Steckler, Clarence H.
Army Technician 5

Clarence H. Steckler from North Dakota, Stutsman county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, December 14, 1944
Death details: The Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, one of the bloodiest conflicts of World War II, was fought between Allied and German forces from September 1944 to February 1945. As U.S. forces advanced eastward into Germany, the defending Germans manned “Siegfried Line” positions opposite the Belgian border. The battle grew to involve approximately 200,000 troops, with tens of thousands of casualties on both sides. American forces initially entered the area seeking to block German reinforcements from moving north toward the fighting around Aachen, the westernmost city of Germany, near the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. In the battle’s second phase and as part of the Allied’s larger offense toward the Rhine River, U.S. troops attempted to push through the forest to the banks of Roer River. Aided by bad weather and rough terrain, German forces in the Hürtgen Forest put up unexpectedly strong resistance due to a well-prepared defense. American forces were unable to break through to the Rur before the German Ardennes offensive struck in December 1944, known as the Battle of the Bulge, which halted the eastward Allied advance until February 1945. Technician Fifth Grade Clarence H. Steckler, who joined the U.S. Army from South Dakota, served with Company A, 709th Tank Battalion, 3rd Armored Division. On December 14, 1944, during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, the 709th Tank Battalion was preparing to attack German positions in the town of Kesternich in conjunction with an advance from elements of the 309th and 310th Infantry Regiments later that day. Thick drifts of snow and enemy minefields stalled the 709th’s advance, and the unit was hit by enemy shells, causing one tank from the 709th to catch fire. Technician Fifth Grade Steckler was presumably killed in the engagement, but his remains could not be located following the incident. Further attempts to locate them after the war were unsuccessful, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Technician Fifth Grade Steckler is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency