saschneider Posted September 23, 2023 #1 Posted September 23, 2023 We had always been told that my grandfather fought at D-Day and landed at Omaha Beach. We have limited documentation of his war record (attaching here). He enlisted in 1941 and because he had some college was made a LT in the infantry AUS. We have his report of separation and honorable discharge that shows he had six months foreign service, having been discharged in October 1944. I recently turned over a photo and found that he had been at Fort Meade in Company C of the 31st Bn, replacement depot 1 of the Army Ground Forces. That's where the paperwork runs out. We have some notes that he received a bronze star though no records stating it and we were told at his funeral by a friend that he had landed on D-Day at Omaha but that the fighting there and later was too much for him and he was sent home. The one thread we have is his assignment to Company C, 31st Bn at A.G.F. R.D. 1 at Fort Meade. I keep hoping I can find information about the disposition of those forces after they left Ft. Meade. Any help would be appreciated. I've attached several relevant files. Thanks in advance! IMG_1863.HEIC 6-1.pdf 6-2.pdf 2.pdf 4.pdf 4reverse.pdf 5.pdf 3.pdf
29navy Posted September 24, 2023 #2 Posted September 24, 2023 WWII Army Officer tracking (online) is tough as the officer registers for AUS are not available online. Found this picture on Ancestry.com possibly July 1943 based on the notation. Looks like he has the 84th Division patch on his sleeve. The 84th was activated on 15 Oct 1942. They didn't get to England until 1 Oct 1944 and into France on 1 Nov 1944. So obviously he wasn't with them when they went overseas. So if he went in on D Day, and said he had 6 months of overseas duty, he would have been transferred in early 1944. Question is: "to what unit?" I don't see him with the 29th Division (per morning reports). Unfortunately, his service record was probably lost in the fire, but you can always check, if you haven't already. Finding trackings of people in replacement depot is probably an impossible task. Good luck.
saschneider Posted September 25, 2023 Author #3 Posted September 25, 2023 His service record was lost in the fire and it was a very traumatic experience for him, so he really never discussed it with his family. If he was a D-Day and he wasn't in the 29th, he would have been in the 1st then I suspect? The documents we've found indicate he had six months overseas service and he completed his training in February of 1944 so I imagine that means he would have ended up in the UK from the Replacement Depot sometime in advance of D-Day. These are the only records we have together with a story from a man, we don't know who, that showed up at his funeral in 1978 and told my father he'd been at Omaha Beach on D-Day and had a particularly bad time of it. You mention the morning reports of the 29th, are there similar reports for the 1st?
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