344th Engineers

[flatlandfrmboy]

I am new to this site and forum. My Great Uncle, Jerome J. Massoth served in the 344th E Company. He had told my parents in his last years about being under sniper fire while building bridges, that is how he became a Staff Sergeant. He got a battlefield promotion after his Staff Sergeant was killed on a bridge by a sniper. As he had told it many of the men in his company were killed that way. He suffered from battlefield fatigue from watching everyone get killed and they couldn't fight back, they just kept sending out more men to keep building bridges. As he explained it, one day he went to his superiors and said he wasn't going out there anymore. He was shipped back to the states around March-April 1945 to be processed out with an honorable discharge. What I found interesting was he was originally with the 113th Engineers 38TH Infantry Division "Cyclones" of the Indiana State Guard. They were sent to Ft Shelby for training but he didn't stay with that unit which went to the Pacific. He was moved to 344th with the VI Corps while at Ft Shelby and stayed with them until early 1945. I am starting to build a shadow box to honor him-he passed a few years ago. My mother was going through his belongings and found the Book "the 344th goes Traveling along with a map showing everywhere they went, how long they stayed at each location, how long they spent on a ship between each location and that on thanksgiving day one year at sea they only ate K Rations the whole day. She also found his own personal Photos of the battlefields and bridges, his original ribbons and his 344th Unit Pin. Also have his 38th Infantry division Annual from Ft Shelby before he joined the VI Corps. A lot of information to go thru when I can get up to Indiana.