Sgt. Harden D. Farling

Biography and Wartime Service

Harden Duval Farling was born on February 9, 1922, in Venice, California, to Ida Greye Lloyd (1901-1997) and Virgil Glenn Farling (1899-1978).

Harden 'Hal' D. Farling enlisted in the service on October 13, 1942 in Indianopolis, Indiana. He took most of his basic training at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, participated in the Tennessee Maneuvers of 1943 and ended his training at Camp Breckenridge. He left the US from Camp Shanks for England as an original member of the 83rd Infantry Division, 331st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, G Company. He was promoted to Private First Class and then to Sergeant in June 1944. The Morning Report of August 1, 1944 lists Farling Harden D. as Killed in Action (KIA) on July 27, 1944. Sgt 'Hal' Farling was unmarried and 22 years old at the time of his death.

Hal Farling's body was originally buried in a temporary cemetery on French soil. The government let families decide whether to have their loved ones brought home or buried overseas. The Farling family chose to have his body reburied on US soil. Polling the families was followed by delays in staffing and equipment, including steel and coal strikes that waylaid casket manufacturing, meaning the first war dead did not reach American shores until October 1947. Finally, Hal's body was reburied on April 28, 1948 at the Elm Grave Cemetery, Bluffton, Wells County, Indiana. They had waited nearly four years to say goodbye.

I met his nephew Terry Farling and his wife at the 83rd Reunion in Nashville, Tennessee, 2012. Thanks to Terry for sharing the wartime photo of his uncle.

Gallery

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