Joseph Pender McLaughlin was born on 2 May 1925 in Yancey County, North Carolina. He was the son of William Isaac McLaughlin and Clara Lee Williams.
Died 17 July 1944, Italy
349th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division, Company K
Buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Erwin, TN
The Johnson City Press, 16 March 1949
The body of Private Joseph P. McLaughlin, son of Mrs. Clara McLaughlin, Hulan avenue, Erwin, who was killed in action July 17, 1944 in Italy, has been returned here for reburial. The young soldier’s body was one of 18 in the Erwin-Johnson City area returned to the United States on board the United States Army Transport Corporal Eric G. Gibson.
McLaughlin, who was 19 at the time he was killed by enemy artillery fire, entered the armed forces on August 24, 1943. He underwent 17 weeks basic training at Camp Blanding, Fla., and later was stationed at Fort Meade, Md. He landed in Italy on April 9, 1944, while serving in the 88th Division, Fifth Army. He was awarded posthumously the Order of the Purple Heart. He was first buried in an American cemetery in Central Italy. Survivors are his mother; three sisters, Ruth McLaughlin, Mrs. Clifford Arwood and Mrs. Russell Tittle, Jr.; three brothers, Arthur and Lewis of Erwin, and William Isaac McLaughlin, Jr., serving with the American occupation forces in Germany; a niece and a nephew.
- Rank: Private
- Date of birth: 2 May 1925
- Date of death: 17 July 1944
- County: Unicoi
- Hometown: Erwin
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 349th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division
- Theater: Europe
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Evergreen Cemetery, Erwin, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XIX, Top Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Joseph P. McLaughlin
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