Identified Envelope

S/Sgt. Wilfred H. Bellinghausen

Staff Sergeant
Wilfred H. Bellinghausen

Staff Sergeant Wilfred H. Bellinghausen

Wilfred Henry Bellinghausen was born in Rhineland, Texas on October 15, 1924 to Rosina Duesterhaus and Hubert Leo Bellinghausen. He had a grammer school education, completed the seventh grade and left school in 1937 to help on the 300 acre Family farm.

Wilfred Bellinghausen lived in Munday, Texas when he registered with the Selective Service on December 18, 1942 in Knox County, Texas at the age of 18. Wilfred was placed on the inactive list from November 11, 1943 until December 10, 1943. Because af a toe deformity, he was not activeted earlier. After Pearl Harbor, he entered the service (#33368446) on December 11, 1943 in Lubbock, Texas. He trained for nine months and twelve days, before he left the US on September 18, 1944 for the European Theater of Operation and arrived on September 25, 1944. Wilfred served as a Staff Sergeant with Company A of the 101st Infantry Regiment of the 26th Infantry Division. He fought in the Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns. On November 20, 1944, he was wounded in Nancy, France. The Western Union telegram that his parents received stated the following: 'Regret to inform you, your son Wilfred H. Bellinghausen was Slightly Wounded in Action, twenty November in France. You will be advised as reports of condition are received.' He was shot by a German Sniper while crawling through the snow. The sniper had his platoon in his sights, therefore no one could come out to help him. As he laid in the snow for several hours while the sniper was still shooting around him, he was shot a second time. Tis second shot hit him in the shoulder area and the bullet was never recovered from his body. So Wilfred took that piece of shrapnel with him to his grave. While he was in the 34th Evacuation Hospital (1944), recovering from his wounds, General George S. Patton came by his bedside and said, "What outfit are you with, soldier?" Wilfred told him which outfit, and Patton said, "Damn good outfit soldier."

Wilfred Bellinghausen first served with the 26th Infantry Division and was later transferred to the 83rd Infantry Division. With this unit he went home and left the military with an Honorable Discharge after 18 months of service with Company A of the 101st Infantry Regiment in a combat zone. On March 16, 1946, Wilfred sailed home from Bremerhaven, Germany on the SS Blue Island Victory and ariving in New York Port of Embarkation on March 28, 1946. On April 3, 1946, he received an Honorable Discharge at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. He was 22 years of age at that time. For his service he was awarded, among other decorations, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Purple Heart Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the European African Middle-Eastern Campaign Medal with two Bronze Campaign Stars, and the WW2 Victory Medal.

Wilfred H. Bellinghausen and Waunita Mathews were married on October 21, 1947. He died on February 12, 1996 at the age of 71. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Waunitta M. Bellinghausen (1928-2002), his two daughters, Donna and Barbie (Bellinghausen) Perkins, and his son John. Wilfred and Waunitta Bellinghausen are burried at the Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Rhineland, Knox County, Texas.