Randall, Alexander, Jr.

Randall was awarded the Légion d'Honneur (Chevalier degree) posthumously on November 11, 2011.

ALEXANDER RANDALL, Jr. was killed instantly by shell fire on February 8th, 1944. No other report than this has come through as yet: but the loss of this volunteer, one of the youngest, seems especially full of meaning. It is our youth, the fire of whose spirit we so profoundly honor, who are winning this war. Though they die on the ground, in the sea, or in the air; still this dedication of their lives is not death, really, but life that flames eternal. We will carry on for them, full of humility. and gratitude.

__ AFS Letters No. 22

"I have never in my life seen such slippery roads!" wrote A. Randall, Jr., on 25 December, while working with 158 ADS. "Over every inch of every road there is at least an inch of the slipperiest slime you can imagine. There is hardly a chance for the ambulance to go along in the highest gear for fear of running off the side. The roads themselves are terrible to begin with: steep inclines, hairpin turns overlooking deep valleys, ruts every 5 feet, one-way traffic (when another car comes from the other direction, one of the cars has to pull to the side so that passing is possible), and bumps galore! When you add the intense slipperiness to this, you really have something. I suppose it really isn't so bad as I make it out to be, but it took me 7 1/2 hours to do a trip of 74 miles. It gets dark about 5 to 5:15, and you can imagine how it is to drive over roads like these at night. Coming back, I must confess, I landed up in a ditch, the entire side of the car over in a gully. Fortunately a truck was near by, and the delay was but for a few minutes. . . .

"There is hardly a 10-second interval in any part of the day that we cannot bear, see, and feel the sending and receiving of shells. Two or three nights ago, for example, a 180-pound 'Christmas package' landed exactly 10 yards (measured by yours truly) from where I was sleeping. Had it been in an open field, I might have had some shrapnel land near me, but nothing that exciting happened. . . ."

__ George Rock. Chapter 7. "Italy 1. Termoli, Volturno-Monte Camino, Trigno-Sangro-Ortona (1 October 1943 to 14 January 1944)" History of the American Field Service, 1920-1955. New York 1956.

Although the big attack was not embarked upon, it was a rough sector. A post with the 66 Medium Regiment (RA), was established in the middle of January. The car was actually stationed with 227 Battery, some 6 miles away from the RAP by road though a shorter distance otherwise. Because of heavy shelling, it had moved on 2 February to a position near a brick factory on the Lanciano-Frisa road. A. Randall, Jr., went to this post on 4 February, and there he was killed when the new position was shelled on the morning of the 8th.

Lt. Metcalf reported that "the shelling began a little after 11 with two short and two over the position. The rest fell upon it. They had two casualties and sent for the ambulance. Randall was not there. A sergeant drove it to the guns, picked up the injured, and evacuated them to the MDS (74th Canadian in Lanciano). After the ambulance returned, they searched for Randall and found him dead. . . . He had been killed instantaneously, a shell having landed about 3 feet from him." Alexander Randall, Jr., was the fourth tragic fatality in less than 10 weeks of the Italian campaign.

__ George Rock. Chapter 8. "Italy 2. Gariglio, Anzio and Winter on the Adriatic (14 January to 1 April 1944)" History of the American Field Service, 1920-1955. New York 1956.