Cornwell, William A.
Army Private 1st class

William A. Cornwell, age 23, from Chester County South Carolina.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, October 10, 1944
Death details: In September 1944, elements of the U.S. 92nd Infantry Division were tasked with breaking through the Gothic Line, a series of German fortifications stretching across the Apennine Mountains in northern Italy. In early October, members of the 92nd Division’s 370th Infantry Regiment established defensive positions at the town of Seravezza, from which they were to launch attacks to capture a German-held town along the Gothic Line known as Massa. On October 10, in advance of an attack, the 370th Infantry Regiment dispatched a reconnaissance patrol to the area around Massa. This patrol came under heavy small arms fire and was forced to withdraw to Seravezza. Private First Class William A. Cornwell entered the U.S. Army from South Carolina and was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 370th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Infantry Division. During this reconnaissance patrol, PFC Cornwell was killed by a hand grenade. Because his patrol was forced to withdraw, his remains could not be recovered at the time of his loss. After the war, U.S. personnel conducted a search of the area where PFC Cornwell was reported missing but were unable to locate his remains. He has not been identified among remains returned to the U.S. following the war and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private First Class Cornwell is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery in Impruneta, Italy.

Source: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, The State (1946)