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WWII 106th Division POW grouping - PURPLE HEART


KASTAUFFER
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I have had this group for a long time, but had never posted it until now . I went to the NPRC in St. Louis and obtained his service record . There were a few surprising documents in it.

 

PFC Lindow was captured 12/16/44 during the Battle of the Bulge with his unit the 422nd Infantry , 106th Division . According to documents in his service record , he was WIA by shrapnel 12/20/44 after he had been captured . His Discharge does not show the Purple Heart or a " wounds received in action " date. Another document does and that is what makes this group interesting.

 

His Purple Heart and GCM are stamped and it is obvious it was done at the separation center. The next few documents will tell why.

 

lindow.JPG

lindow1.JPG

lindow2.JPG

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When he applied for his POW medal , Lindow copied the documents he had in his possession and mailed them in with his application. That is why there were documents in his service record , even though the rest had been burned in the 1972 fire .

 

His Discharge

 

lindow3.jpg

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Here is a document Lindow filled out requesting official recognition for his Purple Heart fromt he US Army. Notice on the document it says " Medal issued by separation center " .

 

 

lindow4.jpg

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Lastly , the transmittal letter for his POW medal. I also have a copy of the application he filled out.

 

lindow5.jpg

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Interesting, so basically, he was awarded the PH medal based on his own claim with no supporting medical documentation?

 

He may have had a nice scar to show for his trouble .

 

Kurt

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IMPERIAL QUEST
He may have had a nice scar to show for his trouble .

 

Kurt

 

:lol: Well, yea....I guess any notations of scars or physical anomalies would have been recorded at induction then?

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Nice group Kurt. Excellent research on your part. According to the National Archives, he got his CIB with L-Co, 422nd Infantry.

I guess NARA doesn't send these documents to individuals with no personal affeliation with the veterans (as in a Form 180 request by a collector), don't they?

 

Best,

Carl

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Nice group Kurt. Excellent research on your part. According to the National Archives, he got his CIB with L-Co, 422nd Infantry.

I guess NARA doesn't send these documents to individuals with no personal affeliation with the veterans (as in a Form 180 request by a collector), don't they?

 

Best,

Carl

 

Thanks Carl!

 

If the veteran was discharged at least 62+ years ago , the records are now considered " Archival " and anyone can have them . That is how I got them. I went to the NPRC and photocopied a number of service records, especially USN ones , because I knew they would not be burned.

 

Kurt

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Very nice grouping Kurt! I will have to try the NPRC for my 106th POW group... hopefully my vet sent in his records as well because his discharge was not in the paperwork that came with it.

 

Kyle

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  • 3 years later...

Interesting to also see he was awarded a CIB & Exp Inf Badge.

expertInfantryBadge.gif

He most likely earned the EIB while in training stateside before deploying to Europe and then received the CIB for actual service in combat.

 

What I find interesting is that even though he apparently served 4-5 months as a prisoner of war (assuming he was not liberated until April or May 1945), notice that even though he returned to the U.S. in May 1945, he was not discharged until December. Though the number of his ASR Score as of September 2, 1945 (points accumulated for discharge) is obscured by a hole on his discharge certificate, it looks to me like number underneath was in the 50's when I believe 85 was required. Unless they kept him in for medical treatment after he returned from Europe, it seems that even liberated POW's were not given any special preference for early discharge.

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Kurt,

Thank you for posting, very neat POW Group with a great document trail. I find it curious that according to his discharge he received credit for three campaign's even though he was captured in the first few day of combat. This is not the first WW2 POW group in which I have seen this, mostly in the Northern European Theater of Operation. I have not seen any documentation of a Philippine defender who was later captured by the Japanese receive credit for additional campaigns that he/she was not an active participant in nor a combatant captured in North Africa, just an observation. Has anyone else seen any thing different?

Regards,

John

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  • 1 year later...

Kurt,

 

The reason this guy sent in a picture of his POW dogtag was to prove he was a POW for a disability pension. Last year I went through 120 veterans records and many of them had documents in them to prove they were a POW. The men whose files were destroyed in the fire are the ones who had to do this. Every man without exception who I have interviewed from the 106th, no less than 100, has a disability pension. Many are receiving it for the frost bite. Others for the longer term illness they suffered from malnutrition.

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  • 1 month later...
BigJohn#3RD

Kurt, et al,

I have been kicking around the 106th ID Website sponsored by Indiana, if you have not been to it I recommend checking it out. FYI it also has information on the 28th, 20th 31st, 83rd and 92nd Infantry Divisions in WWII as well as the 31st ID in KW and Delta Ranger of 151st Inf in Vietnam.

 

http://www.indianamilitary.org/106ID/SoThinkMenu/106thSTART.htm

 

John

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