- Earl considered Jonesborough, Washington County, Tennessee his home. He was a Bus Driver before enlisting in the United States Army at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia on 15 September 1943.
Earl was assigned to Company H, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division. He participated in three Unit Campaigns: Normandy, Northern France and Rhineland. It was during this last campaign that Earl was Killed in Action during the Battle for Metz at Petite Hettange, France. He was 28 years old and received a Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross for his gallantry against the enemy.
Earl was the son of John Smith Oliver and Martha Jane Hilliard. His younger brother Fred served in the United States Navy during World War II.
Distinguished Service Cross Citation:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Private Earl Oliver (ASN: 34885176), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company H, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces in France, on 12 November 1944. On that date, Private Oliver was serving as a machine-gunner with a platoon near Kerling, France. Before dawn, a strong force of enemy tanks and infantry attacked his position, and aided by poor visibility and hilly terrain succeeded in knocking out all machine-guns except Private Oliver's. Ignoring the intense fire directed against him this brave soldier held his position, directing effective fire by the sound of the advance and the light of bursting mortar shells, even when the enemy had approached within grenade-throwing distance. He was killed by a direct mortar hit on his position, and the following morning twenty-two enemy dead were found in front of his gun; some as close as fifteen feet. Private Oliver's heroic determination and supreme, courageous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 90th Infantry Division, and the United States Army.
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1916 - 1944 (28 years)
