Published August 30, 2025
By Phil Reyburn
James Leroy Veile was born August 9, 1923, in Quincy. He attended St. Francis School where he was a Boy Scout and a member of the safety patrol. James graduated from Christian Brothers High School in June 1942.
After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the United States’ entered into World War II, a massive mobilization effort trained, processed, and moved millions of soldiers overseas. The first step was to register men for the draft. On June 26, 1942, Veile visited the local draft board and registered.
Jame’s Selective Service number was called, and on February 12, 1943, little more than nine months after graduating from high school, he was inducted into the army at Scott Field near Bellville, Illinois. His basic training was at Camp Wheeler, Georgia where he was made a squad leader. From Camp Wheeler Veile’s next stop was Camp Shenango, Pennsylvania. This post served as a staging and processing center for soldiers on their way to the European Theater.
In June 1943, Veile shipped out for North Africa, where he was assigned to the 36th Infantry Division. Known as the ‘Texas’ Division, it was originally comprised of Lone Star state National Guardsmen.
On Veile’s safe arrival in North Africa, his parents took his recent letters to the Herald-Whig. The newspaper’s “OUR MEN IN SERVICE” column kept its readers updated on the whereabouts and happenings of area men. “In his letters, Pvt Veile informed his parents that North Africa isn’t such a bad place, except for sand and dust. He also writes that the Red Cross is doing wonderful work helping entertain ‘and keep the boys smiling.’ Recently, Pvt. Veile took part in the Bastille Day parade which was reviewed by American, French and British generals.”
In August 1943, the 36th moved from Morrocco to Algeria and trained for an amphibious landing. With the invasion of Italy at Salerno on September 9, the 36th was the first U.S. division ashore. The Allies now faced a long slog up the boot of Italy.
By December 1943, the Fifth Army front was bogged down along a mountainous ridge named Bernhard Line. From December 8th to the 17th, the 36th Division’s 143rd Infantry Regiment fought to capture the village of San Pietro, break the German defensive position, and open the road to Monte Cassino, the next objective. It took three desperate attacks but they succeeded in pushing the Germans out.
Veile carried his prayer book and rosary in his left shirt pocket. On the 15th and “in the thick of fierce fighting” at San Pietro, it saved his life. Hit with shrapnel from a German grenade, James had “15 serious wounds, mostly on his right side, including his ear, arm and leg.” The Herald-Whig wrote that “it was not until later that the prayer book and rosary with [a] fragment of shrapnel were found in his pocket.”
When James returned to the 36th in March 1944, the division had been ordered from the front to rest and refit. On May 22, the 36th arrived by sea at Anzio where the Fifth Army’s VI Corps had barely moved since their landing there on January 22. The breakout from the beach began the next day. Again, the Germans contained the Allied attack. However, scouts from the 36th discovered a gap in the German line. General Fred A. Walker, the division’s commander, put forward a plan to bulldoze a road that would get both troops and tanks through the gap. Two days passed before he received the order to go-ahead. The 36th blew a hole in the German line, opening the road to Rome. Veile wrote to his father that the 36th passed through the Eternal City on June 4 and 5.
Fighting stalled for a period as the Germans were using delaying tactics to slow the Allied advance. From one such incident, Veile’s action resulted in a Silver Star for valor. The citation read:
“James L. Veile . . . Company F, 143rd infantry regiment, for gallantry in action on June 21, 1944, in Italy. During an attack against strong enemy defenses, Sergeant Veile . . . was advancing with his men when his attention was attracted by a noise to his left. With two soldiers from his platoon, he moved in the direction of the sound. After advancing a few yards, he and his companions were suddenly subjected to heavy fire. . .. Instead of seeking cover for himself, Sergeant Veile crawled forward toward the enemy emplacement and directed his two men into firing positions. Then after hurling hand grenades, he and his comrades leapt to their feet and in the face of direct . . . fire, assaulted the position and bayonetted the enemy soldiers. Sergeant Veile destroyed the hostile emplacement and returned to the company command post with two prisoners.”
By July 1944, the 36th was pulled from the front to rest and refit, and it became part of the Seventh Army. On August 15, the 36th made an amphibious assault landing in southern France. Since Veile was hospitalized with malaria, he rejoined the division on September 7. Shortly after the landing, the 36th was attached to the French First Army.
By December 1944, the 36th was in Alsace facing German troops trapped in the Colmar Pocket. Beginning December 13, the Germans launched repeated attacks attempting to break out. Veile wrote a letter home on the 14th. He said that he had attended Mass and offered a prayer for his mother, who had died a year earlier.
Two days later, Veile “was killed by an enemy sniper in a town in eastern France. . ..” The 143rd chaplain wrote his parents a letter they shared with the Herald-Whig. He stated that Sgt. Veile operating “as a platoon sergeant was struck down during a counterattack by fanatical enemy troops. The chaplain added that ‘Veile was a great favorite. His courageous and dauntless spirit will live on and continue to inspire his comrades to the end.’” The letter also said that Sgt. Veile “was buried with rites by a Catholic chaplain.”
On Thursday, May 27, 1948, James L. Veile’s remains were returned to Quincy. Mass was held at St. Francis Catholic Church with American Legion Post No. 37 conducting a graveside service at Calvary Cemetery.
Phil Reyburn is a retired field representative for the Social Security Administration. He authored Clear the Track: A History of the Eighty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, The Railroad Regiment; and co-edited “Jottings from Dixie:” The Civil War Dispatches of Sergeant Major Stephen F. Fleharty, U.S.A.”
