Hello

I am Andy from the Netherlands .

I recently adopted 3 graves of soldiers from WW2

We caretakers of the graves at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial ( Margraten ) are the ones who will see to it that the men and women buried there will not be forgotten

I go there often with my wife and children to see that their graves are well being taken care for.

I now have Internet and i am trying to find out as much as possible about them but its very hard to find anything.

I would like to know everything about them so i can ex plane it to my children who s in that grave and what kind of men they were.

I am trying the find a face or story behind the grave of these brave men, but i run out of help

So i hope i am at the right address.

Its about :

Marshall D Breininger was born 31 DEC 1909 in Kutztown, Maxatawny Twp., Berks Co., PA,

US ARMY ID : 33370932

313th Infantry Regiment , 79th Infantry Division

Killed in action, april 7, 1945, by a German sniper

I haven't got much about him

And then there is :

sergeant Joseph V Del Torto

id 32940850

615th Bomber Squadron, 401st Bomber Group, Heavy

from poughkeepsie NY

who was born in 1925 en died on 16 feb 1945 in an airplane crash in Holland

I know a lot about his military life , but haven't been able to contact a relative

And then we have :

CPL Gustavo R. Ontiveroz

ID 38143301

U.S. Army, 55th Infantry Battalion, 11th Armored Division

From Bexar County, TX

who was born on 9 feb 1918 and died on 6 April 1945 in Europe

I recently made contact with his granddaughter Lisa and soon i will know much more about him, its great

If anyone knows something , please let me know, it would be great.

Andy

Hello Andy,

On this link,

I have to find this for you

Is information

http://www.archives.gov/

Field Title Value Meaning

ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 38143301

NAME ONTIVEROZ#GUSTAVO#R#####

RESIDENCE: STATE 85 TEXAS

RESIDENCE: COUNTY 029 BEXAR

PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 8554 FT SAM HOUSTON TEXAS

DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 06

DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 08

DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 42

GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION PVT# Private

GRADE: CODE 8 Private

BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION BI# Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA

BRANCH: CODE 00 Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA

FIELD USE AS DESIRED # #

TERM OF ENLISTMENT 5 Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law

LONGEVITY ### ###

SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 0 Civil Life

NATIVITY 85 TEXAS

YEAR OF BIRTH 18

RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1 White, citizen

EDUCATION 0 Grammar school

CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 732 Undefined Code

MARITAL STATUS 1 Single, with dependents

COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 7 Selectees (Enlisted Men)

CARD NUMBER # #

BOX NUMBER 1294

FILM REEL NUMBER 6.60#

Field Title Value Meaning

ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 32940850

NAME DEL#TORTO#JOSEPH#V######

RESIDENCE: STATE 23 NEW YORK

RESIDENCE: COUNTY 027 DUTCHESS

PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 2390 UTICA NEW YORK

DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 25

DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 06

DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 43

GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION PVT# Private

GRADE: CODE 8 Private

BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION NO# No branch assignment

BRANCH: CODE 02 No branch assignment

FIELD USE AS DESIRED # #

TERM OF ENLISTMENT 5 Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law

LONGEVITY ### ###

SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 0 Civil Life

NATIVITY 23 NEW YORK

YEAR OF BIRTH 25

RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1 White, citizen

EDUCATION 3 3 years of high school

CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 170 ENGINEERING AIDE (DESIGNATED FIELD) or SALES CLERK

MARITAL STATUS 6 Single, without dependents

COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 7 Selectees (Enlisted Men)

CARD NUMBER # #

BOX NUMBER 0587

FILM REEL NUMBER 2.251

Field Title Value Meaning

ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 33370932

NAME BREININGER#MARSHALL#D###

RESIDENCE: STATE #2 Undefined Code

RESIDENCE: COUNTY 011 Undefined Code

PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 3201 ALLENTOWN PENNSYLVANIA

DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 03

DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 11

DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 42

GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION PVT# Private

GRADE: CODE 8 Private

BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION BI# Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA

