Name: John Pitts Dorrier

                         Branch of Service: U.S. Army

                         Unit: 603rd Tank Destroyer Battalion,
                         6th Armored Div., Third Army

                         Rank: Captain

                         Dates of Service: 1942 - 1945

                         Theater of Service: European-African-                          Middle Eastern

With the 6th Armored Div. in Lorraine - John P. Dorrier, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.R. Dorrier of Scottsville, VA, battalion maintenance officer with the 603rd. Tank Destroyer Battalion, has been promoted to the rank of Captain.

The 603rd "Hellcats" are attached to the 6th Armored Division currently engaged in the Third Army's drive to kick the Germans out of France and into the Fatherland.

The Hellcats form a veteran tank destroyer battalion. They participated in the lightning-like drives across the Brittany peninsula to Brest with the Super Sixth in August, and received recognition in November for the number of German tanks destroyed in the Third Army drive from east of Nancy to the Saar River. 33 tanks, numerous assault guns, ammunition dumps and vehicles were credited to the 603rd in a 3-week period.

One of the principal reasons for the Hellcats' effective performance was directly traced to the job done by maintenance crews under Captain Dorrier. The more than 100 vehicles of the battalion have been maintained in tip-top condition, despite that each has been driven 2400 miles and more over the roughest and muddiest terrain and roads in 5 months of combat in France.

Dorrier, is a graduate of VMI, receiving his commission as a 2nd lieutenant in 1939. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant in May 1943. He has been with the 603rd since August 1942.

John Pitts Dorrier was born on June 15, 1917, in Scottsville, Buckingham County, Virginia; he was the son of Charles Richard Dorrier (1886-1966) and Clara Lee (Pitts) Dorrier (1889-1951) of Scottsville, Virginia.  John attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia, and was a member of the Class of 1939.  John passed away in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina on October 4, 2001; he is buried at Scottsville Cemetery in Scottsville, Virginia.