Death
On 30 April 1945, while Darby was issuing orders for the attack on Trento to cut off a German retreat, an 88 mm shell burst in the middle of the assembled officers and NCOs, killing Darby and a sergeant and wounding several others. Relying on the inspiration of their late commander, “Task Force Darby” continued on with their mission. Two days later, on 2 May 1945, all German forces in Italy surrendered.
Darby, who was 34 at the time of his death, was posthumously promoted to brigadier general as of that date. He was buried at Fort Smith National Cemetery in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
He died on the same day as Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun.
Read more about this topic: William Orlando Darby
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“Ai! ai! we do worse! We are in a fix! And you’re out, Death let
you out, Death had the Mercy, you’re done with your century, done with God, done with the path thru it—”
—Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)
“The child who enters life comes not with knowledge or intent,
So those who enter death must go as little children sent.
Nothing is known. But I believe that God is overhead;
And as life is to the living, so death is to the dead.”
—Mary Mapes Dodge (1831–1905)
“The death clock is ticking slowly in our breast, and each drop of blood measures its time, and our life is a lingering fever.”
—Georg Büchner (1813–1837)