US Army PFC David Marshall Denham was born in Muscogee, Escambia County, Florida in 1920, the son of Robert Jackson Denham Jr. (1898-1965) and Bashie Ard (1902-1961). His parents were married around 1917 and made their family home in Baldwin County, Alabama. There, Robert worked odd labor jobs most of his life. Sometime before 1940, they relocated to Cottage Hill in Escambia County, Florida where Robert took a labor job with the government's WPA (Works Progress Administration) at a local airfield. In the meantime, their son David was working for a mercantile store in Cantonment before driving a taxicab in Pensacola.
He was also the great grandson of Confederate Private John Denham who enlisted in 1861 in Redbone, Lamar County, Georgia in Company "B" of the 32nd Georgia Infantry Regiment. The regiment would fight in the battles of Battery Wagner, Olustee, James Island, Wayneborough, and Honey Hill. They later defended Savannah before fighting in the North Carolina Campaign ending in their ultimate surrender with the Army of Tennessee.
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After the beginning of WWII, David had his own war to deal with, so he enlisted in the US Army on July 4, 1942 and was sent to Camp Blanding, Florida for processing and orientation. After basic training, he was assigned to the 179th Infantry Regiment attached to the 45th Infantry Division. With his regiment, he would land on Sicily on July 10, 1943, and captured the island by August 17.
Next came the landing at Salerno on September 9 against a ruthless defense by the Germans, so fierce that the two American divisions were pinned down and unable to move. Into this maelstrom came the 45th Division however the Germans responded with six more division of their own. Things got so bad that the German commander wrote in his diary, "the battle for Salerno appears to be over!" But then came two US cruisers together with waves of US bombers that began to bomb huge gaps in the German lines. By the early days of October 1943, the Allies had taken control of southern Italy as they prepared to attack the "Volturno Line". This was a well-prepared line of defense that crossed Italy and was used to fight delaying actions to stall the Allied attack. As time allowed the Germans worked furiously to build up the "Winter Line," their strongest defensive line south of Rome.
It was in this close-in fighting that PFC David Marshall Denham was killed in action on October 13, 1943. Around Thanksgiving, Robert and Bashie were notified of their son's fate at their home at 1908 West Cervantes Street. After the war, his parents had the choice of bringing his remains home at the government's expense however, they chose to let him rest in peace amongst his comrades in the Sicily-Rome Military Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy.
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