Hi All,

Trying to locate information on the 358th Engineers, Company "C", WWII

I have a friend of mine, actually, he's an ex-Bro in Law, that would like to have more information on his Father's Service.  He attempted to get the service records from St. Louis and received the "Fire Disaster" form letter.  Unfortunately, Earl is not very Computer Savy and he is not doing real well health wise so he basically accepted the letter from St. Louis and gave up.   I recently finished a documentary on my Uncle's service during WWII with the 16th Infantry.  When Earl read the draft, he asked me if I would help him.  I couldn't say no but I'm having a very hard time locating much information on the 358th and nothing specific to Company "C".

Attached is a copy of the front page of his Honorable Discharge.  

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Patrick

Hi Patrick:

Excuse lateness of reply. Hmmm, we currently don't have anything on the 358th. Just when we think we just about have it all covered...

Looks like I have some homework to do. Stay tuned and thanks for joining.

Ah, missed one tiny mention of this unit. Have to find more.

Looks as though they were a general service regiment.

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/docs/Engineers/359thHistory.pdf

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/2865

https://www.fold3.com/image/287553532?terms=358th Engineer

https://www.fold3.com/image/286818395?terms=358th Engineer

https://www.fold3.com/image/291730962/

https://www.fold3.com/image/290392616?terms=358th Engineer

https://www.fold3.com/image/291671798/

https://www.fold3.com/image/287492218/

https://www.fold3.com/image/291848175/

https://www.fold3.com/image/291639572/

https://www.fold3.com/image/291740006/

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/view/Military.aspx?pid=-624561793&vid=dc28c338-8acd-4dd8-9d4d-95806af13d13&tid=10533788

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/view/Military.aspx?tid=2856702&pid=-1809681200&vid=fbeadfaa-fec4-4f5d-9a53-1e354c122590

http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/Article/12258/

http://www.longshoresoldiers.com/2010/01/us-port-units-in-antwerp-in-wwii.html

In this article, look at the section labeled Pipelines

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rskelley.htm

https://www.mfri.purdue.edu/oht/view-ornament.aspx?ornamentid=1408

http://www.aerotechnews.com/ntcfortirwin/2017/08/04/france-honors-two-with-legion-of-honor-medal/

http://rehistoricizing.org/luis-cervantez/

Look under the name Jules Cohen

http://www.journalreview.com/obituaries/article_eb7ee6cc-8b3c-11e1-b1b0-001a4bcf887a.html

http://archerweston.com/obituaries/marvin-clouser/

Hi Ms. M1 !!!  

Thanks for all the information and time you spent trying to help me.  Sadly and unfortunately, I had found most all of this too....   I've was very active in trying to uncover information on the 358th when I joined here and put a lot of time into searching virtually every avenue I could possibly think of.  I even contacted  Jane Kepp who did a great job on her Father's unit, the 631st Engineer Light Equipment Company.  The reason I contacted her was because of the Lineage I found on the 358th which really confused both Jane and I even more....  Here is what it said:

The 358th Engineer Co., Constituted 25 February 1943 in the Army of the United States as the 631st Engineer Light Equipment Company  

Jane said, she has never heard of the 358th and certainly never saw a reference to them while doing research on her father.  But that's what the official lineage states....  She and I both looked everywhere and she pulled her Research Documents out trying to find something....  Not one thing uncovered...

There is another part to this story that I didn't state in the beginning because it didn't seem relevant at that point.  But it may be more relevant than I had thought....

Haywood E. Waters apparently was in a Bar while overseas and got into an, well, "altercation" let's call it, with an Officer.  I believe he was tried over the incident but it must not have been quite serious enough to cost him his honorable discharge.  My Ex-Brother in law says that he was in Germany in 1945 and there until the war ended.  

Germany surrendered in May 0f 1945 and most units were assigned and shipped out to other areas within 2-weeks or less of the war ending.  However, Haywood E. Waters didn't....  My understanding is that the 358th Moved on to the Phillipines shortly after the War in Germany ended in May 1945 but I cannot find anything on them in the Phillipines.

I have a copy of a certificate for an Authorized "WAR Treasure" where a Lt. Albertus J. Cone, 406th Infantry, Commanding, Signed an authorization Form for a Ruger Pistol to be sent home to the States for Haywood E. Waters.  My question is, if Haywood E. Waters was with the 358th and the 358th moved on to the Phillipines which is where they supposedly went after Germany surrendered, then how did a Lt. Authorize the War Treasure from the 406th Infantry when the Offical Command Seal is the "European Theater"...  It should have been an Asian Campaign because the docuement was signed, 16 November 1945, about 6 months after the 358th would have left for the Philipines.   So I'm kinda leaning toward a new theory that Haywood E. Waters, got into trouble, was sentenced to "X" amount of time in local Army jail, wasn't bad enough to cost him his Honorable Discharge but bad enough he lost time and To get a FULL HONARABLE DISCHARGE, he had to make it up.  I'm thinking he must have stayed behind in Germany to finish whatever project was going on.  

