Sgt Francis (Frank) Splechter was a soldier with the US Army 60^th Infantry Regiment which was involved in heavy action in WWII.  He was born to Frank and Elizabeth Splechter in Kansas in 1918.  The family moved to Ottawa, Wisconsin in 1930 where they worked a family farm.  They later settled in Eagle, Wisconsin. Frank Jr. worked as a hired hand for the George and Viola Wilton farm in Eagle. 

In 1941, Frank enlisted in the army.  After regular training in the United States, he was shipped with his unit to serve in Belgium and Germany in 1943.  The most intense fighting of the war took place after D-Day June 6, 1944, when the Allies began an invasion into German-controlled France and Belgium.  The 60^th Infantry Regiment slowly made its way east across Belgium toward Germany, meeting fierce resistance along the way.  Sgt. Frank Splechter was injured by bomb shrapnel in July 1944 and spent a couple of weeks recuperating after the shrapnel was removed before being sent back to the front lines.  He was again injured in the face by bomb shrapnel in September 1944 and briefly hospitalized.

Some of the most brutal fighting took place at the “Battle of Hürtgen Forest” on the Belgium/German border from September to December 1944.  The Germans defended the area with minefields, barbed wire, and booby-traps, hidden by the mud and snow.  Allied forces suffered over 30,000 casualties, dead and wounded over that three-month period.  Sgt. Francis T Splechter was among those killed and was buried in an American cemetery in Belgium. He received a purple heart award posthumously.

In 1947, arrangements were made for his body to be disinterred and sent home to Wisconsin for burial.  Frank’s parents received a letter from a young girl in Belgium, pledging she would put fresh flowers on his grave throughout the summer, until he was sent home.  His remains arrived in Eagle, Wisconsin on November 18, 1947, accompanied by a military escort, and a funeral service was held at St. Theresa’s Church.  He is buried at St. Bruno’s cemetery in Dousman, Wisconsin.

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