Battle of the Bulge PH with GO

[postmanusnac]

This was found in an Antique store this afternoon in Indiana by my Dad.  Still some research to be done, especially with regard to what unit he was in, but this numbered PH (489993) and Insignia belonged to Captain David Miller Powell (the GO is wrong).  He was wounded on December 20, 1944 in Luxembourg.

 

David Powell was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky in 1914 and passed away in California in 1983.  He is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky.

I found two articles on him.  One in May, 1941 said he was slated for transport to the Philippines.  Though, there is no indication he ever went there.  The second in 1943, says he was part of the 1st Glider Infantry at Fort Bragg.  His obituary is also, sadly, devoid of any information of him.

 

Not pictured are his CIB, captain bars, infantry insignia and two ribbon bars, which were also in the case.

[decwriter]

Nice snag!

[katieony]

Very nice...congrats!

[AustinO]

He was assigned to the 11th Infantry (5th Division) in 1940, transferring out of the CCC where he was already an officer. No idea if he was still with the 11th when they went through Europe but its plausible. 

 

Edit: Looks like he didn't stay with the 5th!

 

[postmanusnac]

I

14 minutes ago, AustinO said:

He was assigned to the 11th Infantry (5th Division) in 1940, transferring out of the CCC where he was already an officer. No idea if he was still with the 11th when they went through Europe but its plausible. 

 

Edit: Looks like he didn't stay with the 5th!

 

Ok!  The 5th makes sense because I saw he was at Fort Custer, MI!

 

I found this article that showed the was dated for movement to the PI in May, 1941.  I don’t think he ever left.  Not many guys got out of there.

Then that article you posted.  
 

Then he is wounded in Luxembourg.  

The guy bounced around a lot.

 

He also attended Duke university in the mid-1930s after graduating from the Kentucky Military Institute.

 

[postmanusnac]

This is him in the 1935 Duke University yearbook.

[AustinO]

December 20th was the first day of the siege of Bastogne, he would have most likely been with the 327th GIR there (or attached to Divisional HQ).  

[postmanusnac]

5 minutes ago, AustinO said:

December 20th was the first day of the siege of Bastogne, he would have most likely been with the 327th GIR there (or attached to Divisional HQ).  

Ok, I thought he might have stayed with the glider units, but I thought it might be just as likely he was in the 28th Division.  His EAME had no arrowhead on it, just four campaign stats, though I honestly don’t know if the GIR received arrowheads.

[AustinO]

If he landed at Normandy with the 327th he would have received an arrowhead - but any number of reasons he may not have.  He also may have just not had the device to add to his ribbon bar. The 327th was East of Bastogne on the 20th, about 3 miles from the Luxembourg border. 

[postmanusnac]

Here is everything in the case as it was found.

 

I’m not sure about the second PH.  He was hospitalized two more times.  The second time doesn’t appear to be combat related.  The third time is stateside in 1945 and it was related to deformities from previous injuries with his hand and feet.

 

 

[snake36bravo]

Lurking on this one. Nice research on everyone's part which honestly since his stuff was put into an antique store makes me happy to see. 

[tdogchristy90]

8 minutes ago, snake36bravo said:

Lurking on this one. Nice research on everyone's part which honestly since his stuff was put into an antique store makes me happy to see. 

I second this! 

[postmanusnac]

Thanks everyone.

 

Kind of funny story related to this.  My dad tried to see if the guy would come down on the price.  He refused to budge, so I told my dad to hold off and I’d do some more digging.  
 

He calls me 15 minutes later and says “congratulations, you’re the new owner, your grandmother pressured me into buying it”.  
 

😂 

[manayunkman]

So the GO was in the box too?

 

Very nice group.

[postmanusnac]

14 minutes ago, manayunkman said:

So the GO was in the box too?

 

Very nice group.

That’s correct.  You can kind of see it folded up and buried under all the in devices in the box.

[eaglerunner88]

A small box full of goodies! Would look great displayed in a shadow box.

[manayunkman]

1 hour ago, postmanusnac said:

That’s correct.  You can kind of see it folded up and buried under all the in devices in the box.

I thought that’s what that was but just wanted to make sure.

 

That document is worth it’s weight in gold!