Hello everyone - my name is Matt Malley and I am glad to be here! My father, WW2 vet Patrick Lawrence Malley passed away in April of '03 and I must have the worst timing because I've since become a bit obsessed with WW2, watching all the documentaries, reading all the books - and now I have a million questions for him but he's gone. In 5 days from now, on Feb 3rd it would have been dad's 100th birthday. In my 20's I co-founded a successful 90's rock band "Counting Crows" as their bass player and dad was proud of me in his quiet way - one of the highlights of my life is when mom said that he wears his Counting Crows t-shirt to the bar as a conversation piece! He's from Berkeley, CA and was in the "343rd Engineer General Service Regiment". I've been going through one of his boxes this week and found some great photos from Naples Harbor, Rome, North Africa, Southern France etc. Attaching a photo - dad is the handsome devil on the right with the cigar. I'm here to meet other sons/daughters of WW2 vets - all of these vets are national treasures who fought an undeniable evil and grew up too fast - and when they're gone, there will be no more first hand accounts of the war and that will be one of this country's greatest losses. I got a very limited report of dad from the St Louis archives but his original papers were destroyed in a flood that happened in the '70's I believe. Anyway great to be here, please write and hope to connect some of the dots! Matt Malley

Welcome Matt and guess what, I'm a Counting Crows fan, and in fact, recently added some MP3's to my Amazon music collection. I realized that I didn't have any of their (your) songs and rectified that situation. :-) So pleased to meet you in so many ways. 

Hey, we have a lot of info on his unit, just type "343rd" into the search box at the upper right of this forum and also check out the search box on the main site. You won't be disappointed. If you have any questions at any time, please don't hesitate to ask. Here to help.  :drinkin:

Looks like we will have lots to talk about, won't we. And yes, he is handsome!

Lol that pic was 23 years - and about 30 lbs ago! Excellent Marion and thank you for having me here and looking forward - wow lots comes up for the 343rd - this is great!! Thank you so much - looking forward to everything - Matt

Hey a little nostalgia. What the heck!  B)

Hey Matt, I used to play bass in two bands in the Detroit area - Crime Control and Tubes of Fear (and yes, there's a story to how that name came about)! That's me in front with Tubes!

4 hours ago, Walt's Daughter said:

Hey a little nostalgia. What the heck!  B)

 Yes that's more recent! I'm kicking myself for selling that bass - it's a Chicago builder called Lakland and I love their basses.

4 hours ago, Walt's Daughter said:

Hey Matt, I used to play bass in two bands in the Detroit area - Crime Control and Tubes of Fear (and yes, there's a story to how that name came about)! That's me in front with Tubes!

Excellent Marion!! Very cool!! Yes we have more in common than we thought! What kind of bass do you play? 

Fender Precision Light - It was a Christmas present when I switched from guitar to bass, years ago.

Just now, Walt's Daughter said:

Fender Precision Light - It was a Christmas present when I switched from guitar to bass, years ago.

Excellent - you can't go wrong with a P! I had a '64 that I sold...still kicking myself for that.