Take a look and tell me if you think that this may be Walter J. Lenz 31 409 966. Found an early photo of him and cropped out of the A company photo a guy I though t may be him.
Gary
Gary,
This is a really close match, but I'm not 100% certain.
Here's another one, folks. Victor C. Rometo SN 33 708 255 was awarded a Good Conduct Medal on March 28, 1945. I found a yearbook photo from the 1937 Tarentum High School in PA. I also found a photo that was listed as him on leave in Paris in 1945 along with a guy that may be him from the A Company photo. Any ideas?
An interesting tidbit that I never noticed, but A Company must have had a mascot. This little dog is with the guys in front of the officers in the company photo. Clearly, the dog was moving and turning his head when the photo was taken and the photographer must have had a slow shutter speed... hence, the dogs head is blurred almost to to a point of completely disappearing.
Gary
Gary,
Sorry you missed it buddy but this was mentioned earlier in the thread right after we had received our Company A photos.Ralph had called me and brought it to my attention, I hadn't noticed it at first either. He did not know the name of this soldier, but his dad told him that this guy somehow always managed to come up with a dog anywhere they went. Ralph has several pictures of this guy and he his holding a dog in everyone. Here is one of those, maybe Ralph will post more.
Lenz and Rometo both look like good matches to me. I wasn't sure about Rometo until I compared his right ear from the high school photo.
Randy,
What great news about the Company C photo coming out cleanly. I agree that taking it to a local printer is a good idea. If the business you've ID'ed doesn't work out, I'd suggest finding someone who does business in photo restorations. If we can get copies later, I'll be interested in getting one for the Camp Butner Society.
The Company C shots bring me back to an old mystery: Who are the white-coated guys in the Company A photo? There aren't any in the Company C photo.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
We will definitely make sure that the Camp Butner Society receives a copy of the Company C photo. It is probably gonna take a couple of weeks to see the finished results. This shop is a chain that is headquartered in St. Louis and that is where the photo is being sent to their lab. They send it by personal courier, not postal service, and I have been assured that upmost care will be taken to insure that it is not damaged. They specialize in restorations and are gonna give me an estimate to restore this one to a true black and white. It really does not have any blemishes but of course has yellowed with age and will have them restore to true black and white if not too expensive. I feel the photo is in capable hands and that we will get good results from them. Definitely will inform everyone once the process is completed.
Gary maybe right about the gentlemen in white being the Medical Detachment in the Company A photo. Ralph and I have theorized that these men may have been scheduled for kitchen duty (KP) that day and stayed in that uniform instead of changing to their khakis. I do not know for certain but I would think that the Medical Detachment would have been assigned to the Headquarters & Supply Company.
Ran across this list of units that served and trained at Camp Butner recently, hope it maybe helpful.
This is a really close match, but I'm not 100% certain.
Randy
Here was my thinking on Lentz.. The eye and nose area looks the same and he appears to have a tall forehead in both. Initially, I questioned the chin area even though both are similarly rounded, the unit photo image looks thinner than the other. However, consider that he is looking down toward the photographer from an elevated position and that would more than likely cause the face to "bunch up" a bit as the chin got closer to his chest. I also took both photos and sized the heads identically and all of the features matched up and all of this convinced me that this is Lentz. What are the thoughts about this? Take a look at the image and see if there are alternatives that I may have missed before we label the photo.
Gary
Gary L. Gates
Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
We will definitely make sure that the Camp Butner Society receives a copy of the Company C photo. It is probably gonna take a couple of weeks to see the finished results. This shop is a chain that is headquartered in St. Louis and that is where the photo is being sent to their lab. They send it by personal courier, not postal service, and I have been assured that upmost care will be taken to insure that it is not damaged. They specialize in restorations and are gonna give me an estimate to restore this one to a true black and white. It really does not have any blemishes but of course has yellowed with age and will have them restore to true black and white if not too expensive. I feel the photo is in capable hands and that we will get good results from them. Definitely will inform everyone once the process is completed.
Gary maybe right about the gentlemen in white being the Medical Detachment in the Company A photo. Ralph and I have theorized that these men may have been scheduled for kitchen duty (KP) that day and stayed in that uniform instead of changing to their khakis. I do not know for certain but I would think that the Medical Detachment would have been assigned to the Headquarters & Supply Company.
Ran across this list of units that served and trained at Camp Butner recently, hope it maybe helpful.
KP... an interesting idea that I never thought of. Definitely an alternative as the logic of the medical detachment being with H&S Company would make sense. Keep, thinking folks... that's what we need here... many, many opinions from many, many people on many, many subjects.
Gary
Gary L. Gates
Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Nice job! Here is a picture of Stephen Long that Ralph had sent me sometime ago. I know you don't see much of his face because of the pistol. I was thinking Ralph had another picture of him, maybe Ralph will post that if he does.
Good observations about the address book. I looked through some old emails and found a couple of scans Ralph had sent me, showing some names and addresses his father had. As you can see there are some of the same names and the same handwriting.
Thanks for the post, my friend! Anything that Ralph or others have would be helpful and if there is labeling then include that, also. Those additional pages give us still more names to add to the other sources. Thanks, Randy, and to Ralph, also. You guys are the best!
Gary
Gary L. Gates
Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Sorry you missed it buddy but this was mentioned earlier in the thread right after we had received our Company A photos.Ralph had called me and brought to my attention, I hadn't noticed it at first either. He did not know the name of this soldier, but his dad told him that this guy somehow always managed to come up with a dog anywhere they went. Ralph has several pictures of this guy and he his holding a dog in everyone. Here is one of those, maybe Ralph will post more.
Whoa, asleep at the wheel! Thanks for the post. We definitely have to figure out who the "dog whisperer" is! Any additional images of him would be helpful.
Gary
Gary L. Gates
Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Thanks for chiming in on this, Lisa. Many of the guys start to look the same after looking at the picture and faces as much as I have done recently. Getting a copy for the Camp Butner Society is a wonderful idea! Let us know if we can assist in any way with this. Did they end up with an A Company photo?
The 292nd had a Medical Detachment and I have to believe these guys were members of it. The original roster of guys transferred from the 165th Engineer Combat Battalion on November 5, 1943 showed three to the 292nd Medical Detachment: S/Sgt Richard D. Wardlaw SN 14 016 538, Tec3 Merwin E. Ferber SN 14 020 213 and Tec5 Ralph C. Thompson SN 34 640 345. As with the others on the unit photo, now we must attempt to identify them.
Onward and Upward!
Gary
Gary,
Here is another item Ralph had shared with me awhile back (that Ralph is good people!). It is an article written by Medical Detachment member SSGT Richard Wardlaw detailing his experiences with the 292nd. Think you will enjoy this.
