Luther Monroe Chance

Private Luther Monroe Chance was killed in action on July 18, 1944 in northern Burma during World War II.  He was 20 years old.

Luther Monroe Chance was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina on August 17, 1923, the son of Charlie Chance and Lula Chance.  The family moved to Henderson, North Carolina by 1930 where he was eventually employed as a laborer in the North Henderson Mill section. 

Pvt Chance entered the U.S. Army in 1942, received training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Camp McCoy, Wisconsin before being deployed overseas in January 1944 to the China-Burma-India Theater of War serving in the Engineers Corps.  He arrived in the early stages of the Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan which lasted from December 1943 to March 1945. The Allied objective was to reopen the China-India Highway which had been effectively closed by Japanese forces.  The battle resulted in 80,000 Allied casualties, including Pvt. Chance who was killed in action on July 18, 1944.

Private Luther M. Chance is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Last edited: 28 April 2026