"Clear the Beach!" 90th Division D-Day Veteran/POW Uniform Grouping!

[Ricardo]

Great uniform and history!

[carbinephalen]

I don't think it's really jumping to conclusions whenever you have a newspaper article quoting THE veteran who said that he landed on D-Day. That would be the same as the words leaving the veterans own mouth telling me the story. It is unfortunate however that he wasn't a true d-day vet, and it will probably pass on through my collection.

 

I am curious though, how did you find out that he was in the 357th? I would love to see the documents that you have confirming that and display them with the uniform.

 

The information all adds up to them being his uniforms in my eyes. There are always "what if?" questions but the seller that I purchased them from said he got the 5 uniform pieces from G Burdi's son.

 

Also, our Gus is the only "G Burdi" in the enlistment records and the chances of there being ANOTHER Gus Burdi in the 90th Division is seriously slim to none. No...the number that was in the plain 4-pocked is not Gus' serial number but it isn't a laundry mark either. Running my laundry mark search program (Please see the link below), I could not tell you how many times weird random numbers show up in uniform jackets, shirts, and pants. It could literally mean anything. The four pocket with the patches is beyond legit. The patches have all been machine sewed on and have been there for forever. The overseas bars also match the time in service that our Gus A Burdi would have been overseas if deployed with the 90th.

 

Thanks for all of your help once again!

[carbinephalen]

Per a member on here....

 

I am previously RECALLING me claiming him to be a D-Day veteran. Officially....

 

If I had a Notary Public I would get them to stamp this forum message.

 

I am an upstanding citizen of this forum and I do not like to be blamed for claiming things that are simply not true.

 

If any other member on here had a newspaper article IN HAND and the veteran said with his own mouth that he was a true "D-Day Veteran" I believe that any swinging harry on here would feel comfortable saying that he was what he said he was.

 

This uniform is up for sale.

[90thDivHistory]

Tom,

You are to be commended for acknowledging your mistake in the identification of the uniform, it is unfortunate that one was sold on Ebay as being a D-Day Veteran's jacket, but you being such a great member of the forum I am sure that will be corrected.

 

 

I understand how you can want to take what the veteran said as truth, but after over 500 interviews I can tell you with 100% certainty that you have to have it all backed up by something because their memories like all humans fail. When you add in the fact of a reporter there now is the chance that they are not quoted correctly which happens all of the time. That does not mean that what they say can not be trusted, it just means to be considered the historical truth, it should have some type of verification.

From post #4 it shows the name "Gus Burdi" and has B 3751 in the same ink and style as the name, but Burdi's laundry number is 5246 which is clearly shown in his enlistment records and this number matches with the number in the 357th records and for the person in the POW records. As far as this being the only Gus Burdi in the enlistment records, you well aware that those records are incomplete. so it is still possible that Burdi 3751 could not be listed. To my understanding there is not a laundry number for B-5246 in any of the jackets. I understand that they all came from the same man, but that does not mean that they were his or that he wore them all. I noticed that there were different sized jacket within the group which is a big tip off that this guy might have been a pack rat. I have met a few 90th vets that had tons of stuff, and none of it turned out to be their actual items, it was stuff they got from their friends or stuff they picked up after the war. I even had one son send me his father's Ike, but when I got it, it had the laundry number of another guy in his Battery, turns out that looking at promotion records showed that they both moved up in rank at the same time but one of them was a grade behind the other. So the higher ranked guy gave his jacket with the correct rank to his buddy and got another one for himself. So now the son thinks he had is father;s jacket, which in some respect is the truth because he received it while still in the war, but in reality it was the jacket assigned and used by a different soldier up until the end of the war.

So I am just saying that we all need to be careful when we take leaps to make connections based on just a few elements. Connecting an odd name in one jacket, to that of a division patch on another because they were purchased together, coupled with an article that just says D-day but provides no unit, is pretty loose research. I am not saying that this is not the jacket of Gus A. Burdi, because it looks very likely that it is, and I would be proud to have it in the 90th Collection. I just want to do my part in making sure that the history of the 90th Division is put forth in as correct of a truth as possible, it was the veterans of this division that charged me with this task almost a decade ago and I would not want to let them down.

Respectfully,

Tyler Alberts

[carbinephalen]

Alrighty, that picture made it a little hard to read the numbers...but it was in fact an "8" (as in the number) and not a "B"

 

Notice the difference in how the veteran made the "B" in Burdi and then the "8" in 83751

 

So...it is what it is sir.

 

These veterans did not wear, mark, discuss, or even think about these items being collected by some militaria nuts 70+ years down the road.

 

All (ALL, every single one) of my grandfather's items I have (Field Gear, M43's, ect) are NOT marked ANYWHERE with his name, rank, serial number, or mother's maiden name. The only reason I know that they are his is because I pulled them from his footlocker whenever it was given to me after he passed away. Who cares if it was his buddy's winter shooting gloves? My grandfather felt it was something he should hold on to so he did. You tell me that every item in your collection has rock solid 100% accurate provenance and is marked with the vet's full name and serial number. I don't believe that you can.

 

Sometimes in this hobby we have to buy the story along with the items. I know that's a big no-no but it just has to be done.

