This is my first post in this forum, and I must say it is a great forum. Sorry for reviving and old post. Let me introduce myself. My name is Anthony Sicuranza, Jr. and my grandfather, Paul F. Costa was a WWII veteran. I have been searching for years to find more information on his unit and this is the closest I have come to a community that is dedicated the the combat engineers.
Here is what it says on his honorable discharge:
Organization: "H & S Co 257th Engr Combat Bn"
Which stands for, "Headquarters and Service Company, 257th Engineer Combat Battalion"
Here is why I am researching:
1.) My grandfather told me that he was awarded the Bronze Star in the field for his actions in the Ardennes Forest during the Battle of the Bulge. There is unfortunately no record of this but I was hoping somewhere in the world this is documented.
2.) While in Germany his friend stepped on a land mine and sadly died, however my grandfather was struck in the leg with the shrapnel from the blast. While he was in the hospital it was attacked or bombed by German forces and was burned to the ground. No Purple Heart was awarded. He lived the rest of his life with shrapnel in his left leg but no x-rays were ever taken.
* I was told these stories many years after they happened so I understand their may be some inaccuracy in his recollection, but I need to know for sure. I was never able to accurately track his movements through the war and whether or not he was always a combat engineer or was transferred later on. From what he said he originally enlisted in the Army Air Corps but was transferred to the Infantry. He began his fighting in Italy, then was in England for a little, then ended up landing at Le Havre, France, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, then ended up in Germany. As you can see I only have highlights of memories so it is difficult to piece this together. Unfortunately he has passed away now and I have no way to recover these memories.
I have submitted many requests to the Archives but have been faced with the same frustrating responses as the original poster. I have read some accounts that say the 257th was attached to the 1st Infantry Division, the 9th Infantry Division, etc. I am so lost and would like to provide my grandmother with an answer before she passes on too. I have become very frustrated with the dead ends I have encountered. I need to figure this out.
Any advice?
Thanks for listening and taking the time to read this. I really appreciate it.
If you cannot retrieve a copy of his discharge papers, please turn to either the local county building (where he lived) or get in touch with the local Veteran's Admin in his home state. Most soldiers filed a copy of their papers with the county or if they had any medical treatment with the VA, then they will also have copies. This is how I obtained a copy of my father's paperwork.
Unfortunate as it may appear, many times things happened in the course of the war, making it impossible for injuries, etc., to be recorded and therefore impossible to make it possible to get the proper medals later in life. As in his case, you would have to find the proper documentation in order to proceed. What I would recommend is to try and obtain copies of the units history via NARA in Maryland. This is NOT the same establishment as St Louis. The Maryland facility contains archived unit histories.
You can either hire a research assistant or schedule a time to go there yourself. Complete info and instructions are listed on the link above.
Have you had time to look at the links and uploaded documents earlier in this posting? They will help you pull together a more precise timeline.
As I did for others, i will add your name to my 257th group and introduce you to them. I'm sure they will be able to assist you too.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy to try and help.
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
If you cannot retrieve a copy of his discharge papers, please turn to either the local county building (where he lived) or get in touch with the local Veteran's Admin in his home state. Most soldiers filed a copy of their papers with the county or if they had any medical treatment with the VA, then they will also have copies. This is how I obtained a copy of my father's paperwork.
Unfortunate as it may appear, many times things happened in the course of the war, making it impossible for injuries, etc., to be recorded and therefore impossible to make it possible to get the proper medals later in life. As in his case, you would have to find the proper documentation in order to proceed. What I would recommend is to try and obtain copies of the units history via NARA in Maryland. This is NOT the same establishment as St Louis. The Maryland facility contains archived unit histories.
You can either hire a research assistant or schedule a time to go there yourself. Complete info and instructions are listed on the link above.
Have you had time to look at the links and uploaded documents earlier in this posting? They will help you pull together a more precise timeline.
As I did for others, i will add your name to my 257th group and introduce you to them. I'm sure they will be able to assist you too.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy to try and help.
Hey Marion,
Thanks very much for all your help. I have looked at the links above and they have been very helpful, especially the letter from the soldier. While reading that I was able to track the journey of the 257th. It also confirmed a lot of the stories and locations my grandfather told me. The detail the soldier went into about the concentration camp very much aligned with what my grandfather had said. Do we have the name of the soldier who wrote this?
I already have all of the discharge papers and anything associated with his service and hopefully I can plan a trip to MD soon to research unit records. Here is one of my biggest problems though, I have confirmed by seeing a picture of him taken in 1943 or 44 that he was at one point in the Army Air Corps. On his uniform he is wearing the "Enlisted Aviation Insignia" pin. This has been my biggest challenge, to find out where in Italy he was and with what unit from his enlistment in 1943 until he was transferred to the 257th sometime in 1944. I'm assuming that the picture was taken between tours because on his uniform he is wearing the Army Good Conduct ribbon (also not on his discharge) and the WWII Europe, Africa, Middle East, ribbon with no bronze star (to signify another tour of duty) at this point, this means he hadn't served his second tour to earn the bronze star on the ribbon.
My timeline so far consists of this:
Enlisted - March 15, 1943
Activated - March 22, 1943
Basic Training - 10 weeks?
Completed Basic - Est. June 1943 (Allies invade Italy July 1943)
Deployed to Italy - July 1943 w/ Army Air Corps
Leave in England before being deployed to France - ? 1944 w/ 257th Engineers
From here I just followed the letter because it was pretty in line with what my grandfather said, however it didn't mention (to my recollection) the Ardennes Forest and the Battle of the Bulge which he remembered vividly.
Honorable Discharge - November 16, 1945
Here lies the challenge:
Was the 257th always together? Probably not.
Do we know what Army or Division the 257th was with for sure? Was it 1st Infantry? I've also seen Ninth U.S. Army. I'm not sure.
Its a long road and its nice to have another people along with me on this journey. Thanks for all your help and please keep up the fight for CIBs for Combat Engineers, they deserve it.
Whew! Lots of questions. That's how I was in the beginning too. Couldn't get enough info and fast enough! Been there, done that!
The 257th was a "bastard" unit, meaning they weren't part of a division. They were an independent engineering unit, just like my dad's unit, the 540th. They would have been under the "direction" of an Army Group or Corps.
In this post you will see that smosc already has many pages of the unit's official history from NARA in Maryland, so you should contact him directly through PM via the forum.
No sense in duplicating someone's work. I'm sure he'd be happy to share info with you.
More in a second....
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
Okay, I am back, had a few things to do, but wanted to get started...
I am not sure if Otto Polz is still around. He was with the 257th. I will send you his email in a PM in a few seconds. Try contacting him. I hope he is still with us.
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
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.
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
This is great! Thank you very much for all your help! This answers a lot of my questions. I definitely need to get down to College Park and do some digging too.
My biggest mystery now is trying to figure our his Army Air Corps experience.
No Distinguished Unit or Meritorious Citations listed.
I think we can all agree after reading the letter linked to this thread that this unit should be revisited and reconsidered for unit citations.
Marion, how is the progress coming with getting engineers awarded the CIB? I read through that thread but it hasn't been updated recently.
Unfortunately the CIB is at a dead-end right now. I even contacted the army board of review. So many people are in our "court" but each of us has hit a wall. Sad!
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
