Thank you for the replies. Dad was an Automotive Mechanic 014, I am trying to figure out what the second echelon part means. Dad told me he was part of the engineers because he knew about cars and was building hotrods when he went into military service.
I am trying to figure out if the 39 282 202 after his name has any real meaning.
The things I remember was, he went overseas on an English ship and ended up in "Buzz Bomb Alley".
He told me about being on the front lines and building bridges under fire. They had received orders to go to the south pacific two weeks before the war ended.
Most of these short conversations were when we were watching "World at War" and happened more than 40 years ago so I cannot fully remember.
Most of the patches that were in dads stuff have disappeared. I remember a triangular patch with a lighting bolt and a number, a round patch that reminded me of a flower then the blue patch with an eagle sitting on a machine gun that was on his jacket.
Jack
Hello Jack,
If the 014 is what you are referring to as the "second echelon part", that is just the code number for that particular MOS (Military Occupational Specialty). The 39282202 number you are wondering about is his Army Serial Number (ASN). The first two digits do have a specific designation.
The first digit means:
1 = Volunteer
2= National Guard
3= Draftee
4= Draftee
Your dad's is a 3 which means he was drafted into service. The second digit is for the enlistment zone (also referred to as "Corps Area"), the Army divided the country into 9 enlistment zones based upon population density. California was within enlistment number 9, your father's second number. The rest of the digits were just the next in sequence to be assigned. Here is a link to give you some more detail about Army Serial Numbers.
http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/engforum/index.php?showtopic=4555
The 393rd probably would have been assigned to a Division or Corps, and also to an Army. It would have been the patches from these "parent" organizations that he would have wore. I did a quick search on the 393rd but could not readily find which parent organizations it may have belonged to. The triangular patch you mention perfectly describes the patches worn by the Armored Divisions. They were all the same except for their respective division number, and some had their mottos added across the bottom.
2nd Armored Division patch 4th Armored Division patch
There are a number of circular patches with flower type designs in them, if we can determine the parent organizations, we will know which patches. The blue patch with the eagle and machine gun might take a bit more digging. Have a good one!
Randy