Our reporting on local veterans is a collaboration with RyeVets.org to highlight those from Rye who have served our country across times of war and peace. There are over 2,100 veterans from the City of Rye. Learn more about how you can help research and write biographies of those that have served.
Herbert Stanley Bulkley was born September 29, 1924, to James and Isabelle Holden Bulkley. The family resided at 62 Railroad Ave (today Theodore Fremd Ave).
Date of Birth: 9/29/1924
Died On: 3/5/1945
Street Address: 62 Railroad Avenue (now Theodore Fremd Avenue)
Service Number: 32868579
Branch of Service: U.S. Army – B Company, 36th Tank Battalion, 8th Armored Division
Bulkley graduated from Rye High School in 1942. Before entering the Army, he was employed at the Rye Post Office and worked at Playland.
Bulkley enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 19, 1943. He was a Tank Commander who achieved the rank of Sergeant and was assigned to the 36th Tank Battalion of the 8th Armored Division. He was with this unit on March 5, 1945 in the battle to take the town of Rheinberg, Germany.
Bulkley’s unit of the 36th Tank Battalion approached the main road to “Bloody” Rheinberg and ran into an intense arms fire. While the 36th was eventually successful in taking Rheinberg, the victory was costly. 141 soldiers in the unit were killed or wounded. Of the 18 tanks in Company B of the 36th Tank Battalion, 11 were lost in battle. Sergeant Herbert Stanley Bulkley was one of those killed at Rheinberg Germany, March 5, 1945. He was just 21 years old.
Bulkley was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and is buried in the American Military Cemetery in Margraten, The Netherlands. More on Bulkley.
