On This Day 107 years ago: PVT Charles LaFrance’ birthday

PVT Charles Joseph LaFrance was born in Maryville, Rolette County, North Dakota on November 1, 1915, exactly 107 years ago, to this day. After his enlistment for the paratroops, Charles LaFrance became a WWII 101st Screaming Eagle in Fox Company, 502nd PIR.

Featured image: PVT William J. LaFrance, a Silver Star Medal recipient who was killed in action during the Korean War (Source: FindaGrave).

Charles LaFrance was a Native American who was a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe. His father Canute LaFrance was born in a fort on the Ottawa River in Eastern Canada on July 9, 1861. He came to the United States in 1883, settling himself and his family on a farm in the Maryville township, Rolette County, North Dakota.

Combat action

PVT Charles LaFrance jumped into Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He returned back unscathed to England about a month later, but he had ran out of luck after he had made his second combat jump into the Netherlands. Just two days later, he was killed in action during the bloody battle at Best, on September 19, 1944. According to the obituary of his father, Fox Company was surrounded at Best and ended up completely wiped out, which was grossly exaggerated. The losses were unfortunately big but Fox Company was not decimated.

Dangers of being a paratrooper

That does not mean that the WWII paratroopers of Fox Company, 502nd PIR, were not put in Harm’s way during WWII. Of the men in the stick with whom PVT LaFrance jumped into the Netherlands, two were killed in action at Best on September 19 (PVT Charles LaFrance and SGT George E. Spear, Jr.) and seven others would later become a prisoner of war. That means that about 50% of just one stick of Fox Company were at one time not available to fight its enemy, and had to be replaced by new recruits.

Final resting place at Margraten

PVT Charles J. LaFrance died at the age of 28. He was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery Son, the Netherlands, Block B, Row 8, Grave 146, after which this brave 101st Screaming Eagle was reburied at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial Margraten at Eijsden-Margraten, the Netherlands, in Block L, Row 14, Grave 17. PVT LaFrance left behind his parents Canute and Justine LaFrance, six brothers and sisters from his father’s first marriage (of which two others out of a total of eight had passed away before 1944) and three brothers and four sisters from his father’s second marriage (also eight children in total, of which Charles was a son).

A late recognition

His younger brother, PVT William J. LaFrance was killed in action during the Korean War while serving with Company B, 7th Cavalry Regiment, on February 4, 1951. 64 years later, William LaFrance was posthumously awarded the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action near Ochon-ni, South Korea, on February 4, 1951. His sister Ella received the award during a small ceremony at a Sebastopol Care facility, Sonoma County, California, in 2015.

This is a short story of one of Fox Company’s paratroopers, PVT Charles LaFrance, as described in the book: From the Frying Pan to Mittersill, Fox Company, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (1942 – 1945). If you are interested in learning more about these brave Fox Company paratroopers, order your copy now!

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