William Morton Hunt 2828th Bn 36th Engineer Regiment

[Walt's Daughter]

I don't know if we will get anywhere with this, but Captain John Fallon and I have been trying to help a woman named Janice Hunt, find info regarding her husband, Bill Hunt.

 

Bill states he was with the 2828th Bn, 36th Engineer Regiment, but he doesn't have his discharge papers, no pins, patches, photos; nothing to prove he served with the engineers.

 

His wife has tried everything, and of course contacted NARA and was told his records burned in the fire of 73.

 

John and I gave her the standard advice such as contact the Veteran's Admin, and so on. Nothing has panned out.

 

She is currently getting help from her congressman, but so far nothing has come through.

 

We have looked him up on the NARA site and again, nothing pans out. It's like he never existed.

 

She is getting desperate, for he now has Alzheimers, and she wanted to get him in a nice Veteran's home, but it's looking doubtful.

 

Tonight I told her to contact Camp Blanding and gave her the address below. She stated that's where he was discharged from. Discharge camps usually didn't keep records, but it's worth trying.

 

Camp Blanding Museum & Historical Associates

5629 SR 16 West,

Building #3040

Starke, FL 32091

 

I also told her to go to his local town newspaper(s) and see if they had a "service" story. Said many of the local papers often wrote short articles about their local "boys".

 

I only know his approximate dates of service December 1944 - January 1947 and that he served as a 17-year-old toward the end of the Battle of the Bulge and in the occupation of Berlin.

 

If anyone recognizes the name or happened to serve with him in HQ Co, please contact me immediately.

[Walt's Daughter]

Oh his DOB is:

 

01/15/27

[Walt's Daughter]

I just heard back from his wife this morning. We are still trying to ascertain the facts. This is the letter I sent to her a few minutes ago.

 

Dear Janice:

 

I'm with you on this one and I can see why you are so confused. Make that two of us. ha-ha!

 

Thanks for sharing ALL that, for I am looking for ANYTHING, which may help us.

 

Another thing that is confusing to me is this. I found out from Northwestern that he left school after the fall quarter of '44, which they said would have ended sometime in December and that he returned for winter quarter in January of 47. Bill said in past and more lucid years that he knew he was going to be drafted, so he went down to Fort Lauderdale and blew trumpet in pick-up bands playing for the swarms of service men in Fort Lauderdale at the time. Then he went into the Army, did basic training at Fort Rucker, went to North Africa and was put in Patton's Third Army and from there was transported across the Mediterranean, landed in Italy and from there went to France where fought at the end of the Battle of the Bulge.

The confusing part is that, if the folks at Northwestern are right and the Fall Quarter ended in December (let's say December 1), how could he have gotten to Florida, spent some time (even a week or two) gotten drafted, completed basic training and be sent all over the place and ended up at the Battle of the Bulge before it ended on January 25? Also he did not turn 18 until January 15 of 1945, only 10 days before the Battle ended. I don't think they drafted 17-year-olds, did they? It is possible that he enlisted, but he never mentioned any patriotic leanings, so it seems doubtful.

 

But you are so right about one thing; there's no way he could have finished the fall semester, gone through basic training, spent two weeks on a ship to the ETO and then took part in the Battle of the Bulge, which ran from Dec 16, 44 to approximately the end of January. Training was eight weeks in itself.

 

It's seems more likely he would have gotten drafted on his birthday, then did this eight weeks of training, and then shipped to Europe. He would have still gotten there to fight the last several weeks of war, and then remained in occupied Germany for several more months. That is extremely plausible. But this is probably why the 36th Engineers cannot find him on their rolls. It is also possible he wasn't placed with them until the very end or even during the occupation. This makes it even more difficult to find any records.

 

Now that I have a firmer understanding (thanks to you), I can proceed from there. Can't promise anything, but...

 

Marion

[SonofaMP]

Not much info to start with, but i`ll see what i can find.

Do you know his Army Serial Number?

We have a birth date of 1/15/1927, What state was he born in?

What are his father`s & mother`s names?

Where was his permanent residence before enlistment?

He enlisted in Florida? In Ft Lauderdale?

Where was his residence where he settled after discharge?

[Walt's Daughter]

Do you know his Army Serial Number?

NO, but do have his soc#354-16-4367

We have a birth date of 1/15/1927, What state was he born in? Where was his permanent residence before enlistment? Where was his residence where he settled after discharge?

Janice says he was originally from Illinois. He then lived in Boca Raton, Florida with his first wife until 1974.

 

What are his father`s & mother`s names?

Don't have that information

 

He enlisted in Florida? In Ft Lauderdale?

Yup, that's what it looks like. He told his Janice (his 2nd wife) he knew he was going to be drafted, so he headed down to Florida.

 

Attached is the only document Ancestry.com had on him. I confirmed this information with Janice, when I sent it to her yesterday.

[Walt's Daughter]

GREAT NEWS!!!! Just got this seconds ago...

 

Hi Marion,

 

You have spent so much effort to help me, I wanted you to be the first to know. My Congressman's aide finally obtained, not a DD 214, but a Certification of Military Service, which serves in lieu of the DD 214 for all Veterans' benefits. Yipee!

Thank you for your concern.

 

Janice

 

 

YEAH!!!! :bluejumper:

[SonofaMP]

Well aint that just spiffy!

[Walt's Daughter]

Sure is. Nice way to end a story!