 

If I collected old driver's licenses then it would be VERY easy to give a 100% guarantee that the man who gave me the card was the original owner...but these items were not meant to be collected and were NOT marked as such. I think that some members worry too much in picking an item apart or saying that a grouping is put together just because the guy didn't mark his name on everything. Would you? If I were to put together a grouping of your life's items would they all be 100% traceable back to you 70 years from now? Probably not.

 

I understand I said that this man landed on D-day because that is what HE said to the newspaper. Forgive him, forgive the newspaper man for assuming what he said almost 70 years ago, and forgive me for actually believing what he told the newspaper. I really should have known better huh?

 

So maybe he didn't land on the first wave on Utah Beach...but the man is a B.A.M.F (Google what that means if you are unaware) in my book and many other collectors agree with me. The man escaped from a POW camp in a stolen Kraut car and earned his freedom through great danger to himself.

 

So that is that, please post the documents you found on him being in "L" 357th as I would like to keep them with the group. His Personnel File is on the way to me as we speak from the National Archives.

[carbinephalen]

Luckily it was sold on Ebay for $30 Shipped.

 

That is what a normal blank Ike sells for. I'm sure the buyer won't be too devastated when I tell him that I found his actually company and regiment.

[Garandomatic]

I'll second the notion that it is an 8 and not a B. It's in my war room as we speak!

[KASTAUFFER]

Very nice! A lot of people dont realize part of the 90th hit the beaches on D-Day. I have a POW Purple Heart group to a 359th Inf soldier who landed on D-Day and was also captured later just like you man.

 

Kurt

[carbinephalen]

Well, as the authenticity of this uniform belonging to "G. A. Burdi" is in question...here is another piece to the puzzle.

 

Put on your thinking caps folks, it's time to play CSI.

 

I purchased this uniform group off of ebay. The seller, who purchased it from this veteran's son, lives in West Hempstead, New York. *Please see exhibits one and two*

 

G. Burdi, who sadly passed away in 2001 is listed through two different sources as LAST living in Franklin Square, New York.

 

*Please see exhibits three and four*

 

I will let the Google Map showing the distance between the two speak for itself. Please see exhibit five.

 

If there are any math majors on here, I will seriously give you $10 USD through paypal if you can calculate the chances/odds of their being:

 

TWO G. Burdi's that BOTH fought in the 90th Infantry Division during WWII, that lived and died within 2 miles of each other.

 

and post that equation here.

 

I will be waiting.

[carbinephalen]

Exhibits 3 and 4

[carbinephalen]

Exhibit 5

[KASTAUFFER]

What is interesting is the number (83751) written in his jacket is consistent with a Stalag XIIA POW ID number that would have been issued in approximately July-Sept 1944. Stalag XIIA would have been the first place he would have been sent after he was captured.

 

For those who will says " he was in 13B " , Stalag XIIA was a transit camp newly captured infantry were sent to, and their ID numbers issued. My St. Lo POW group I own has a XIIA tag, and he was held in 3B. They would have had XIIA ID numbers in many cases.

 

I wonder if he wrote his POW ID # in the jacket after he was issued it post liberation, instead of his normal last 4 digits of his Army service number?

 

Kurt

[carbinephalen]

Here is another humdinger for your Kastauffer...

 

Does this appear to be a black triangle stamp on the back of the jacket?....or just another stain?

 

Is there any way that you think he wore the jacket in a POW camp? I know that in the concentration camps, the Germans gave the Jewish different colored triangle patches which mean different things.

 

It could be a stain...but it is awfully triangular

[carbinephalen]

Note, this jacket is the blank four pocket with just the name and number written in it...

[KASTAUFFER]

I think its a stain. He would not have been issued this uniform until after he was liberated.

 

Kurt

[carbinephalen]

I thought that what it was. I had to ask though. Curiosity got the best of me Plus I learned something new!

[Garandomatic]

There is another marking inside, I'll go and see for sure in a minute. Trying to get storm-proofed in case it i bad tonight.

 

Given his left shoulder patch is the replacement/training patch, he might have gotten a few extra uniforms for that capacity if his job required him to wear them. Just an idea. I have a few jackets, some with different names, that came from a local marine that never left the States. Pretty sure he managed to serve stateside training guys.

 

***OK, the odd stamp that I've not seen before looks like a large capital "L" with a + sign resting in the area above the bottom line of the L. Sort of like this: L+, but the + isn't beside the L, but kind of framed on the left and bottom by it. Just thought it was odd.

[carbinephalen]

I still have yet to see the documentation proving him to be in "L" Co 357th

 

So right now it is your word against the documents that I have uncovered.

 

Regards

 

-T

[carbinephalen]

The soldier was indeed a 357th "L" Co vet. Thanks for the information 90thDivHistory! You are an asset to this forum and to the legacy of the men of the 90th!

[carbinephalen]

Received Burdi's discharge in the mail today finally!! He was in fact a T-5 and received credit for the Normandy and Central European campaigns and also received the CIB!

 

He was QUITE a large boy at 5-6" and 190lbs!!

 

Glad this story has a happy ending!

[carbinephalen]

This uniform is going to be for sale very soon if anybody on here is interested!

[carbinephalen]

[westernfed]

Where did you get his papers from?

[carbinephalen]

The NPRC in saint Louis! We got lucky!

[carbinephalen]

This one is up for sale. I know some members contributed on here so I felt it only right to let every one know that it is currently on ebay.

 

I will offer FREE shipping if a forum member wishes to buy it for the BIN price.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141031623319?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649