The one in the middle is my Grandfather, Jerry Clayton Runions, the other two I have no clue. This pic. may have been taken in Italy.

I appreciate you taking the time to share the photo of your grandfather with us. Wouldn't it be great if someone stumbled upon it and could actually name the two other gentlemen?

BTW, that's a really nice sharp photo.

Hello to all, been a long time since I posted anything but have been away for awhile. I found some more pictures and things of my grandfather, some overseas and some at Camp Claiborne La. when he was in basic. I also found his dogtags and a few names. I hope that some one has heard these before they are Jerry Clayton Runions (my Grandfather) R.L. Bennet, Mearl Walice (last name may not be correct) and Donnie Broon or Broom His hand writing was not that good all he had was a 3rd grade education. This picture is marked Jul. 2nd 1944 My Grandfather is the one with the M1 Donnie is beside him and Mearl is standing in the rear. My grandfather was in Company F 344th Engineers General Service. Any help would be great.

That is just FANTASTIC. You must have been so excited to come upon these rare items. I knew how I felt when I found my dad's dogtags, etc.

I am going to move this with the previous posts, so we can keep the flow going and tie it all in.

Good to hear from you once again. Here's to your grandfather. He is smiling down today.

Hi there,

I tried playing around with the name Mearl Wallis. When I googled the name Wallace and your grampa's unit, This book came up. Probably not the same guy, but it does provide a link between someone that was alive a couple of years ago and your grampa

http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/book_details/GI_Engineers

Hi there,

I tried playing around with the name Mearl Wallis. When I googled the name Wallace and your grampa's unit, This book came up. Probably not the same guy, but it does provide a link between someone that was alive a couple of years ago and your grampa

http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/book_details/GI_Engineers

Thank you very much for that link I will get a copy of that book.

That is so cool. I bought a copy today for myself. Love adding another engineer book to my collection. Plan on writing to the author and will send this info to the others in my 344th contact list.

Thanks sweetie!

Going to place this in the BOOKS section too!

There are so many possibilities for those names when spelled phonetically. Mearl could be Merle or Merrill. Broom could be Brume or Bruin. Good luck!

I am so thankful for this site as it has helped me in so many ways. What I consider new friends even though we have never met in person I still count you all as friends . I have a picture here that I would love to have some opinions on I have e-mailed it to Marion and was advised to post it here on the VI corps web page. I found the picture in a magazine that I have and it really caught my eye as to the likeness of my grandfather. I pasted his picture to the one in the magazine and would love to hear from you all and see if you think it could be the same person or if I am barking up the wrong tree once again. Thanks to all of you for all the help, I really love this site. - Larry Heck Grandson of Jerry Clayton Runions 344th Engineers General Service. My Grandfather had always told me that he helped to build the first bridge over the Rhine River, and in one of the columns that I read on here it said that the 343rd and 344th worked together to build the first Bridge over the Rhine. If any one out there from the 343rd may know anything please contact me.

Marion's note: I removed Larry's email address as a precaution. We certainly don't want to open Larry up to spammers, etc. Members here know how to reach someone, and if a guest needs to reach you, they can contact me as a go-between. I sleep better at night this way!

Larry, thanks for the kind words. I always think of us as one big happy family!

I am going to MERGE this with the ongoing topic regarding your grandfather, so we can keep a continuity. Hold on while I do so... It will be merged in a flash...