PVT Edward L. Needham
We honor and remember PVT Edward Lee Needham of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 501st PIR, 101st Airborne Division.
Private (PVT) Edward Lee Needham of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division, was born in Danville, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, to Thomas A. Sr. and Bertha M. (Pyron) Needham on May 15, 1924. Edward had two brothers, Thomas A. Jr. and Howard C. Needham. His father left the family when the children were quite small and never supported his wife while she raised the three boys.
His brother Thomas served in the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII.
Edward attended the public schools in Danville and was a member of the Second Baptist Church. He signed up for the draft in his hometown on June 30, 1941. At the time, he was employed by Dan River Cotton Mills in Danville. The company, founded in 1882, grew into the largest textile firm in the southern U.S.
According to the NARA website, he enlisted in Richmond, Virginia, on September 7, 1940. His ASN is correct, but Edward may have lied about his age, as 1922 is listed as his birth year, even though he was actually only 16.
The strange thing is that there are no morning reports or other documents available on the NARA website that provide insight into any service Edward may have performed until halfway through 1943. The first document found that mentions him is a morning report of Company G, 20th Armored Regiment Infantry, located at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, dated August 12, 1943. [Another strange thing: it seems the unit mentioned in the morning report, “20th ARMD Regt Inf” at Camp Campbell, did not exist. During the Battle of the Bulge, a unit named the 20th Armored Infantry Battalion existed. Company A of that battalion was assigned to Task Force Cherry.]
According to the morning report of August 12, 1943, PVT Edward Needham was transferred to the Parachute School at Fort Benning. On August 18, Edward is transferred from the Receiving Company at Fort Benning to Company C of the 515th Parachute Infantry. About a month later, on September 10, he was transferred to the 1st Parachute Training Regiment with 249 EM to pursue his parachute training course.
After receiving his wings, PVT Needham was transferred to the 501st PIR in Lebanon, Tennessee, on October 2, 1943, and was assigned to Fox Co with 14 other paratroopers. The first thing the men had to do was to dig a foxhole, as the company started in the fifth phase of maneuvers the next day, participating in an exercise in the 2nd Army Maneuvers Area.
At the beginning of January 1944, PVT Needham traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, on the USNS George W Goethals with the complete 501st PIR. The men then traveled by train to Lambourn, England, where the final training began to prepare the 501st paratroopers for the D-Day jump. The companies of the 2nd Battalion, including the paratroopers of Fox Company, were based at Hamstead Marshall, near Enborne, Newbury.
PVT Needham made his first combat jump on D-Day morning, June 6, 1944. He was killed in action the next day under unknown circumstances.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
PVT Edward Needham died at the age of 20 on June 7, 1944. On June 9, he was first buried in the Temporary American Military Cemetery of Hiesville, Normandy, at Plot A, Row 5, Grave 45. On July 4, he was reburied at the Blosville Military Cemetery, at Plot I, Row 5, Grave 90.
On December 16, 1947, he was again disinterred and transported by truck to the Cherbourg Harbor, where his casket was placed on the USAT McCarley on March 10, 1948. The ship reached New York Harbor on April 5, 1948, after which he was moved home by train, arriving in Danville on May 3. The next day, Tuesday, May 4, 1948, he was reburied again at the Mountain View Cemetery.
PVT Edward Needham was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal.
May he rest in peace.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Edward.
Lest we forget. 🇺🇸
Sources:
Find a Grave
Family Search
NARA
Ancestry
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Happy Heavenly Birthday Pvt.Edward L.Needham 🫡🇺🇸🫡