257th Engineers - WWII

[Walt's Daughter]

Marion,

 

I'm the daughter of a WWII 257th Engineer Combat Battalion, Lindsay Clyde Royal. I'm trying to find information on his combat battalion; so far, haven't found a thing other than what is on your site.

I have requested his records from NARA, but of course, am running into problems, with the standard answere being 'his records were destroyed in the 1973 fire". We are working with a Jaclyn Ostrowski at the NPRC, who is finding things I didn't think could be found. We're also going to the VA hospital today to determine if his records were transferred there, as he requested an appointment a couple of months before he died, which was around the same time as the fire.

I would like his military service records because he said he should have received a Medal of Honor, but never elaborated on why. He was a broken, and very sick, man when he died in Aug 1973, partially due to what his military service did to him. I would like to have all this done before the anniversary of his 100th birthday in 2011, in order to have his remains transferred to Arlington, which is where he really wanted to be interred.

 

Susan

 

===============

 

Dear Susan:

 

Welcome to our forum. Hope you will stop by and introduce yourself, and take a look around.

 

Regimental and battalion documents need to be requested from NARA in College Park Maryland, not St. Louis. St Louis only kept discharge papers and morning reports.

 

http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/college-park/index.html

 

I sent a request to Maryland, and received a letter telling me they had an abundant amount of info on this unit. NARA will send a limited amount at no expense to you. However, if there is an extensive pages, you either need to setup an appointment and copy them yourself, or hire a research assistant, which is what I did since the 540th had over 2000 pages from the war.

 

If any returning soldier received medical attention from the VA, then said discharge papers, etc., can be obtained through the STATE VA, where medical treatment was given. This is how I finally received my dad's discharge documents, through the Veterans Admin in Michigan. Documents arrived within two weeks.

 

A bit of Internet info on the 257th :

 

http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/d...t%20Inf.Div.htm

 

http://genforum.genealogy.com/ wwii /messages/14491.html

 

http://www.milliejeancoppedge.com/warheroes.htm

 

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/RusselWeiskircher.htm

 

http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/allied/usarmy/index.html

 

http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/archi...ond-L-Nickerson

 

Tommy and Harold recall their Army days

http://www.campfannin.com/Guidon/Guidon1002.pdf

 

 

Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

 

Warmly,

Marion

 

 

NOTE: The person named above is a forum member - username - saucerdog, in case anyone needs to get in touch with her to share info, etc.

[kenneth]

Susan, my father also served with the 257th combat engineers. His name was Franklin Warner. Unfortunatly I have no information on the unit. I see from Marion's post a couple of sources to contact and was wondering if you had contacted any of these and received any info on the unit.

 

Kenneth

[Walt's Daughter]

Hi Kenneth:

 

We spoke via email, but I wanted to touch base with you here too. First off, welcome to our forum. I hope you find this a good source for information. It's also a great way to make new friends.

 

I sent Susan an email, and told her to make sure she logs in to see this post. I hope we will hear back from her.

 

All the best,

M1

[SonofaMP]

As Marion has noted, the unit records would need to be obtained from College Park. I have not found much info on the 257th available either.

 

What i have found is the 257th ECB was an element of the 9th U.S. Army from

5 September 1944 - 5 May 1945. They have Campaign Credits for Ardennes- Alsace, Central Europe, & Rhineland, Occupation - Germany, 2 May - 18 Sept 1945.

No Distinguished Unit or Meritorious Citations listed.

 

a couple of attachments were found:

257th Engineers © Battalion attchd to 1st Inf Div. 01.10.1944-31.10.1944

257th Engr C Bn attchd to 45th Inf Div 19 Apr 45-23 Apr 45

 

http://www.oldhickory30th.com/9th%20Army%20XIX%20Corps%20Non%20Div%20Units.pdf

[saucerdog]

Susan, my father also served with the 257th combat engineers. His name was Franklin Warner. Unfortunatly I have no information on the unit. I see from Marion's post a couple of sources to contact and was wondering if you had contacted any of these and received any info on the unit.

 

Kenneth

 

Kenneth,

 

Thanks for contacting me. Unfortunately I haven't checked on the sources Marion sent, but I will soon. Will keep you posted about what I find.

 

Susan

[Walt's Daughter]

Received this wonderful email and accompanying PDF file. Talk about a real treasure. Thank you SO much, Michael.

 

Marion,

 

I was on the WWII Combat Engineers website and noted some inquires about the

257th Engineer Combat Battalion. My grandfather was in the 257th and sent a

letter to my grandmother dated 6/5/45. I do not believe that he wrote it

based upon the writing style but I believe someone in the 257th wrote it and

made copies, one of which my grandfather had. The letter chronicles the

experiences of the 257th Engineer Combat Battalion from November 1944 to

June 1945. I scanned the letter and turned it into a pdf file. I am willing

to send it to you for posting on the website but it is 13 MB in size so I

figured I'd better ask you before I send it. If you are interested, let me

know and I'll send it as an email attachment.

 

Michael D. Bradley, Ph.D.

Professor of Geology

Department of Geography and Geology

205 Strong Hall

Eastern Michigan University

Ypsilanti, MI 48197

 

 

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/doc...illerLetter.pdf

[colinhotham]

The story contained in the PDF file is a truly great description of what it must have been like to leave the USA and arrive "somewhere in England" in November 1944 prior to the long haul across Europe.

The first page is of special interest to me because it describes the area in southern UK where I live, with all the familiar town and village names. In many places the odd nissen hut survives. Thank you for posting this great piece of history Michael.

Just one query for you Marion why does the 257th not appear in our 'bible' US ARMY IN WW2.?

Colin.

[Walt's Daughter]

Good question Colin!

 

So many people write and wonder why they can't find info on certain units. Sure is a real shame, but at least we are making headway with sites such as ours.

 

Hugs,

M1

[SLangone]

Hi all!

 

I'm new to the group. My name is Scott Langone, my grandfather's name was Anthony "Tony" Langone from Worcester, Massachusetts and served in the 257th ECB during WWII and I'm interested in knowing more about what the 257th did and very interested to see if anyone from the 257th ECB remembers my grandfather. I'd like to know what he was like back then and what experiences members of the 257th and my grandfather shared.

 

I look forward to hearing back from anyone.

 

Thank you for setting up this forum, the information included in this forum has been extremely helpful.

 

Scott

[Walt's Daughter]

Hello Scott and welcome to our forum.

 

I will put you in touch with four others who also have an interest in this group. I will also add your name to that list, and send out a mailing this morning.