Carl Clinton Holbrook

Private First Class Carl Clinton Holbrook was killed in action on August 9, 1944 in France during World War II.  He was 22 years old.

Carl Clinton Holbrook was born on August 9, 1922 in Wilkes County, North Carolina, the son of John Calloway Holbrook and Flossie Casey Holbrook. His parents moved the family to Henderson, North Carolina from North Wilkesboro about a year prior to his death.

Holbrook was inducted into the U.S. Army on November 15, 1942 and served in Company A, 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Division.  The 5th Division landed in France at Utah Beach, in the St. Mere Eglise area, July 9, 1944. The division launched its first attack at Vidouville on July 26, 1944.   Following the successful attack, the Division was assigned on August 3, 1944 to the XXth Corps of the newly operational Third Army commanded by Lt. General George S. Patton Jr. 

With the breakthrough at St. Lo of the First Army's "Operation Cobra," the 5th Division's orders were to proceed to the Vivre River and then to seize the bridges across the Marne and Loire Rivers and capture the city of Angers, the principal exit for the German troops fleeing the Brest Peninsula. On August 8, the 11th Infantry captured a vital, intact bridge southwest of Angers, allowing access. The main assault, supported by air strikes, pushed into the city on August 10.  PFC Holbrook was killed in action in the assault on Nazi forces at Angers on August 9, 1944.

Private First Class Carl Clinton Holbrook is buried in the Piney Grove Baptist Church Cemetery at Traphill in Wilkes County, North Carolina.  

Last edited: 30 May 2026