Another reason I have is that HAYWOOD E. WATERS'  MOS shows:  Squad-Leader  LMG 604....   The actual "358th Engineers should have never seen combat and were called, as you also stated above, the "358th General Sevices Engineers".  They stayed mainly Miles behind the front line and operated Heavy Machinery.  I would not think there would be a need for a MOS 604 LMG Squad Leader.  That would be more of a "Combat Engineer" position....

After both Jane and I couldn't figure out why the Lineage would state the 358th became the 631st, I contacted the Department of the Army, Historian for Corp Engineer Units.  All they could find was a Certificate hanging on their walls and they took a picture and sent it to me.  Bascially, all it says is exactly what is stated in the lineage online.   (SEE ATTACHED 2 NEW PICTURES)

After receiving that, I felt that maybe I'm right about him staying behind in Germany but what I'm also thinking is that HAYWOOD E. WATERS may have been with another Unit altogether!  I have read that sometimes a Soldier is transferred to another unit so he can ship back home.  If that is true, it is very possible that since his unit moved on, he may have been transferred to an inactive arm of a Unit to finish his time in Germany and receive his Honorable Discharge.  I may not be stating that correctly, but the reasoning is there....  

And last, but certainly not least.......  and I hate to admit it...  I thought I was pretty good at digging up info.....  "I THREW IN THE WHITE TOWEL" !!!!!!!!!   I told Earl, you wanna know about your Dad????  I can still guide you but this one is a REAL MYSTERY!!!!!!!   And you are gonna have to bring your wallet out!!!  hahahahahahaha.....

I explained all that I had researched, told him my theory and told him I was out of ideas...   He agreed and we hired Geoff at GOLDEN ARROW RESEARCH.  Geoff has pulled some MRs for me before AND has done work for Jane Kepp as well...    He has had the order since August 15th.  Haven't heard from him yet but Earl opted to get the FULL PACKAGE with Geoff and Geoff told me it could take up to 6 weeks to complete.  

Once Geoff has completed the research, I'll come back and post the findings here so at least we will know, "WAS THERE TRULY A 358th???"

Thanks for you work and time....   I really appreciate that and hope to have an answer to share soon.

BTW, loved how you addressed me in the above post. :-)

That was quite a reply and I can see why you are baffled. One of the problems seems to be that the images above refer to a company, but the 358th you are interested in, was an engineer regiment. Ah, the Army is sometimes a very confusing body. This is certainly not the first time that I've come across this problem, for I've seen situations where someone comes to me for assistance and I have to tell them that they have the WRONG unit. 

I have worked with the 631st Engineers and some of their veterans, and they indeed did go to the Philippines.And as it states above, they were redesignated the 358th Engineer COMPANY a couple of years after the war. So this is NOT the unit you want to explore.

So let's get back to the 358th Engineer Regiment, who only served in Europe and ended their stint in Germany and returned home. Now it makes perfect sense that he had a Luger shipped home for him. It all comes together. 

Also it was not unusual for a soldier to remain in Europe until fall of 1945, because many of the men (sometimes selected battalions or companies from units), stayed behind to help to help with reconstruction. For instance, my dad was with the 540th and his battalion (the 2833rd) didn't come home until November of 1945. They were the occupational army.

More in a minute...

Patrick:

So your friend that is doing further research for you, needs to tell NARA in Maryland (they have all the declassified records for units) that he needs the records for the 358th General Service Regiment in Europe, NOT the 631st who later became the 358th Company, two years later. No relation here.

And yes, sometimes soldiers were NOT sent home with their original unit. Not unusual. For instance, maybe the 1st battalion shipped home, while the 2nd battalion stayed in occupied territory.  :drinkin:

 

Please note that he would have been trained in the states on rifle, machine gun etc., and acquired specialties. I do not find any inconsistencies with this and even though they were mostly behind the scenes and a general service regiment, they still needed to function in combat if and when needed.

Ms. M1,  (You like that huh) ;)

I agree, the "Regiment" vs "Company" is the confusing part. His Discharge papers further your statement as it says:  "358 Engineers, Company C".....  so I agree with you.  But I still couldn't find very much at all out there.  

Earl, btw, Is "Haywood E. Waters, Jr." so it's his dad we are looking for.  Earl has told me of a few story's his Dad left behind and he has his discharge and some pictures, etc.  So I know there is something out there.  Just a matter of turning over the right rock.  Geoff with Golden Arrow Research will hopefully turn over a big rock and solve some of this.  Jane is waiting to hear too.  Seems strange that even the Corp engineer historian couldn't come up with anything and I sent him "all" the papers. 

But as you also stated.... "ahhh, the Army"... hahahaha  I think they aren't even sure what they did sometimes...