Treasure Chest, the memorabilia of Gen. F.J. Chesarek

[Ches-Gen-4]

Hello to the Forum members,
My name is Bob and I have lived in Western Pennsylvania all of my 60 years. What ultimately brought me to this Forum was a phone call from my Aunt about two months ago. You see, my Dads brother...my Uncle Ches was a General in the US Army and my dear Aunt called and asked if I was interested in being the caretaker of everything remaining of my Uncles military artifacts and memorabilia.
Well let's put it this way, she didn't have to ask me twice. I was blown away! My Uncle died in 1993 and she had mentioned years ago that she was going to donate everything to the U.S.M.A. as he was a 1938 graduate. I figured "that was that" and didn't think any more about it until her recent phone call. Turns out that she had kept a lot of his things all this time but now that she is getting older and is downsizing, she decided she wanted to pass them on and keep them in the family.
I really didn't get to know my Uncle all that well as we lived on opposite sides of the country and he didn't visit PA that much and I was working and raising a family but the few times I traveled to CA over the years I did spend some time with him. He was very smart, always kind and a true gentleman but you could sense that he was a leader and strong willed .
What I would like to do is honor my Uncles service to our country by sharing his photos, uniforms, medals and everything else with the members as I put together my memorial display. He served in the ETO as the Commanding Officer of the 28th Field Artillery Battalion, 8th Infantry Division as well as in Korea where he took Command of the 5th Artillery Group, which consisted of six U.S. and four Korean artillery battalions.
I enjoy photography and hope to post photos to go along with the historical data I will present. I also hope to find representatives of some of his long gone combat gear to dress a mannequin similar to a photo I have of him next to Lt. Gen. J.A. Pickering in Germany. Hopefully there will be something of interest to the Forum members. Thanks, Bob

 

 

[elvis3006]

Hello Bob welcome to the forum, i am new as well. Thank you for sharing your Uncles history, pictures and service with us. Rob

[FriscoHare]

Hi Bob, hello from Chicago and welcome to the forum. Very cool!

[Jack's Son]

Hi Bob, welcome to the forum.

I'm sure you will meet a great bunch of people here, and learn a lot as well!

[Ches-Gen-4]

Thanks guys,

I have boxes of stuff to unpack. I will start posting photos as soon as I can. Bob

[Ches-Gen-4]

I have been unpacking all the artifacts from my Uncles office which have been sitting for over 20 years and am finding lots of treasures. You can read my introduction in the new members section for a little background info if interested. All of these items were in a couple of shoe boxes on his cupboard shelf. He saved quite a bit but also gave out some of his things in the years after retirement. Not being a military man myself, I have some questions about what some of the items are or what time period they are from.

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I will be posting close ups of the different individual items as time goes on in the proper section.

There are two sets of dog tags, one is the familiar WW2 type with the notch but from what era are the round ones shown above?
Also, in the above photo are enameled pins shaped like a shield showing two white circles with black lines that look like a lollipop. What are these logos?
Thanks for allowing me to share my "finds" and asking some questions. Bob

[jgawne]

Gunshot six actual ! wow.

 

I've known some 28th Arty guys in my day. Head over to my 8thinfdiv.com, and there is a link there to a WW2 8th ID group which has some "kids of" vets. As well as after action reports of the units- top include the 28th. If there's any photos of records worth sharing let me know!

[USMCR79]

WOW! - Nice stuff - looks like he kept everything!

 

Bill

[jgawne]

See my posting on your introduction page. A lot of cool stuff here. The round tags are one of the varients of WW1- pre WW2 tags. I think the DI's you mention are a signal unit. I forget, but they are post WW2.

 

What's written on the Key? looks like a key so some french city?

[Ches-Gen-4]

What's written on the Key? looks like a key so some french city?

 

Thanks for the reply. The key is marked "The Key To Geneva" and there are other lines of text on both sides written in French I believe.

[Ches-Gen-4]

Gunshot six actual ! wow.

 

I've known some 28th Arty guys in my day. Head over to my 8thinfdiv.com, and there is a link there to a WW2 8th ID group which has some "kids of" vets. As well as after action reports of the units- top include the 28th. If there's any photos of records worth sharing let me know!

 

I have been to your 8th Div. site before and I still have lots to read. If I find anything of interest to you I will be sure to let you know. Bob

[Old Marine]

Hello Bob,

 

Welcome aboard. I saw your other post, you do have some real treasures there.

 

Dennis

[Allan H.]

