Harold "Harry" M. Thoraldson was killed in action on June 24, 1944 while serving in France as a member of the U.S. Army and, more specifically, as a member of the Second Infantry Division and the Corps of Engineers. He was a Private First Class at the time of his death and was buried in a wool uniform and a cotton herringbone twill suit on October 21, 1947, his casket sealed by embalmer George Avakian. He was buried at St. Laurent Cemetery, the first American cemetery built in Europe for the purpose of burying American soldiers. The graves of St. Laurent Cemetery were uniform (all displaying white crosses at the cemetery's start) but now some graves have a Star of David instead for Jewish service members who died in the D-Day Invasion.