Dear Chris:
That makes my heart sing and I really needed to hear that tonight. It seems like a Godsend and I hope it can truly help their cause.
I know you will keep me posted if anything at all turns up. Please send my best to your friend. I am rooting for all of these great men.
Marion; I'll add my two cents.... I wish I knew why the COMBAT ENGINEERS didn't get the C.I.B. We (34th Divn.) crossed the Rapido river and crossed the Volturno river three times and who was there with us??? COMBAT ENGINEERS. Who had the mine sweepers to clear mines so we could advance?? Marion with your expertice in writing ,maybe you could sent a letter to the proper people and rattle your saber!!! We used the 109th Combat Engineers at Salerno, Italy and like I said, I didn't get my feet wet crossing the river, maybe damp and muddy. Rocky
It's great to hear that from a infantryman from WWII. We need more votes like yours.
Trust me anyone disputing the fact that many and most of the engineers WERE NOT UNDER DIRECT FIRE, needs to read the few thousand pages of the S-1 through S-4 reports, etc, from 1942-1945. Many of the engineers were wounded and/or killed in action on the FRONT LINES.
Many shot rifles, machine guns and sidearms, threw grenades, and put their put their lives in danger same as anyone in the Infantry Divs, and were fired at.
After all, people need to realize that combat engineers are infantrymen with ADDITIONAL/SPECIAL TRAINING.
I am hoping that this site and my book will clarify this.
Great find! Do you have anything for Enlisted men?
I have always heard it argued that the soldier had to have an infantry classification in order to earn the CIB. I wonder if the officers some how got around that?? Maybe they were transferred from the infantry and retained some of their earlier rating. I'm sure many of the officers entered OCS and went directly into Corps of Engineers and never was trained purely as infantrymen.
I was one of those skeptical ones.
Steve
I am currently writing the chapters that deal with being drafted or signing up for the service and the training that was involved there after.
It will give everyone a better understanding of the training that was involved. Maybe people think that engineers went into the service and just sat in chairs with books. An erroneous assumption. You have to understand that my guys were COMBAT ENGINEERS, not automotive engineers!
YOU EARN THE C.I.B. NO MATTER IF YOU ARE A BUCKASS PRIVATE OR AN OFFICER. IF YOU WERE IN COMBAT YOU DAMN WELL EARNED IT. tHERE IS NO CLASSIFICATION. THAT IS WHY IT'S CALLED C.I.B. COMBAT INFANTRY. I got mine in '44 when they were first issued. We just came off the line to a rest area andthe Lt. came by and tossed it at me, I said what the hell is this, all he said
was, cause you were in combat. Custerman now you know how to get one. Rocky I STILL SAY THE COMBAT ENGINEERS HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT TO HAVE THE C.I.B.
Yup you are right Rocky, no matter if you are EM or Officer. Rank has no privilege as far as the CIB is concerned.
It just happens that the document I found pertained to the officers in that company. I am hoping I might find more, but even if I don't, it's a start!
I've been thinking of a quote by my Dad and I wanted to be sure it was exactly right.
He said,"For the Combat Engineers, it was mostly combat and a little engineering."
That sounds about right. I like that quote! Man, if you sit down and read the S-1 through S-4 reports, you will gain even more respect for these guys. I swear half the time I don't know if they even slept. The conditions, especially at Anzio were just hell. Day in and day out. But they still accomplished ALL these amazing feats under FIRE.
The casualties too. Sometimes it's hard for me to read, and I actually get teary eyed when I read that someone was injured on one page, and then three pages later I find out that they died. I guess these men are like family to me now and I feel so very close to them. A lot of them have faces now too and that makes it even harder.
Anyway...