BRANCH: CODE 00 Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA

FIELD USE AS DESIRED # #

TERM OF ENLISTMENT 5 Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law

LONGEVITY ### ###

SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 0 Civil Life

NATIVITY 32 PENNSYLVANIA

YEAR OF BIRTH 10

RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1 White, citizen

EDUCATION 0 Grammar school

CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 681 Undefined Code

MARITAL STATUS 6 Single, without dependents

COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 7 Selectees (Enlisted Men)

CARD NUMBER # #

BOX NUMBER 0649

FILM REEL NUMBER 1.166

Véronique

Andy,

Here is also the address or I wrote to obtain the copies of " Individual Deceased personnel File " ( IDPFs) of my 10 soldiers , whom I adopted the tombes "cemetery colleville sur mer" . Written has the following address:

Departement of the Army

U.S Total Army Personnel Command

ATTN: TAPC-PAO, FOIA Room 7 N 50

200 Stovall Street

Alexandria - VA 22332-0400 USA

2 to 3 months are needed to hope to obtain an answer.

3 months later I received copy of "Individual Deceased Personnel File" concerning my soldiers.

Every file made 31 pages where I found where they had lived in US The address of their parents their military route , how and where they was killed..

And here is the model of my letter :

Dear Sir,

I would like to have some information about the a soldiers killed in action during WWII and buried in France

" At the normandy American Cemetery - St Laurent Colleville / Mer.

Name.........

Army Serial......

Unit......

Date of Death........

Place of Death.......

I belong to the association < Les Fleurs de la mémoire> (The flowers of memory)

I regularly visit their tombs and lay flowers on it , paying tribute to this soldiers fallen to liberate my country . I would be very thankful to you if I could get their " IDPF " and know more about his short life.

Here is my address: Mr Mme............

Sincerely yours .

Signature.

This service asks for fees

Véronique

Veronique

Thank you very much , also for the letter , i will use that.

So it will take about 3 months, no problem.

thank you

Andy,

I am trying to help you to locate information about your adopted soldiers .

I have found all 3 are listed in the WWII Memorial Registry :

www.wwiimemorial.com

WWII Registry

search the registry

last name

first name

state

In this listing, it names the person who listed Breininger as David Kutz, nephew

And Del Torto as Joseph A. Del Torto,nephew . Ontiveroz does not list a person who

listed him .

The nephews are the sons of the solders' sister or brother.

So, they would be very closely related and would have much information if I can

contact them .

The informaton from Veronique is very good. She has much experience in this kind of search and has been very successful to find relatives of her adopted soldiers.

Let me know if you have found these relatives, if not, I will continue my search.

ColBill

Hi Andy, thank you for caring for the graves of our fallen.

Here`s what i have on S/Sgt J.V. Del Torto;

Crew Identification

The Crew of: 1st Lt E.A. Hansen

Unit: 615th Bomb Squadron

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crew Members

Pilot 1st Lt E.A. Hansen KIA

Copilot Flt O J.S. Chuderswicz POW

Navigator 1st Lt M. Greenberg POW

Togglier S/Sgt J.L. Morrisen POW

Radio Operator S/Sgt J.V. Del Torto KIA

Engr / Top Turret T/Sgt R.A. Miller Evaded

Ball Turret Gunner S/Sgt W.T. Brunson KIA

Tail Gunner S/Sgt L.E. McKnight POW

Waist Gunner S/Sgt A.A. Karcher POW

_________________________________________________

Mission Number: 209

Date: Friday, 16 February 1945

Group Air Commander: Maj. C.A. Lewis

Crews Briefed: 37

Target: Gelsenkirchen

Target Details: Railroad marshalling yards

IY-A (860) Lt. Hanson M.I.A.

The aircraft piloted by Lt. Ernest A. Hansen, No. 42-97869 ("Maid to Order"/ "Hula Girl"), was hit in the right wing(by flak), which caught on fire. The crew bailed out over Holland, but three members of the crew, including the pilot, were killed. One crew member, Sgt. R. A. Miller, the Engineer, evaded capture, but the remaining crew members were POW's.

Perhaps you can find a little more here:

http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwii.php

First you have to enter his name and then his first name. For example: Del Torto Joseph V

Regards,

Frank