Hi Bob, welcome to the forum.
There are no current association contacts for the 1280th listed and i havent yet found which command they were under.
The 1280th CEB has a campaign credit for Central Europe and Occupation duty in Germany - 2 May - 5 July 1945.
You can request your dad`s service record from the NPRC in St Louis. His enlistment record gives his service number which you`ll need for the request:
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 34683943
NAME PEARCE#JIM#B#JR######### PEARCE#JIM#B#JR#########
RESIDENCE: STATE 43 GEORGIA
RESIDENCE: COUNTY 049 CHARLTON
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 4344 FT MCPHERSON ATLANTA GEORGIA
DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 14 14
DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 01 01
DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 43 43
The NPRC also will have rosters & morning reports for the unit you can obtain.
Operational records for the 1280th can be ordered from the Archives II Reference Section (Military), Textual Archives Services Division (NWCT2R[M]), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001. PHONE: 301-837-3510; FAX: 301-837-1752;
ARC - Archival Descriptions Search - Results -
File Unit from Record Group 498: Records of Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, United States Army (World War II), 1942 - 1947
1280th Engineer Combat Battalion 1945
ARC Identifier 981545 / MLR Number Entry UD 494 Container ID: 27