MPoorthuis Posted June 5, 2018 Share #1 Posted June 5, 2018 Hi all, while doing research on the 16th Infantrymen who were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for actions in World War II, I stumbled upon some DSC numbers. See below the ones I found with name, rank, ASN and unit affiliation of the recipient. Hope this will help someone trace back a medal in his/her collection to an indivuadal soldier! Best regards, Max Medal No. 8230, First Lieutenant Edward McCrackin, O351543, Corps of Engineers, Company ***, *** Engineer Regiment Medal No. 8239, Second Lieutenant Walter J. Burns, O1288356, Corps of Military Police, *** Military Police Company Medal No. 8265, Private First Class Ervin B. Playor, 14028726, Company ***, *** Infantry Medal No. 8267, Private First Class Stanley Grzesik, 12022868, Company ***, *** Infantry Medal No. 8269, Private First Class Albert I. Nendza, 12014288, Company ***, *** Infantry Medal No. 8276, Second Lieutenant James H. Cameron, O1284286, Headquarters Company, *** Battalion Landing Team, *** Infantry Medal No. 8278, Private First Class Sherman S. Spear, 32040951, Headquarters Company, *** Battalion Landing Team, *** Infantry Medal No. 8280, Private Anibal Irizarry, 12021032, Company ***, *** Infantry Medal No. 8282, Staff Sergeant Harrison M. Gardler, 13007601, Headquarters, *** Battalion, *** Infantry Medal No. 8287, Technician Fifth Grade Norman H. MacLennan, 31068764, Company ***, *** Infantry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Nier Posted June 5, 2018 Share #2 Posted June 5, 2018 This is an exciting discovery --- the first DSC group to be identifed in the 5th Army list of 68 early WW2 DSCs recorded and traceable by number. Seven of yoiur eight DSC numbers (minus # 8269) are included in the 5th Army list. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Archives location of this 5th Army DSC list has been lost or mis-filed over the years. This 5th Army DSC list includes #9948, currently in my collection. I am offering a $100 reward to anyone who can locate the General Order in the Archives that identifies the recipient of DSC #9948. I've been tracking DSC numbers for many years now. The only additional DSC in my census that falls in your 16th Inf 82xx range is #8251. This was awarded to the Royal Navy hero Captain F. T. Peters, VC, DSO, for the Oran invasion, North Africa, 11-08-1942. I'm sure that your 16th Inf group of DSCs were all for North Africa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJohn#3RD Posted June 5, 2018 Share #3 Posted June 5, 2018 Max, Thanks for sharing this information. Anyone who comes across #4531 let me know. Best regards, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPoorthuis Posted June 5, 2018 Author Share #4 Posted June 5, 2018 The bad news is that the Archives location of this 5th Army DSC list has been lost or mis-filed over the years. Are you sure? I can have someone pull the Fifth Army records again to see if it is there. The numbers I provided come from GO numbers 18 and 35 (1943). I requested those GOs because there are 16th Infantry Regiment citations in there. I have the entire GOs, so if someone is interested, let me know. Again, I can have someone pull some other Fifth Army GOs, but he charges me per hour, so I don't think it's a good idea to randomly request GOs, haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgee Posted June 5, 2018 Share #5 Posted June 5, 2018 Thanks for sharing. Always good to unearth info like this. Col. Al Gleim is smiling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPoorthuis Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share #6 Posted June 6, 2018 I'm sure that your 16th Inf group of DSCs were all for North Africa. In total, 93 DSCs were awarded to men of the 16th Infantry for actions in World War II. Grzesik and Nendza were indeed awarded their DSCs for their acts of heroism on November 8, 1942 (Operation Torch). I will keep looking for more numbers. PS, we are currently working on a new website. On this website you will be able to find all the WWII award citations to men of the 16th Infantry. We also plan to add the WWI and post-WWII awards, but we will have to get those from the Archives first. I will keep you updated about the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Nier Posted June 7, 2018 Share #7 Posted June 7, 2018 I miscounted your DSC list above,. Actually, nine of your ten DSC numbers appear on the "5th Arrmy list" of 77 early WW2 DSCs traceable by number. To add to the excitement of your discovery, years ago I obtained a short list of ten more "5th Army" DSCs that all trace to the 135th Inf, 34th Div. Their numbers: 8984 9162 9448 9583 10709 11097 11373 13479 15355 16054 Lopez Kimbel Singlestad Gellman Gisborne Cessna Hunter Sporbert Harris Mackowiak Details available on request. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted June 8, 2018 Share #8 Posted June 8, 2018 Max, Thanks for sharing this information. Anyone who comes across #4531 let me know. Best regards, John Is it 12th AAF ? Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan H. Posted June 9, 2018 Share #9 Posted June 9, 2018 Wouldn't number 4531 be a World War I issue Kurt? Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted June 9, 2018 Share #10 Posted June 9, 2018 Wouldn't number 4531 be a World War I issue Kurt? Allan A bunch of WWI vintage DSCs in the 4000 range were never issued and were awarded in WWII instead. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/192270-wwii-early-d-dsc-and-purple-heart-group-12th-bomb-group/?hl=12th In some of the WWII GOs these numbers were documented. I have one of these DSCs. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPoorthuis Posted June 9, 2018 Author Share #11 Posted June 9, 2018 Does someone know more about DSC number 17393? It's a long shot, but worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aznation Posted June 9, 2018 Share #12 Posted June 9, 2018 Does someone know more about DSC number 17393? It's a long shot, but worth a try. I can't figure out why looking at the attached, but when I did a google search of "distinguished service medal" 17393, it came up with this officer. So unconfirmed at this point, but I thought I'd share it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPoorthuis Posted June 9, 2018 Author Share #13 Posted June 9, 2018 That's a citation for the Distinguished Service Medal. His page number on that site is 17393. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Nier Posted June 11, 2018 Share #14 Posted June 11, 2018 The basic problem with chasing down WW2 numbered DSCs is their tremendous production over-run. Col. Gleim published only 5057 DSCs awarded for WW2. In contrast to thst modest quantity, my census of DSC numbers now totals 191 Cross numbers. Beside 15 DSC numbers in the unused WW1 4000 bracket,the other 176 DSC numbers stretch out from 8000 up to 23,000. Every bracket of 1000 DSCs is represented in the census This implies that 15,000 additional numbered DSCs were ordered in anticipation of a large WW2 demand which never occured. Accordingly, only 42 of my 191 DSC numbers are attributed, including 8 in tyhe 4000 bracket. Both the 4531 & 17393 DSCs are new to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dskjl Posted February 9, 2019 Share #15 Posted February 9, 2019 I have 8890, any body have a record of whom it was a warded to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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