New Kid in Town -- Intro

[Susi Baby]

Hi. I registered on this site some months ago, and then got busy doing other things before getting back here. My dad enlisted in April 1942 and was in training (basic?) in Falmouth, Massacusetts. I have some great photos of his unit practicing parachuting. On the back of one of them is a listing of some of the guys' names and hometowns, and some even included street addresses. I've been trying to chase down to see if any of them are listed in the WWII Memorial registry, and so far I haven't found a one. I've found potentially two of them on the social security death indexes, but nothing for certain. I was wondering if anyone knows whether those who you trained with stayed with you in the same unit throughout the war, or if people got transferred around a lot. I do know his foxhole buddy stayed with him throughout the war, and he later found out that his foxhole buddy, having survived the entire war, was killed in a traffic accident some years later. Because his name was common, I wasn't sure if one of the seven or so listed on the WWII Memorial registry was him or not until I found a letter he'd written my dad about four months after they were discharged; he was not one of them, so I registered him myself.

The only two addresses I had for my dad (from letters his mother wrote him in 1945) were: Co. G 85th Mt Infantry/APO 345 c/o PM New York City (May 1945) and HQ Co -- 157 Bn. 350th Inf APO 88 -- c/o PM New York City (Aug 1945). Am I even on the right site here, given that information, or should I look elsewhere?

Pardon the cheesy "handle", but I was inspired by Walt's Daughter's being so named that I use the nickname my dad always called me.

[SonofaMP]

Hi Suzie, welcome to the forum. We`ll be happy to assist you in your research.

Transfers between units were common during or upon completion of basic training and after the war ended but not when a man was assigned to his permanant unit during the war.

 

From the info you give, there are a lot of possibilities. Do you know the unit he took basic with?

Many men took basic in "provisional traing units" not assigned to any permanant unit. After basic they were assigned to new units being formed or recruited because of the skills for special units.

 

"Co. G 85th Mt Infantry/APO 345 c/o PM New York City (May 1945)"

 

APO 345 was for the 10th Mountain Division

The 85th Infantry Regiment was one of three regiments of the 10th Mountain Div.

The date of May 1945 is right at the end of the war and it suggests that this was his unit during the war.

 

HQ Co -- 157 Bn. 350th Inf APO 88 -- c/o PM New York City (Aug 1945)

 

APO 88 was for the 88th Infantry Division

The 350th Infantry Regiment was one of the three regiments of the 88th Inf Div.

the 157th Bn is a mystery. Battalions of the regiment were only numbered 1st, 2nd & 3rd. This suggests that the 157th is a separate non divisional unit attached to the 350th Inf Reg at that time.

The date of August 1945 is after the war ended & during occupation of Germany.

 

We dont know exactly were he was and when his transfers occured, but we have a good start on the possibilities.

[Walt's Daughter]

Hi Suzi Baby! I think it's adorable and caught on right away. Adorable is allowed on THIS WWII forum. :frown:

 

I'm delighted to see the info provided by SonofaMP. He's one of our treasured, helpful members. He'll always point you in the right direction.

 

If you can get a hold of his discharge papers, that would be a good start. You can gather these from NARA in St Louis (maybe). Or another way to do this is to write to the Veteran's Admin in his home state. If he ever received help from the VA, then they will have copies. This is how I obtained my father's.

 

Looking forward to chatting with you.