When the three sons of Mr. and Mrs. George Siglin of Noxen answered the call to arms, their parents were happy and proud, reported the Evening News on May 23, 1945.
But the story was grim announcing one son was killed, another missing presumed killed in action, and the third and eldest boy was alive stationed in England during World War II.
The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre Record and the Evening News in the spring of 1945 contained pages upon pages of news from the European Theater and the Pacific Theater.
Stories about the Siglin brothers, all members of the U.S. Army, often appeared.
The eldest, Carl Cecil Siglin, born July 20, 1915, enlisted in September 1941, and received his training at Washington, D.C., and Fort Dix, N.J., and was shipped overseas in May 1942, seeing action in France and Belgium.
Pvt. George Siglin, born Sept. 24, 1920, enlisted in May 1943, and was trained at Fort Meade, MD., before being sent to the European Theater.
Pvt. James Siglin, born July 18, 1922, enlisted in December 1942, trained in Mississippi and left for overseas in September 1944, from Fort Dix, N.J.
“Of three brothers that were members of the U.S. armed forces, one has been killed, and one missing since Dec. 25, 1944, and the third has been overseas for two years,” the Record reported June 7, 1945.
In time, James Siglin’s status as missing would change to killed in action in Belgium.
While George Siglin and James Siglin were two years apart in age, 24 and 22, when they were killed, they are buried close to each other in the Netherlands American Cemetery, the only American cemetery for military personnel killed during World War II in Netherlands.
George Siglin, assigned to the 624th Ordnance Ammunition Company, was killed while taking inventory of ammunition that exploded near Marburg, Germany, on April 27, 1945, during an American offensive in the days leading up to Germany’s surrender.
James Siglin, assigned to the 393 Infantry of the 99th Infantry Division, known as the Checkerboard Division, was reported missing Dec. 25, 1944, and changed to killed in action during the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge near Elsenborn, Liege, Belgium.
According to the cemetery’s database and Ancestry.com, George is buried in Block B and James is buried in Block H among the more than 8,000 American military dead buried there.
During the war, the Record reported Jan. 18, 1944, George and Carl spent two days together while their units were on leave in England.
Carl Siglin was with the U.S. Army Air Corps assigned to the 17th Service Squadron, 1st Service Group. Following the war, Carl Siglin was discharged from active service on Oct. 18, 1945, from Sioux Falls, S.D. and would have a 30-year career as a mechanic at a dealership in Tunkhannock before retiring in 1982.
Carl Siglin died at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital on July 10, 1996, and was buried at Orcutt’s Grove Cemetery in Noxen.
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