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101st Glider Medic 326th Abn Medical Co.


digi-shots
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Still doing research on this new grouping, but here is what I have so far.

The veteran enlisted on December 19, 1942 and was captured exactly 2 years from this date during the Battle of The Bulge - Bastogne. The 326th Airborne Medical Company was captured by the Germans and approx. 130 members of the Medical Company were taken prisoner.

His name shows up on the After Action Report as MIA and later listed as a POW at Stalag 4B Muhlberg Sachsen 51-13. The camp was liberated by the Russians in April 1945. Stalag IVB was one of the largest prisoner of war camps during WWII.

The ring in the photo is made of bakelite and has his photo embedded in the top. These rings are sometimes known as mourning rings. He was married at the time and my guess is that his wife had it made as a remembrance of him.... perhaps after learning he was missing in action.

Thanks for looking!

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Thanks for all the comments! The ring is really nice... I was unaware of them. I knew about Victorian mourning jewelry but had not seen these rings. I can only imagine the heartbreak his wife felt when she learned he was MIA. Fortunately, he was later listed as a POW. I would imagine she continued to wear the ring for the duration and his homecoming.

 

The ring came in a light green plastic case with the name of their hometown and jewelers name. They are no longer in business.

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manayunkman

Years ago I had a shadow box from a WW2 KIA.

 

There were 3 pictures of him in the box and each one had a frame made from human hair woven in intricate patterns.

 

Mourning jewelry was also made of human hair.

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I just renewed my ancestry account and found some info on him... enlistment record, POW record and burial info. I have sent off to NARA for his records, hopefully his records are still intact.

 

I do not have Fold3 which might shed some light on his time with the 101st. I do not know if he participated in D-Day or Operation Market Garden (Holland), I’m thinking he probably did. The 326th Airborne Medical Company was there, just not sure if he was.

 

From what I read, the glider infantry, including the 326th AMC, arrived by air in two waves into Belgium ((Battle of the Bulge). There is quite a bit written about the 326th Medical, especially their capture by the Germans.

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Heres a copy of a portion of the Battle of the Bulge After Action Report listing the Casualty/Missing in Action troopers:

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A few years back, I sold a POW diary from a trooper who was in this unit, captured, was a POW, and was from Youngstown, Ohio. Since it was only his Wartime Log diary and some POW letters, I made the choice to pass it along, but I know it's out there.

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  • 4 years later...

Amazing pieces that you have gathered there.
I have found some information on this man in my research of the 326th AMC during these last years.
I am currently trying to write a book about the unit and their actions in WW2 as part of the 101st Airborne Division.

 

They have gone through some very hard ordeals as they were bombed on June 9th 1944 in Normandy, bombed a second time in Nijmegen, The Netherlands in October 1944 and many were captured on 19 December 1944 at Crossroad X - Barriere Hinck, Sainte-Ode, Belgium just a few miles out of Bastogne.

 

If it is possible to get a nice photograph with all his belongings I would love to use it in the book. You can contact me if you want.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Backtheattack

Great grouping, and thank`s for posting. Great you did a research, it`s always good to know the background of the items you own.

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