John Steele's and Lynne Busby's Genealogy Pages
Mack D. Steele
1918 - 1942 (24 years)
-
Name Mack D. Steele Nickname Mack Born 9 Oct 1918 Neola, Iowa 
Gender Male Military 1942 North Africa KIA on a train shot by German airplane during operation Torch, Allied forces troop movement in North Africa. Died 23 Nov 1942 North Africa Buried !0 Jun 1948 Lakewood Memorial Park Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, USA 
Siblings5 Siblings Person ID I23 Steeles_Genealogy Last Modified 24 Sep 2021
Father Fred Monroe STEELE, b. 23 Mar 1878, Woodbine Iowa , d. 21 Dec 1943, Jackson Mississippi (Age 65 years) Mother Margueritte Alice DENSON, b. 18 Aug 1884, Ludlow MS , d. 4 Feb 1978, Jackson MS (Age 93 years) Married 28 Aug 1912 Family ID F27 Group Sheet | Family Chart
-
Notes - Mack was wounded while riding on a flatbed rail train and buried in Tunisia, around Nov 1942. He lived for approximately 24 hours and given last rights according to his sister Aunt Margie.
His body was removed and returned to Mississippi
North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial
LOCATION
553 Rue Roosevelt
Carthage, Tunis, 2016 Tunisia
PHONE 216 71 747 767
WEBSITE www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/africa/north-africa-american-cemetery
CEMETERY
PHOTOS 7
MAP
At the 27-acre North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Tunisia rest 2,841 of the military dead of the United States of America. Their headstones are set in straight lines subdivided into nine rectangular plots by wide paths, with decorative pools at their intersections. Along the southeast edge of the burial area, bordering the tree-lined terrace leading to the memorial is the Wall of the Missing. On this wall 3,724 names are engraved. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. Most honored here lost their lives in World War II in military activities ranging from North Africa to the Persian Gulf.
The chapel and the memorial court, which contain large maps in mosaic and ceramic depicting the operations and supply activities of American forces across Africa to the Persian Gulf, were designed to harmonize with local architecture. The chapel interior is decorated with polished marble, flags and sculpture.
The cemetery lies between the Mediterranean and the
Bay of Tunis, atop part of ancient Roman Carthage. It was
established in 1948 to consolidate temporary cemeteries in
North Africa. The government of Tunisia granted its free
use as a permanent burial ground in perpetuity without
charge or taxation.
Getting there:
It is 10 miles from the city of Tunis and 5 miles from it's airport. It can be reached by taxicab from the city or airport.
There is an electric commuter train from Tunis - the nearest stop is Amilcar station and is only a two or three hundred yard walk to the cemetery. - Letter to Mom Steele from uncle Mack's friend,Ray Adams who was with him when he was wounded. Aug 1943
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cpl. Mack Denson Steele: b 9 Oct 1918--Neola, IA
d 23 Nov 1942--Algeria North Africa
Buried--Jackson, MS
Uncle Mack was a member of the 168th Infantry Battalion, 34th Division, a unit of the Iowa National Guard. He had been in England and Ireland training with the British commandos as a Ranger, under the command of General William Orlando Darby--of Darby's Rangers fame.
There was a 1958 movie starring James Garner by the same name--Darby's Ranger. Lib always giggled that, "Mack was quite a ladies man and could have always had what he wanted, if you understand what I mean!" A real Steele man no doubt!!
The story I heard over the years was that he was riding on a railroad flatcar on the way to Tunisia when a German ME 109 fighter aircraft strafed the train. He was hit in the chest and lived for a day or so before he died.
Lib told me that Mom and Margie travelled to Iowa to see him after the war and that he was unable to tell Mom anything because he broke down whenever he tried to tell her. He was so overwrought with grief that he couldn't tell Mom what Mack's dying words were. Lib also related that when the German aircraft strafed the train Mack threw his body in front of a fellow soldier and took the brunt of the bullets. She also said that a Catholic Chaplain administered last rites to Uncle Mack.
He was interred in a city cemetery in Algiers, Algeria and then at some point reinterred in a British cemetery for war dead. There were two British Cemeteries I found on the internet and based on my conversation with Libby it would be the El Alia Cemetery.
However, there is another possibility and that would be the La Reunion Cemetery. I personally believe it had to be the El Alia Cemetery as it is fairly close to the Bay of Algeria and Lib mentioned that where he was buried overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. Margie and Libby disagree on whether he was interred twice before being returned to America. Margie says twice and Lib says once. Who knows? Lib deferred to Margie over the issue whether he was buried twice in Algeria. Additionally, Margie said that Pop and Uncle Jim did not want Mack’ remains brought home.
According to Margie, Mom Steele wanted him moved back to America and buried in Jackson, but Uncle Jim and Daddy tried to talk her out of it and wanted him left in at peace in the British Cemetery. According to Margie, he was going to be reinterred in a new American Cemetery in Algeria and Mom insisted that since he was being moved from the British Cemetery he should be returned home. She insisted he be reinterred in America.
Margie also indicated that Mom Steele wanted to see his remains to make sure it was Mack. She said there was a scar over one of his eyes and she wanted to make sure they didn't send someone else's body to her. She didn't get her wish though as the remains would have been a shambles I'm sure and it would have been devastating for her to have seen her son in that condition which would have left such a gruesome, lasting impression. Margie also recounted that soldiers stood guard at the funeral home and the cemetery. Apparently this was standard procedure for war dead being brought home. She also indicated that the casket was beautiful. Mack Denson Steele is buried between Mom Steele and Pop Steele in Lakewood Cemetery in Jackson, MS.
He had enlisted in the Iowa National Guard in January 1941--nearly a year before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
- Mack was wounded while riding on a flatbed rail train and buried in Tunisia, around Nov 1942. He lived for approximately 24 hours and given last rights according to his sister Aunt Margie.
This site powered by The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding v. 13.1.1, written by Darrin Lythgoe © 2001-2024.
Maintained by John Steele.