PFC Michael Jeremiah McDermott (37702915) was born on January 19, 1925 in Leadville, Lake County, Colorado. He attended school in Leadville until 1939 when he was in the eighth grade. He worked for a mill company in Leadville before enlisting in the U.S. Army on July 10, 1943. He was assigned to Company A, 346th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division.

The 87th arrived in England on October 23, 1944 and landed at Le Havre, France on December 1-3. By December 8, the Division had raced across France toward Metz and had captured Fort Driant. They headed east toward the German border capturing several cities along the way. The Division was moving into Germany on December 16, when the Germans launched their invasion in the Ardennes Forest (Battle of the Bulge). In January 1945, the 346th Infantry Regiment was given the assignment of dislodging the Germans from Tillett, Belgium. The 346th had fought unsuccessfully for days, but the ground was too frozen to dig foxholes, so it was hard to find protection from enemy fire. The 346th was able to gain a foothold on January 9, 1945 when German tanks counterattacked. The Regiment lacked anti-tank weapons at the time, so the regiment suffered numerous casualties. PFC McDermott was one of many casualties suffered by the 346th on January 10, 1945 before tank battalions arrived.

PFC McDermott was laid to rest in the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, Plot I, Row 9, Grave 20 in Hamm, Canton de Luxembourg, Luxembourg.

See the link to the full Fold3.com story about PFC McDermott at the bottom of the following findagrave page.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56062456/michael-jeremiah-mcdermott