I have been looking and Googling - this is all very confusing and I wish they gave more info on these documents to prove where people had been. I am wondering what the "with arrowhead" signified? Just the Normandy Invasion.
I spoke with my dad and he recalls stories of his Dad being in a fight on the first day of Battle of the Bulge and was wounded early. he was sent back and the rest of his unit went forward and were ambushed and nobody survived. Then later at some other battle they were running through a field and a guy he was running with was fatally wounded and as my grandfather went running received mortar shrapnel in his back, but was able to escape with his company. That is all he remembers being told. My Grandmother said she visited my Grandfather at a camp in St. Louis Missouri - would have been Spring 1944 - when my Dad was conceived =)
Looking over Lewis Tumia`s discharge, the clues give us some possibilities but nothing definite on the unit he was with when wounded in Aug `44.
Box 31. "Combat Infantryman" This means he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Box 32. does not show a " w/ arrowhead" so he most likely did not participate in the Normandy invasion, but arrived in France after 8 June 44.
Box 33. Purple Heart, GO 34 HQ 220 GH 44. His Purple Heart citation was issued by the 220th General Hospital in 1944. There is a date conflict here because the 220th GH did not arrive in the European Theater until Feb 1945. So the possibility is that he was sent back to US for recovery of his wounds or he was in various hospitals in France or England through Feb 45.
Box 36. Dates of Departure: 12 May 44 , Arrival 24 May 44. Checking the Troopship crossings for the dates, the closest match is The SS Colombie sailing from Boston 13 May 44, arriving Glasgow Scotland 25 May 44 carrying replacements from the 106th Infantry Division.
In early `44 there were several fully trained Divisions of all types in the US that were not scheduled to be sent to Europe until the buildup months after the Normandy invasion. The Army planners took the fully trained men out of these divisions and placed them in the replacement pools, sent them to the various Theaters of Operation and reassigned them to whichever division needed replacements.
So we still do not know what unit he was in when wounded, there is a good possibility he was assigned to the 106th Infantry Division when drafted and trained with them in the US until sent over as a replacement.
Marion, are there any more documents Cori sent you that may have clues? The Separation Qualification Record maybe?