Archie Jarrell

Private Archie Jarrell died of injuries received when he was struck by a southbound Seaboard railroad train on August 5, 1945 while he was home in Henderson, N.C. on furlough during World War II.

Archie Jarrell was born in Vance County, North Carolina on June 2, 1922, the son of Walter Jarrell and Bessie Tart Jarrell. 

Pvt Jarrell enlisted in the U.S. Army on February 8, 1943 and was deployed to the European Theater of War in April 1944 serving with the 121st Infantry.

On July 4, 1944 the 121st Infantry Regiment splashed ashore on Utah Beach and entered the Normandy Campaign. Within a week of landing, the regiment would suffer its first casualties. In less than 10 months, the casualty list of the 121st would grow to 70 pages as the regiment fought its way from La Haye du Puits France to Schwerin Germany and the liberation of concentration camps near Wobbelin.  The combat record included the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. Lasting 88 days (September 19 – December 16, 1944), it was the longest battle on German ground during World War II, and it is the second longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought after the three-month-long Battle of Bataan. The Germans fiercely defended the area because it served as a staging area for the 1944 winter offensive Battle of the Bulge, and because the mountains commanded access to the Rur Dam.

Pvt Jarrell returned to Henderson from overseas on a thirty-day furlough on July 11, 1945.  At about 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 5, 1945, he and Frankie Ayscue were struck by a southbound Seaboard Air Line passenger train in North Henderson.  Pvt Jarrell died of head injuries.

Private Archie Jarrell is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Henderson, North Carolina.

Last edited: 30 May 2026