This week’s Veterans Spotlight shines on George Caldwell
Army Veteran George “Russell” Caldwell was born in Huntington, West Virginia, in October 1913. He married Irene Virginia Hughes in 1934, and together they raised five children in Cabell, West Virginia. Caldwell enlisted in the Army on February 1, 1944. At the age of 30, he landed on the Normandy beaches during the D-Day invasion on June 10, 1944. He served with G Company, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.
In early September 1944, the 9th Infantry Division engaged in a relentless campaign from Lammersorf to Germeter, Germany. As part of the first infantry division to capture a German town, Caldwell was actively involved in the intense combat. The battalion spent nearly four days pushing through dense forest to reach Germeter. On October 13, 1944, a German counterattack involving tanks and heavy artillery inflicted severe losses. Tragically, Caldwell was killed by artillery shrapnel that day, just 11 days after his 31st birthday. G Company suffered significant casualties during the assault, with 10 killed, six wounded, and 16 reported missing.
Caldwell was initially buried in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium, but his remains were repatriated to Woodmere Memorial Park in Huntington in 1947. His wife, who never remarried, used his insurance payout to purchase a small farm in West Virginia and raise their children. Two of their sons later followed in their father’s footsteps by serving in the U.S. military.
