Cocoa, Brevard County, Florida
United States Army
Private First Class

PFC Ashurst enlisted in 1942 serving with the 142nd Infantry of the 36th Division after graduating from Cocoa High School, class of 1942.  Originally in French North Africa, he then participated in Allied assault landings at Salerno, Italy, 9 September 1943.  It was the first U.S. combat unit to fight on the European continent when it landed by sea at Paestum, which was given the codename of Operation Avalanche. They saw lots of difficult action in Italy, pushing into Rome on 5 June 1944, the day before the Normandy invasion in France. They had heavy losses.
 

 On 15 August 1944, as part of the U.S. 6th Army Group, the division made another amphibious assault landing, against light opposition in the Saint-Raphaël-Fréjus area of southern France as part of Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of Southern France. A rapid advance opened the Rhone River Valley. Montelimar fell, 28 August, and large German units were trapped.  

PFC Alta Ashurst was originally interred in Pinehurst Cemetery in Cocoa and later relocated to Evergreen Cemetery in Gainesville.