Hey Anthony,
I got to catch up with this string and found it very interesting. Looking at the names on the back of the picture that initiated all of this was great. I guess there is some truth to the old cliche in war movies about everyone having a nick-name! There's even a "Tex"! How cliche is that!! Perhaps every company had its Tex.
Sorry to hear of your father's passing, but it sounds like you had a lot of good years with him and that you talked to him a great deal about his time over seas. My grandfather was in the same Engineer regiment as Marion's father (although in the other battalion) which is how I cam to the forum. He, unfortunately, lived in Florida and I in Texas so we didn't see him but maybe once a year as kids. We were also told that he didn't want to talk about the war (as with a lot of those guys) so I never really talked to him about it until a few years before he died and only a few times. Fortunately, we have things like this forum to keep his stories and stories of your father alive.
It's a few years late (I was active duty Marine Corps in Okinawa in 2014 so I was pretty busy) but thanks for the post! There were great pictures and great, if sad at times, stories. Finally, thanks for bringing the post up to the top of the queue again. I really enjoyed it.