Robert A Fordyce was born April 30, 1925, in Waynesburg, PA. He graduated from high school in 1943. He was involved in school activities and played on the basket ball team.

Bob was inducted into the Army on July 26, 1943 and received basic training at Camp Roberts, CA. He studied under the ASTP at the College of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. After ending ASTP, he was transferred to the 21st Armored Infantry Batallion at Camp Cooke, CA. Bob arrived in Belgium December 29. 1944 ...

On New Year's Eve, December 31, 1944, as he was in his foxhole, with Frank Hartzell on the slope facing the village of Chenogne. Bob was hit by a German shell and died instantly... alone, in the cold and snowy weather, far away from his parents, girlfriend and country. Bob was only 19 years old when he was killed ...

The story of Robert A Fordyce doesn't end here ... a Mr. and Mrs. Marquet heard about Bob's fate and decided to adopt his grave at Henri-Chapelle. Roger Marquet recalls: "My wife and I wanted to retire in the Ardennes (we were at the time living in the Liège area), and since we knew the exact place where Bob was KIA , (John Fague had showed me the place when he came back to Belgium in 1997), we were able to buy that same land and had our new home build over there, in the tiny village of Chenogne."

While Roger Marquet's new house was being built, they had the visit from the man who was just beside Bob when the German shell exploded; Frank Hartzell who was a Sergeant in the same Company B. Frank came to the spot and was able to confirm to that the place was indeed correct.

After moving to our new house in February 2001, Roger and his wife planted a tree and put a plaque on a rock in front of it. I dedicated it to Bob Fordyce's memory, at the exact spot where Bob was killed.

Roger Marquet was able to get in touch with Bob's sister Mae Jean Frazell. After a while Mae Jean decided to make Roger Marquet the heir of Bob's memorabilia ... of the flag which was on Bob 's casket during his funeral, all his medals, badges and patches, a lot of pictures, his birth certificate, his scholar results, his High School Band's hat and some newspapers clippings ...

Roger Marquet made a remarkable statement which applies to all men and women who were killed over here. In this case it's even more true ... "Bob's blood gave life to a new home for his adoptive friends beyond the grave. Bob Fordyce's death is a concrete example of giving his life to free the lives of other people."

These days Bob Fordyce's final resting place can be visited in Belgium, at the American Military cemetery of Henri-Chapelle. Bob's grave can be found at the far end of the cemetery, in Plot G, row 1, grave 3 ... His grave is situated in the same plot as Captain Howard J Wall, Captain Harold D Smith and Sergeant Charles M Priest, whose stories are published on this website as well ...