Army SSGT Edward L. Perry was born in Tampa, Florida on December 18, 1917 in Florida, the son of James S. Perry (1890-1955) and Beulah C. Merritt (1897-2000). His father earned a living as a public dray driver (hauler) and was married to Beulah from 1915 to 1931.
As for Edward, he is listed as a casualty from Escambia County, Florida although he was born in Tampa and may have only lived here a short time. He most likely enlisted here before traveling to Montgomery, Alabama for processing. He is also believed to have married a Pensacolian but there is no record as yet. He would enlist on November 7, 1940 and eventually was assigned to the 92nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion attached to the 2nd Armored Division. After a year of training in North Africa, they were placed in reserve for the Sicily invasion and never took part in the fighting. They embarked for Liverpool, England landing there in November 1943 and trained for D-Day. Once again, they did not participate due to the heavy fighting on Omaha Beach in Normandy.
They finally landed there four days after the fighting ended and entered combat with the breakout forces. They fought through France, the Rhineland, the Battle of the Bulge and by February 1945 they were in Belgium. They fought their way to and across the Rhine River and reached the Elbe River by April 12, 1945. Once across they attacked Magdeburg, Germany and it was here that Sergeant Perry was fatally wounded followed by his death on April 16, 1945. His body was returned home to Tampa in 1949 and buried in the Orange Hill Cemetery in Tampa, Florida.
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