Before the war Lewis lived with his parents in a nice house on Philadelphia Avenue in Chambersburg. Lewis' father was a dentist in Chambersburg. He grew up with one brother and had no sisters. He enlisted on July 5, 1943 in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. At that time Lewis still was a student, he had four years of High School ... During winter 43-44, with several comrades he made one hitch hiking trip towards North, reaching Canada and the Vancouver Island, via Mount Rainier, WA. One of these comrades was John Fague ...

John recalls ... "Lewis Grove was a wonderful guy, they don't come any better. He was handsome, better looking then I. He was little on the quiet side, not mouthy like I am. Lewis was in charge of our group when we left Ft Meade, MD for Camp Roberts, CA. We travelled first class by train to California." During the winter of 43-44, with several comrades he made one hitch hiking trip towards North, reaching Canada and the Vancouver Island, via Mount Rainier, WA. One of these comrades was John Fague ...

"Lewis was in my infantry training Battalion in Camp Roberts. When we finished training there, we all went to the College of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. We were studying to be engineers, but we had only the basic courses there. After one semester, March 1944, the army decided that they needed infantry more than engineers four years hence."

"In April 1944 we went back to California and joined the 11th Armored Division. After we joined the 11th we were dispersed among the three armored Battalions so I never got to see Lewis again ..."

On January 16th, 1945 at 8 :00 AM, the 55th Armored Infantry Battalion (part of the 11th Armored Division - Task Force Stubbs begins its attack again, coming from the Bois de Nom de Falize towards the Bois des Assins (sometimes written Bois des Acins) - 4 km South-East of Bastogne. Company B is on the right flank of this attack and its objective is precisely the Fazone Pond. Lewis Grove was probably killed during this action.

The different objectives of the battalion are reached at 9:00 AM and the 55th comes again under CC R command. The companies came back towards the Bertogne-Compogne Road, where the men remount their vehicles. The 55th then begins a chase of the enemy forces (in their half tracks) in the Compogne direction. They stopp when they received an order in the Mabompré area. It seems there were no victims either during the walking come back or during the chase. That's the reason why they think Lewis was probably KIA during the morning attack, in the Bois des Assins.

John Fague. Lewis Groves army buddy is a retired Veterinary Doctor (his complete name is Doctor John W. Fague). He already visited back Belgium in 1997 and Roger Marquet served him as a pro bono guide. He was born in 1925, he has 4 children and several grand children. He is a writer, author of "One Small Corner" (his Battle of the Bulge) and of 'Do you remember" (Chronicles of Shippensburg). He writes for the newspaper Shippensburg Chronicles". He lives alone since his wife Louise passed away on last May 2005. John still lives in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.

John's last line says it all: "I rank Lewis in the top tier, even above John Fague !"

These days Lewis Grove's final resting place can be visited in Belgium, at the American Military cemetery of Henri-Chapelle. He is remembered and honored by his comrade in arms John Fague, by Mr. and Mrs. Roger Marquet and by everyone who visits the Henri-Chapelle cemetery and everyone who visits this website.