., Marriage Indexes, 1822-1875 and 1927-2001,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed April 1, 2021), entry for Marion Clifton Fordham Jr. and Ann Yarbrough, Hillsborough county, certificate 11309; “ U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed April 1, 2021), entry for Marion C. Fordham Jr.
7 Samuel M. Finkelstein, ed., Regiment of the Century: The story of the 397th Infantry Regiment (Stuttgnart, Germany: The 397th Infantry Book Council, 1945).
8 Michael A. Bass, ed., The Story of the Century (New York: Criterion Linotype and Printing Co., 1946).
9 Ibid.
10 “Marion C. Fordham,” The Hall of Valor Project, accessed March 23, 2017, http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=43996.
11 “Marion C. Fordham Jr.”.