Received this letter today:

....What I am trying to do is to find information about the history of Company A, 53rd Signal Battalion during WWII. They were in Italy and North Africa. My grandfather was in this battalion at this time and he passed away 6 years ago. You think that you are going to remember the things that they told you forever, but as time moves on, it gets fuzzy. If I can't find much about the battalion during this time period, I would like to find living members of the 53rd.

I want to be able to tell my children more about their great grandfather and I want to record this history for future generations of my family...

Thanks, and have a great day,

Chad Tipps

Grandson of Harold G. Tipps, First Lieutenant

U.S. Army 1940 - 1952

Army National Guard 1952 - 1962

I am going to list some links, etc.

http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Sig/53Si...alBattalion.htm

II Corps

http://www.milhist.net/ordbat/2corpsus.html

I am going to suggest that you do the following first.

Contact Richard Horrell from WW2 Connections (go back to the referred list you went to in the beginning). He may be able to give you some initial info.

Secondly, you many wish to contact NARA in College Park. Send them a letter similiar to the one you sent to me. See what archives they may have on the 53rd. Give them as much info as possible, including dates. If you want, I can look over your letter prior to you sending it.

If you choose to take that route, then be prepared to make the trip yourself once you find out what info is available, or you can also hire a college research student to copy the info, or you can even hire a private researcher as I did. I can give you more advice once you have contacted NARA.

I hope that helps you get started. Don't hesitate to ask for further assistance.