Baldwin, Ira Otis 
A Biographical Sketch by Travis F. Baldwin
Memorial Day, May 27, 2024
 
BIRTH: 15 MARCH 1921 • Sissonville, Grapevine Creek, Kanawha County, West Virginia, USA
DEATH: 19 NOVEMBER 1944 - Durboslar, Duren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
BURIAL: Plot J, Row 16, Grave 10 at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands

Ira Otis Baldwin was the youngest child of Robert Benjamin Baldwin and Sarah “Sally” Ann Sigmon Baldwin.  He is listed as residing at home in the 1930 and 1940 census and completed the 7th grade.  Ira was employed by United Carbon Fuel (Sissonville, WV) at the age of 19.

Ira enlisted in the U.S. Army on 16 Feb 1942 at Clark, WV.  He was 5’11” tall, weighed 135 lbs., and had a light complexion with brown hair and blue eyes. (Source: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946).  He departed for training 28 October 1943 from Huntington, West Virginia.

For 68 years, my family did not know the exact circumstances of my great uncle's death until I received the following information from the 29th Infantry Division on 13 January 2012:
 
"Private Baldwin joined Company E, 115th Infantry, on Sept. 4, 1944 as a replacement, in the middle of the regiment's attack on the city of Brest, France. He was lightly wounded on Sept. 18 and returned to duty about a week later. He participated in the 115th Infantry's attack on the German town of Siersdorf on November 18, 1944, during which Company E suffered heavy casualties. The next day, the company attacked the German town of Durboslar. Private Baldwin was listed as "missing in action" during that attack, but a few days later his status was changed to "killed in action."  He was awarded a Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.

Note:  Ira’s wounds at Brest consisted of shrapnel injuries to an arm.  He was admitted to the hospital and treated for his wounds. (Source: U.S., World War II Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954).  [See website article: Forgotten Fights: Assault on Brest, August-September 1944, The National WWII History]

To be able to finally find out some of the details of his death provided some personal closure for me as I have wondered about the circumstances of his death since childhood. I was always intrigued by his hat that my great grandparents left hanging in their home until they and my great, great aunt Martha died (age 105).  Although I never knew him, he will never be forgotten for the sacrifice that he made for his country and by those he helped liberate!

My mother, Lura C. Robinson Baldwin, gave me two V-Mail letters Ira had written to his mother, dated 2 November 1944 and 13 November 1944. In addition, she bequeathed a letter written in 1947 from the Beekman family in Maarstricht, Holland, who had adopted his grave. She and my father, Arthur H. Baldwin (Ira's nephew) were married in 1946.

V-Mail
 
The following is a transcript of a V-Mail letter addressed to "Sallie" Baldwin of Sissonville, WV. It was in the possession of my mother, Lura Colleen Robinson Baldwin. She and Ira had dated on several occasions prior to his joining the army. She married his nephew, Arthur H. Baldwin, in 1946.
 
Pvt. Ira O. Baldwin 35776471 Co. E 115 INFA APO 29 c/o PM N.Y. N.Y. November 2, 1944 Somewhere in Germany. Dear Mother, I am dropping you a few lines to say hello and answer your letter I got the other day. It sure was good to hear from you. I am well and hope to find you and dad and Martha well too and all the rest. It is starting to get cold over here now and I don’t think much of Germany. It is too sloppy. I guess I have to like it anyway. It won’t be very long ‘till I will have a birthday in the army will it? Well, that is about all I can think about right now so I will close for this time. Lots of Love to you and dad and write soon. Love, Ira

Pvt. Ira O. Baldwin 35776471 Co. E 115 INFA APO 29 c/o PM N.Y. N.Y. November 13, 1944 Somewhere in Holland.
Dear Mother, I am dropping you a few lines to say hello and let you know how I am. I am well and hope you and pop are too. It is awful wet and muddy now here. It has been snowing some days. I bet it gets cold here in the winter. Well, there’s not much to write about, so I need to close for this time. Write soon and goodbye. Love, Ira

Note: Six days later, Ira was killed in action following a battle in Durboslar, Germany on November 19, 1944.

See Also:

Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy, 75th Anniversary Edition Paperback – May 1, 2019
by Joseph Balkoski (Author)

29th Infantry Division (WWII)https://www.sonsoflibertymuseum.org/29th-infantry-division-ww2.cfm

29th Division Association (WWII)
https://29thdivisionassociation.com/29th-division-world-war-ii/
 
Holocaust Encyclopedia
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-29th-infantry-division