Alumni Hall of Fame
Military Service to Country (2025)

Franklin Andrew Eberle was born on September 20, 1922, the eldest son of Albert and Sylvia Eberle. He is a 1940 graduate of St. Marys Memorial High School. He married Elizabeth (Betty) Chappie in 1942 before enlisting in the Army on November 30, 1942. Frank completed training at Camp VanDorn, Mississippi and participated in the Third Louisiana Maneuvers. In Louisiana, Frank saw spiders of unimaginable size along with snakes, insects, and armadillos. Frank was assigned to Company K, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division. He quickly rose to the rank of Sergeant. In June 1943, the couple welcomed a daughter, Sharon Ann Eberle. Frank spent the next year in Texas with the 99th Division. During that period, Frank and Betty were able to exchange visits with each other, and Frank had the opportunity to see his new daughter.

In September 1944, the 99th received the call to war. The entire 99th Division departed from Camp Maxey, Texas, bound for the east coast and the European Theater. During the long train ride, Frank passed so close to St. Marys that he could see the glow of lights in the sky from his hometown. The 99th Division crossed the Atlantic and arrived in England in October. After a brief stay, they crossed the channel and landed in Le Havre, France. The port facilities were so badly damaged by Allied bombing that the 394th Infantry Regiment and other elements of the 99th had to come ashore in landing crafts. The Division headed for the front lines along the border between Belgium and Germany. 

The 99th Division was deployed to the “Ghost Front” around Elsenborn, Belgium, near the German border covering Monschau, Germany, and Elsenborn, Honsfeld, and Rockerath-Krinkelt Belgium. On November 14, 1944, Company K was positioned one-quarter mile east of Losheimergrasben, Belgium, just across the German border. The snow was seven inches deep, and the weather was cold with intermittent falling snow causing generally low visibility. Company K’s mission was to maintain their defensive position and send out daily patrols to probe the German lines, which were approximately a mile and a half away. Frank led a patrol on November 19 with two other soldiers, Privates Fritz and Campbell. The following events were described in a letter written by a fellow soldier, Kenny Weeks, and sent to Frank’s wife, Betty, in April 1945.

The three-man patrol crossed into Germany in the Monschau Forest near the town of Monschau where they stopped at dawn at an outpost manned by Kenny Weeks’ squad. Weeks shared a cup of coffee with them before Frank and his patrol continued onward. Several hours later, Privates Campbell and Fritz returned to the outpost and reported that Frank had been killed. Their patrol had stopped so Frank could check the map when Frank struck by German machine gun fire. Frank, now wounded, told the two Privates to leave the area when he was struck by a second burst of machine gun fire and fell dead. A patrol led by Al Caruso reached Frank’s body several days later and retrieved his remains.  

Staff Sergeant Franklin Eberle was the first casualty suffered by K Company, but he would not be the last. The Battle of the Bulge commenced on December 16th. Many soldiers from the Regiment were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, including Kenny Weeks who, at the time of his letter to Betty, was convalescing in a Colorado hospital. Frank’s last letter home was written on November 13, 1944, while staying in a farmhouse somewhere in Belgium. This is the day before the Regiment took up positions near the front lines.

To accommodate the Allied and German war dead, a temporary burial site was established near Hombourg, Belgium, known as Henri-Chapelle Cemetery. Here, the remains of Staff Sergeant Franklin Eberle were interned. By the end of World War II, Henri-Chappelle Cemetery would hold over 17,000 American graves. After the war, Paul Axe of St. Marys visited Frank’s grave in Belgium and noted that there was a nice white cross marking his grave. While at the cemetery, Paul Axe scooped up a small amount of Belgium soil from Frank’s grave and brought it home for Frank’s parents. In 1947, at the request of Frank’s parents, the remains of Staff Sergeant Eberle were repatriated to the United States. The soil from Belgium was mixed with the soil at Frank’s final resting place in Elm Grove Cemetery. 

For his devotion to duty, leadership, and courage, Sergeant Franklin A. Eberle is inducted into the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation Hall of Fame for Military Service to Country.