The "lollipop" pins are actually the Distinctive Unit Insigna of the 9th Field Artillery. They were a unit of the 3rd Infantry Division in WWII. The DUI's don't look post-war to me.

 

Allan

[manayunkman]

WOW !!!

 

What family history.

 

He got the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and an Air medal.

 

Thats not a treasure chest it's a treasure ship !

 

Do you have his West Point class ring ?

 

Very nice.

[dave peifer]

very nice.........looks like your uncle had quite a career..........dave

[Ches-Gen-4]

 

 

WOW !!!

What family history.

He got the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and an Air medal.

Thats not a treasure chest it's a treasure ship !

Do you have his West Point class ring ?

Very nice.

Thank you. Yes, I am overwhelmed by the amazing history associated with my Uncle. He never wanted to talk much about the war but I have a lot of his writings and documents where I am learning things I never knew about.
He was decorated with the Silver Star by General Moore in 1945 for gallantry in action as a Lt. Colonel for his actions in the Ruhr Pocket. On April 10th he led an attack in a wooded area and captured 65 Germans as well as repeatedly displaying personal courage leading his infantry troops and maneuvering his battalion with in the effective range of the rapidly advancing infantry.

Ahh, his West Point Ring. My Aunt still has that. Ches wore it every day and the stone broke out so he had it filled with gold and his initials engraved on top. I have just seen it and it is very worn down. You can hardly make out the lettering any more. BUT.....I do have his West Point uniform and it's in pretty nice shape for being 76 years old.

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Thanks, Bob

[Ches-Gen-4]

Sometime after the General retired, my Aunt had his medals mounted so they have been in this frame for close to 40 years.

Slightly disappointing is that they must have thrown out all the boxes as they were no where to be found. I will have to correct some of the mistakes

as he should have an OLC on the American Defense Medal, 4 stars on the EAMEC and a Palm on the badly faded Croix de Gare. Bob

 

[agate hunter]

Wow. I think its absolutley amazing that you have inherited all of this. Some of us (like me) have very little of their familie's military items, and personally I'd sell all my other stuff before ever selling anything of my grandpa's navy stuff. But to have this much, and its family related, that's pretty cool. I hope you can put together a mannequin like you said in your intro post to more honor your uncle. Very cool that he kept all of this stuff.

[Bob Hudson]

Westmoreland pinned on his fourth star!

[38Driver]

I think WOW! is an understatement!

[Allan H.]

Sometime after the General retired, my Aunt had his medals mounted so they have been in this frame for close to 40 years.

Slightly disappointing is that they must have thrown out all the boxes as they were no where to be found. I will have to correct some of the mistakes

as he should have an OLC on the American Defense Medal, 4 stars on the EAMEC and a Palm on the badly faded Croix de Gare. Bob

 

 

Be careful adding to the medals. For starters, the American Defense medal was not given in multiple awards. I believe that you mean adding an oakleaf cluster to his National Defense Service Medal. Also, if his French Croix de Guerre had a star on it, why change it?

 

I think the medals are great! You have every reason to be proud of your uncle!

 

Allan

[Ches-Gen-4]

 

 

Westmoreland pinned on his fourth star!

You are correct sir! And his DSM. Here are a couple of pics:

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[Ches-Gen-4]

 

 

Be careful adding to the medals. For starters, the American Defense medal was not given in multiple awards. I believe that you mean adding an oakleaf cluster to his National Defense Service Medal. Also, if his French Croix de Guerre had a star on it, why change it?

I think the medals are great! You have every reason to be proud of your uncle!

Allan

Thank you Allan, I may have stated the wrong medal. I am still learning. His DD 214 calls out the French CDG w/ Palm and Star which is also visible and verified on his ribbon rack. I want to open the medal case and clean the glass and fix a couple of the sagging medals. I figured while I was in there, I would make the display correct. Please feel free to correct me if you feel I am doing something wrong. I do want to be accurate. Bob

10.

 

The star is missing in this close up.

11.

[manayunkman]

That star on the Croix de Guerre is interesting.

 

Is that the General's artistic addition ?

[BelligerentBlue]

I know the whole collection is not posted, but it's incredible the history you have. I'm personally glad that such an incredible grouping is staying within the family. I buy from family members on occasion and I always ask if they are absolutely sure they want to sell whatever items I am buying from them. I know if it were me and I had any of my family members items from their time in service, there is no way I would be getting rid of them. Glad you got them and welcome to the collecting family.