Paul M. Dreier was born on September 2, 1912 in the small town of Adair, which straddles the counties of Guthrie and Adair in Iowa. His parents were Wilhelm Dreier and Augusta Dreier, nee Neiman. Both parents were born in Germany. Paul had three siblings: Emil, Rose, and Florence Dreier. The family lived in Franklin, Cass County, Iowa in 1920, where Wilhelm was a farmer. Wilhelm died in 1929. In 1930, Augusta Dreier and her children lived in Douglas, Audubon County, Iowa, where Paul worked on the family farm. Paul’s mother died in 1938. By 1940, Paul was living with his uncle, Lewis Dreier, and his family in Voltaire, McHenry County, North Dakota.

Paul Martin Dreier registered for the draft on October 16, 1940. He was 28 years old, 5’6” tall, and weighed 160 pounds. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and a dark complexion. He lived in Voltaire and was unemployed.

This researcher has not been able to find an enlistment record for Paul Dreier, but Army hospital records from July 1944 indicated that he had been in the Army for two years and four months, making a probable enlistment date of May 1942. Staff Sergeant Paul M. Dreier served in the 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division.

The 90th Infantry Division went overseas to train in England on April 5, 1944. The 90th landed on Utah Beach in Normandy, June 6-10, 1944. Moving south through the Cotentin Peninsula, the Division attacked the enemy on July 3 at Foret de Mont-Castre (Hill 122), clearing it by July 11, despite constant, artillery fire. The 359th Infantry Regiment encountered murderous opposition in the orchards near Pretot, about 7 miles from Hill 122. In July 1944, Staff Sergeant Dreier was wounded in his arm by artillery shell fragments. He returned to duty in September 1944.

Having battled across northern France, the 90th participated in the siege of Metz from September 6 to November 19, 1944. On December 6, 1944, the division pushed across the Saar River and established a bridgehead north of Saarlouis in Germany.

Staff Sergeant Paul M. Dreier was killed in action on December 9, 1944 in Germany. He is buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial, Saint-Avold, Lorraine, France (Plot B, Row 20, Grave 55). He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster.

Note: Paul M. Dreier is listed in the WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualty List as entering the Army from Cowlitz County, Washington, but this researcher was unable to any record of him in that county.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

SBTSProject/Washington/Cowlitz

Sources:

Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56654559/paul-martin-dreier

U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954, https://www.fold3.com/record/706212278/blank-us-wwii-hospital-admission-card-files-1942-1954

U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954, https://www.fold3.com/record/706212277/blank-us-wwii-hospital-admission-card-files-1942-1954

WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualty List, https://www.fold3.com/image/310763472?rec=299418840

American Battle Monuments Commission, https://www.fold3.com/record/529896933/paul-m-dreier-american-battle-monuments-commission

1920 United States Federal Census, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/67791106:6061

1930 United States Federal Census, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/24916224:6224?tid=&pid=&queryId=9688e9828cc3418285eb449f198e5e68&_phsrc=xOR57783&_phstart=successSource

1940 United States Federal Census, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/100624940:2442

Iowa, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1999, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1320137:2547?tid=&pid=&queryId=70ba8f74198d190efed0560bd575dc48&_phsrc=xOR57781&_phstart=successSource

World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/299670173:2238

Paul M Dreier