Samuel Durham

Private First Class Samuel Durham was killed in action in southern Germany on  April 27, 1945 during World War II.  He was 26 years old.

Samuel Durham was born in Vance County, North Carolina on February 25, 1919, the son of Willie B. Durham and Lizzie Bullock Durham. After completing one year of high school, Durham engaged in farming.

PFC Durham entered the U.S. Army in November 1942 and served in the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion. The 614th was activated in 1942 and trained through the late summer of 1944. Arriving on the Normandy coast in October, they moved to the Metz, France area, seeing their first action in late November. In early December, they were attached to the 103rd Infantry Division, a pairing that was to last through the end of combat in Europe. The 3rd Platoon, Company C, of the 614th was the first African-American unit to receive a Distinguished Unit Citation during World War II. They received credit for the Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe campaigns.

Seventh Army's spring offensive began on March 15, 1945, and the 614th moved forward alongside the 103rd. Its companies were split up, one to each infantry regiment; each 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 reached the Rhine by the end of March.

The division – and the 614th – moved forward again on April 21, in pursuit of a retreating enemy, seeing sporadic opposition. PFC Durham was killed in action during this final phase. 

Private First Class Samuel Durham is buried in the Oak Level United Church of Christ Cemetery, Henderson, North Carolina. 

Last edited: 13 May 2026