Lt. Col. Jack O'Brien 540th Combat Eng

[Walt's Daughter]

Got this letter last night. Isn't this great? Another family member of a 540th Combat Engineer.

 

Great website.  My father was Lt. Col. Jack O'Brien, CO of the 2832.  I have his copy of Overseas with the 540th Engineers.  I remember looking at it when I was a child.  My father passed away Feb. 17, 2004 after a lengthy illness.  I believe that he was instrumental in organizing the reunions, I believe the first was in Florida. 

 

I was trying to find out some information on the 540th when I came upon your website.  The 540th was attached to the 5th and 7th armies.  Africa and Italy with the 5th and when did they change to the 7th army?  I remember the patches of both armies, but did not ask my father about them. 

 

Best regards,

 

John C. O'Brien, Jr.

Dallas, Texas

 

Here is my answer to him:

 

Hi John:

 

What a nice surprise.  I have heard from a number of vets this week and/or their families.  Must be in the air!

 

The 540th was detached from the 5th Army shortly after the fall of Rome along with several other units including the 36th and 48th Engineers, the 3rd, 36th and 45th Infantry Divisions and the 1st Armored Division.  They all became a part of 7th Army for the invasion of southern France in August of 1944.  The 39th Engineers and the 34th Infantry Division remainder in Italy for the duration.

 

I will forward his name to a few of my 540th buddies and see if they recognize the name.  I can put you in touch with them too if you so desire.

 

Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.  I'd love to include a page for your dad on the site too.  My eventual goal is to write a book on the VI Corps Engineers.  They deserve to be remembered.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

 

He also wrote back and said "Mr. Kenneth Kleinbach called my father just before he died." Ken's name has been mentioned on this site several times. I've talked to him on the phone, but don't have a page for him yet. He was also a member of the 540th Combat Engineers.