WWII · Battle Death Record
Alexis Sommaripa
Captain (assimilated rank, OSS civilian technician), U.S. Army · New York
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Alexis Sommaripa
- Entered the Service From
- New York
- Rank
- Captain (assimilated rank, OSS civilian technician)
- Service
- U.S. Army
- Unit / Regiment
- 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- March 28, 1945
- Awards
- Silver Star, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, Croix de Guerre
- Burial / Memorial
- Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
- Grave
- Plot E, Row 15, Grave 68
Their story
Alexis Sommaripa was an Office of Strategic Services (OSS) civilian technician with an assimilated rank of captain, attached to the 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division, who used loudspeaker broadcasts to induce large numbers of German soldiers to surrender. He was killed on March 28, 1945, near Gobelnrod, Germany, when the M5A1 tank he was riding in veered out of control after its driver was wounded, overturned into a crater, and crushed him. He is the only civilian buried at Luxembourg American Cemetery.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.