D/329 Veteran dog tags

Sergeant Harvey J. Ketchum

Sergeant
Harvey J. Ketchum

Sergeant Harvey J. Ketchum

Harvey Junior Ketchum was born on May 1, 1925, in Rushville, Indiana, to Mary Frances Jones (1895–1936) and Harley Roscoe Ketchum (1892–1962).

Harvey J. Ketchum enlisted on August 18, 1943 in Indianapolis Indiana. Before leaving for the US he married Syrena Shepherd (1925-2016) in Indiana on April 22, 1944. He was assigned to the 83rd Infantry Division and joined D Company, 329th Infantry Regiment on July 12, 1944 in the ETO, receiving a promotion to private First Class on August 18, 1944. Harvey Ketchum was listed in the Morning Reports as Non battle casualty and transferred to 110th Evacuation Hospital on November 22, 1944, he returned to duty from Clearing Station, 308th Medical Battalion on January 16, 1945. For his service he was awarded, among other decorations, the Combat Infantry Badge, the European African Middle-Eastern Campaign Medal and the Bronze Star Medal.

July 23, 1951, as an employee of the Rush County Alfalfa De-hydrating Co-op, he had a foot cut off by being caught in some machinery while raking alfalfa hay from a wagon to the conveyor that elevates it to the drier. He stepped back to close the truck door and accidentally one foot slipped into the mechanism. His foot was hanging to the leg by a small piece of skin when Harvey was brought to the hospital and had to be amputated.

At 48 years old Harvey remarried Betty Jean Phillips in Indianapolis, Indiana. Harvey Ketchum died on December 26, 1979, in Rushville, Indiana. He spent all of his live in Rush County, Indiana.