Roland was born on December 16, 1916 in Milford, Pennsylvania. His parents Roland and May were born in New Jersey and North Carolina, respectively. The family moved to New Jersey where his father worked as a Methodist minister. Roland had one younger brother named Wallace. By 1940 Roland had completed one year of college and was living with his parents and brother.

The Luerich brothers enlisted in the army in June 1942. Wallace volunteered for the Army Air Forces. Roland ended up serving with the engineers. Roland would eventually become a first lieutenant in Company A, 16th Armored Infantry Battalion which was attached to the 1st Armored Division.

Roland was a participant in Operation Torch where the 1st Armored landed in North Africa. He performed engineering duties there and later in Sicily and Italy. Meanwhile Wallace was receiving flight training. On November 27, 1943 Wallace was killed in a training flight crash in Marianna, Florida when his P-40 experienced engine failure and he crash landed.

Roland survived the Battle of Anzio. On June 4, 1944 Lt. Luerich's company had built a Bailey bridge replacing a bridge that had been destroyed. The bridge came under sniper fire and a vital pin failed to release so the bridge was not operational. Risking his life to the sniper fire, Lt. Luerich crawled out to the bridge and released the pin, allowing the armor to cross the bridge. Later that day, while advancing along the road to Rome to clear mines, his unit ran into a German stronghold and Lt. Luerich was shot and killed. His action in fixing the bridge resulted in a posthumous Silver Star. Unfortunately, I was not able to find the citation.

His grave is at Graceland Memorial Park in Kenilworth, New Jersey where he is buried next to his brother. Currently, Findagrave.com does not have photos of their gravestones. It would be great if someone in the area would add those photos to their memorial.

Reverend and Mrs. Luerich had the rare tragedy of losing all their offspring to the war. Rev. Leurich lived to age 92, dying in 1980. Mrs. Luerich lived to age 94, dying in 1985. While most of the fallen would probably not have survived to age 100 had they made it home, given their genes, Roland and Wallace might have been among those who did.

Roland Louis Luerich Jr.