Private Bruce Albert Gilliland

World War II US Army 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division Service Number: 37330567 Born: February 11, 1921 Inducted: July 7, 1942 Killed in action May 6, 1943 in North Africa Buried: North Africa American Cemetery, Plot I, Row 8, Grave 2, Carthage, Tunisia Purple Heart

Son of William R. and Bertha A. Patterson Gilliland of Eckley.

Yuma Pioneer June 3, 1943

Eckley Soldier Dies in Battle of North Africa
Private Bruce Gilliland Killed May 6, War Department Notifies Parents

The tragedy of war struck a Yuma County family Saturday when Mr. and Mrs. Wm. R. Gilliland of the Eckley community received a message from the war department in Washington announcing that their son, Private Bruce Albert Gilliland, had been killed in the action on May 6, in North Africa. No details were received.

So far as is known, Private Gilliland was the first Yuma County man in the armed forces to lose his life in battle in the African campaign. Several have been reported missing but no confirmation of a death has been received.

Private Gilliland was inducted into the armed forces July 7 of last year. He was sent immediately to a training camp in Virginia and in about a month after he had entered the services he was on the high seas, a member of a coast guard unit, which had Africa as its destination. It is presumed that the Eckley youth lost his life in the successful Tunisian offensive which ended the long African engagement and rid the continent of Rommel's mighty Nazi army.

Private Gilliland was past 22 years of age, having been born Feb. 11, 1921, at McCook, Nebraska. He was one of a family of eight children, four boys and four girls and lived with his parents on a farm northwest of Eckley before entering the Army.

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