Freeman Whitfield

Private First Class Freeman Whitfield Jr. was killed in action on April 25, 1945 in Germany during World War II.  He was 20 years old.

Freeman Whitfield Jr was born on September 7, 1924 in Henderson, North Carolina, the son of Freeman Whitfield Sr and Alease Austin Freeman.

PFC Whitfield was inducted into the U.S. Army in October, 1944.  He was deployed to the European Theater of War serving in the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion, Seventh Army,  a battalion crewed only by black soldiers, a significant achievement in a time of racial segregation.

Seventh Army's spring offensive for 1945 began on March 15, and the 614th moved forward alongside the 103rd. Its companies were split up, one to each infantry regiment. Each regiment also possessed a company of the 761st Tank Battalion, another all-black unit. Company A captured the town of Kindwiller with a group of dismounted soldiers, while the battalion reconnaissance company raided Bischholtz and took forty-one prisoners. The advance continued to the Rhine where the division halted and began a period of military occupation. The end of March saw the battalion located around Waldsee, Germany. On April 7, the battalion CP was located at Momlingen, Germany with the companies occupying Neidernberg, Stockstadt, Erlenbach, Ostheim and Momlingen, continuing to perform occupation duties. The division – and the 614th – moved forward again on April 21 in pursuit of a retreating enemy, seeing sporadic opposition.  PFC Freeman Whitfield Jr was killed in action on April 25, 1944.  Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945.

Private First Class Freeman Whitfield Jr is buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery, Saint-Avold, Lorraine, France.

Last edited: 28 April 2026