SGT Alfred (Tommy) Weekley
Company F, 180th Infantry, 45th Division
KIA 19 April 1945, Nuremberg, Germany
Buried at Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial
at St, Avold (Moselle), France
The Father of Wayne Weekley and Janie W. McPherson
When Daddy kissed us and our mama goodbye and joined thousands of other soldiers for war in Europe, my brother was three years old. As for me, his baby daughter, I had
not yet reached my first birthday. My brother remembers very little about our daddy. Sadly, I remember nothing at all and oh, how I've struggled to remember him! So, as
we've grown up, we've had to rely on the memory of others to form the picture of our hero father. When people mention him, nearly every one remarks about his good looks,
beautiful smile and soft-spoken manner.
Daddy was born in Alabama on November 22, 1919, to Theodore and Rosa Woods Weekley. He was only nine years old when his mother died and he was placed in the home of his
elderly Uncle Willie and Aunt Rebecca Pearl Weekley. Possibly to find comfort in grieving for the loss of his mother and being taken from his home, he and an old tomcat
took a liking to each other and soon were constant companions. That's how our daddy got the name that stayed with him all his life -- "Tommy."
Uncle Willie and Aunt Becky Pearl were good to him and the several other "cousins" who lived there and worked the farm. When Sunday mornings came, Uncle Willie would wake
them as he fastened his Sunday-go-to-meeting suspenders and softly call them through his long white beard in a slow sing-song drawl to get ready for church.
At the age of 20, on a tip from a friend, Daddy moved to Tallahassee, Florida, to find work. That's where he met Mama. They literally ran into each other as she rushed by
when he stepped out of a doorway. When he flashed that smile at her, it was love at first sight and forever for both of them! They were married within the year and her
large family welcomed him like one of their own. My brother was born in 1941 and they were happy in their little love nest . . . until the attack on Pearl Harbor cast a
gloomy cloud over the future. Like other Americans, Daddy was about to enlist when he was met with Mama's tears, begging him to wait until he was drafted.
In October 1944 he left the tropical heat of Florida and entered France during its coldest winter on record. He was a private in the Seventh Army under General Alexander
Patch, 45th Division, 180th Infantry Regiment, Company F (rifle, ground troops).
He was engaged in combat on the front along the Maginot and Siegfried Lines bordering France and Germany and during the Battle of the Bulge and Operation North Wind. Daddy
was wounded and hospitalized in December 1944 near Zinswiller, France. Once again he was wounded near Reipertswiller in January 1945, and after his recovery in a hospital
rejoined his company.
The 45th Division Thunderbirds pursued the Nazis to Nuremberg, which fell on April 20, Hitler's birthday. Four days later, the Dachau Concentration Camp was liberated. On
April 30 Hitler committed suicide. Germany surrendered May 7, 1945. Just before these events, however, on April 19th, Daddy was killed after he had bravely faced the enemy.
No greater testament to the character of a man can be given than from his own "Band of Brothers." We are blessed to have letters from two of his buddies who told what kind
of soldier our Daddy was. One wrote of how he was killed:
"I wasn't there at the time when Tommy got killed. I was hit the 12th of April and stayed in the hospital for one month, but when I got back to the company the boys told me
about him. They say that they were taking this town by the name of Nuremberg. There was firing coming from this tower so they sent Tommy and a couple more boys there to get
them. They went into this tower and got them lousy rats out. After that someone shot at him and the bullets got him in the back." - Jimmie King. Another wrote: "Although
I didn't know Tom for a long time, he was my closest buddy as the days passed. For a man who hated war, he was a great soldier and above all, a still greater man. There
isn't a man who fought with him and relaxed too in between campaigns who didn't think the world of him." - Edwin Zawpieri
Daddy was awarded The Bronze Star posthumously, two Purple Hearts with a Cluster, Army Commendation Ribbon with Valor, and The Combat Infantryman's Badge. The Bronze Star
Citation reads: "Sergeant Weekley and another soldier led a squad of riflemen in clearing a group of houses in Nuremberg. Under enemy sniper and automatic weapons fire,
they ran across a street and into a cellar that was an enemy strongpoint. Leading their squad through a series of tunnels, they succeeded in overrunning two enemy positions,
taking 65 prisoners and inflicting numerous casualties on the enemy."
While researching his service with the 180th Infantry and reading the letters I found, sometimes it felt like Daddy was nearby. It has been inspiring to learn about him
personally. His love for country and family, and his extraordinary courage glows through his letters and in his brief life. Our daddy rests among more than 10,500 soldiers
in the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in St. Avold (Moselle), France. Most of the Patriots in this cemetery were killed during the advance across Germany in the
spring of 1945. I feel that surely there is a wonderful reward in Heaven, specifically designed by our Lord for the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for an
honorable cause.
-- Wayne Weekley and Janie W. McPherson --
