Overd “Gordy” Gordon Province was born December 9, 1923, in Los Angeles, California, to Joseph and Emma Province. In 1936, he contracted tuberculosis and was sent to Pine Knoll Sanitarium in Davenport, Iowa. After recovering, he attended Davenport High School and then entered the Army on March 11, 1941. He underwent training at Camp Wolters, Texas, and Fort Benning, Georgia.
Province was sent overseas in April 1944, arriving in Belgium. He served with Co. B, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th “Ivy” Division. On D-Day, the 12th saw its first action of the war when it landed on Utah Beach. Province disembarked on D plus 3. His regiment went on to fight in five European campaigns throughout France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. The 12th was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its valor in the defense of Luxembourg during the Battle of the Bulge. The Regiment was also awarded the Belgian Fourragere.
Province fought across Europe in Normandy, the Rhineland, the Ardennes and Northern France. He stepped on a land mine in Germany on December 16, 1944, the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, and received a Purple Heart for those wounds. After Germany’s surrender, he was discharged on October 10, 1945.
Five days after returning home, Province registered for the draft and found himself headed to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on August 7, 1946. He had already served three and a half years and was given the rank of private first class. He would continue to serve, retiring after 20 years in 1966.
In 1947, Province married Virginia “Jean” Ann Marcotte in Menominee, Michigan. The two had no children. After his Army service, he took on several jobs, including the role of superintendent at the Buffalo Bill Homestead near McCausland, Iowa, in 1975.
Jean Province died in 1997; Gordy would follow on Aug. 8, 2002. He now rests in Section CA2, Row 0, Site 229 at Rock Island National Cemetery. Visit his Veterans Legacy Memorial page.
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