Reburial services for Lt. William S. Scudder. formerly of Minneapolis and Tulsa. Okla., will be held Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Fort Snelling national cemetery.

   Lt. Scudder was killed in .France July 3, 1944, while serving with the 508th Parachute Airborne division. He formerly was in business with his father in Minneapolis.

   Survivors are his former wife, Mrs. George Gable, Jr., Tulsa. Okla.: a son, William Blaine Scudder. 5, of Tulsa: his father. Blaine B. Scudder of Minneapolis; his mother, Mrs. Blain B. Scudder of Los Angeles; a brother. Frank, and a sister, Bernice V. Scudder, both of Minneapolis.

[Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, 04 May 1949, Wed, Page 13]

 
(courtesy D. Vangsness)

Record of Interment and grave marker for 2nd Lt. William S, Scudder in Section C, Block 3, Site 7889 of the Fort Snelling National Cemetery,  Minneapolis, Minnesota.

William enlisted in the Army on October 8, 1942 in Oklahoma City, OK and volunteered for parachutist duty.  It is not known when he received his commission.  Although the 508th had been in its early stage of formation at the time he enlisted, it is likely that he initially trained with another unit as new "shave tails" were typically assigned to different unit after commissioning.

Lt. Scudder died of wounds suffered on July 3, 1944 and was awarded the Purple Heart.

2nd Lieutenant William S. Scudder was a member of B Company, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. Born in Minneapolis, MN, he was the son of Blaine B. and Cora Tyra (Stolhand) Scudder.

He jumped into Normandy in the early hours of June 6, 1944, D-Day. He was immediately involved in heavy hedgerow fighting as the regiment was embroiled in combat, without relief for the next few weeks.

On July 3rd, his company came under enemy fire and retreated to a safer location. Later, under the cover of darkness, Scudder organized a group of volunteers to return to the field of battle and recover the dead and wounded. During this rescue and recovery mission he was felled by sniper fire. and later died of his wounds.

When Lt. Scudder's wife, Dorothy, received the news that her husband had been killed. their son was just five months old