Missing SSGT Banks, Cecil – 33659950
About SSGT Banks – 33659950
| Name: Banks, Cecil |
| Rank: Staff Sergeant (SSGT) |
| Service number: 33659950 |
| Status: Missing in Action (MIA) |
| Missing since: October 12, 1944 |
| Unit: 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 60th Infantry Division, Company A |
| Start project: 2019 |
| End project: Open |
| Commemorated: Tablets of the Missing, Netherlands Margraten U.S. Cemetery and Memorial |
| Awards: Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster |
| Research by: To be determined |
| Case ID: # 0079 |
Circumstances
SSGT Cecil Banks and PVT Joe A. Garcia went both missing in the Huertgen Forest, Germany.
SSGT Banks was a member of a reconnaissance patrol in the vicinity of Germeter, Germany. According to AG201 file the patrol was fired upon by the enemy, and SSGT Banks was wounded.
Due to constant enemy fire it was not possible to bring him back to the company area and SSGT Banks was not seen after this incident.
PVT Alfred S. Knowles stated in a letter that SSGT Banks was on a patrol in the Huertgen Forest and snipers pinned him down. He knows that SSGT Banks was shot by a sniper and PVT Knowles tried three times crawling to SSGT Banks but could not make it. He also stated that he knew nothing further regarding the fate of SSGT Banks.