PVT James Hampton Coates – 285 FAOB BTRY B, US Army
POW/KIA Malmédy Massacre 12/17/44

James was one of 86 servicemen who was killed in the Malmédy Massacre in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. He served in the 13 FAOB HQ from 1942-44. During that time he landed on Utah Beach D-Day+1 and was injured in July by a mine or dud, but stayed with the battalion under field medical care. In October 1944, he joined 285 FAOB BTRY B, and two months later he was killed in the massacre.

James left behind a wife and two children: a 2-year-old daughter and 7-month-old son. He was buried in Henri Chapelle Cemetery, Belgium and later reinterred in his hometown of Kilmarnock, Virginia.

Submitted by his daughter, Mary Ann Smith, Virginia Crater BOBA Chapter President

Read a detailed account of the massacre from a solider of the 30 INFD when he arrived with his unit at Malmédy.