His name was Joseph Van Domelen and as far as I know he was a private during the war. When he was on leave in Rome he met up with my dad. I think we have the picture that the local newspaper took.

Here is some reading to do while we sort out the units that were in Italy, There were 6 battalions that went in the invasion of Southern France.

THE AVIATION ENGINEERS IN AFRICA AND EUROPE

Also try my buddy's site:

http://www.ixengineercommand.com/

Thanks for everything. The sites were very helpful.

Gary

By the way, I called the contact for the 705th and he passed away 5 years ago. He was a part of the unit and he did some reunions. So I think I will all the US Army Corps of Engineers history department. What kind of info did they give you?

Gary

If there is more info at the battalion level for the engineer companies. What would I search for?

Gary

They have folders/info on many of the units. I got photos, the unit history from the beginning, and many other helpful files. They had a wealth of info on the 540th Engineer Combat Regiment, which was later converted to a Group in early 1945.

Just give them a call and ask for any info on said unit. Start at the top level and work your way down.

Note: the amount of info on various units can vary greatly. Some may have extensive info at the Office of History, while others may have very little to none. But, it's worth a shot. Ya never know until you try.

I called Michael Brodhead with the archives for the corps of engineers. He gave us some more contacts that should have some info. Thanks for all the contacts. Most of the info at the company level is hard to find. The logistics behind what they were doing was incredible.

Gary