1280th Engineer Combat Battalion

[Walt's Daughter]

Hi: Just replied in your post elsewhere on the forum regarding your mother and father, meeting in Austria and the book you wrote. Thanks!

As I stated there, I was in the middle of sending you and email, when I saw both posts from you, so thought I would continue here...

Hi Cynthia:

 

Thanks for joining and for filling in what you know of your father's history. 

 

The documentation you received from the funeral home, would have been the same as from NARA in St Louis, so you already have copies of his DD214's. NARA wasn't the only place to find copies of discharge papers, as it was not unusual for DD214's to be filed at the veteran's local county courthouse. Also the veteran's admin would have copies, so this is probably where the funeral home obtained theirs.

 

And unfortunately, it wasn't that uncommon for mistakes to be found on said paperwork. This kind of thing has been brought to my attention more than once, and I also believe that a mistake or two can be found within my father's papers. When you come to realize that millions of soldiers were being discharged within a few months of each other, you can see why this occurred. The out-flux of men was simply overwhelming. 

 

As you've probably already discovered, there's quite a bit of information on the forum regarding the 1280th. I will post more in a few, but have some things I have to tend to this morning, that need my immediate attention.

 

Smiles,