345th Infantry Regiment Guidon

[Dan D]

Hello All -

 

My father passed away in February 1983. He was the last surviving member of "I" Company, 345th Infantry Regiment of the 87th Infantry Division during WWII in Europe. From all the notes I have read kept by my father and mother, a special distinction as the last surviving soldier, he was presented "i" Company 345th Guidon. 

 

After my father passed, I inherited 38 1/2 years of his military adventures and relics of his time in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. My mother had noted that soon after my Dad died a man came to the door and introduced himself as a representative of the 87th Infantry Division. In particular, he was looking for the I Company Guidon that was presented to my father a few years earlier. Still somewhat in shock and recovering from her husband's death, she pointed to his chair in the living room where the Guidon was displayed proudly behind his chair. When she inquired what his intentions and disposition of this prized possession he mentioned that it was going to be proudly displayed in a museum in PA. My dear mother being oblivious to BS, the man took the Guidon and was on his way out the door. Mom always felt so bad about this as she knew it should have gone to me along with all his other artifacts, however, I cannot fault her as she was unaware if the man was legit or not.

 

Well, I have scoured most Military Museums in PA and have come up totally blank. My ask to all forum members who read this post; if you have seen this Guidon from the photo below, please let me know as to it's where abouts. Granted, I don't have much of claim for this item as 40+ years have passed since then but I promised Mom before she passed that I would keep looking. 

 

Thanks!!!  

[Marshallj]

Sounds like mom was visited by the lowest form of lowlife. Good luck in your search.

[Dan D]

UPDATE ************

 

Following up from my above post...

 

For the last 40 years I had sent inquiries to every Museum in PA that I could find via phone book and of course since 2000 via the internet. Everything came up goose eggs except that I did find a Museum that had a 347th "L" Company Guidon. In March of this year, I wrote a post about the Guidon on this US Military forum and asked if anyone should come across it to please contact me and to its whereabouts. 

About 2 weeks ago, I received a message from Michael Santoro of IMA (International Military Antiques). He stated that he had purchased a large military lot from a PA estate sale and that the man was an ardent collector. Anyway, he said he believes he has the Guidon which I was looking for and he felt it should come back to me and the family. He had to check with his boss first but felt it was the right thing to do. They were getting ready to list it on their website when he decided to get some more history on the Guidon and came across my post on the US Forum. When he read my post he knew he had to contact me. I stated I would reimburse IMA for their cost and I gladly accepted their offer. The 9ft box arrived yesterday. pole and all, and I am sure their cost to send to me was close to what I paid.

As I opened the box and looked at the Guidon (it had not been in a Museum and definitely not taken care of for the last 42 years and the pole and the streamer were added at some later date), I had tears streaming down my cheeks, looked upward and told Mom and Dad that it was finally back home.

 

I cannot thank Michael Santoro and IMA for their unbelievable generosity and reuniting the 345th "I" Company Guidon back to the family.  Perseverance certainly played a huge role in getting this back home. Beyond grateful and blessed. 

[Rakkasan187]

Well Done Dan,,,

 

Your perseverance and dedication to this heirloom is remarkable.

 

Kudos to IMA for making it right and reuniting this with you.

 

Your Mom and Dad are smiling down on you and they are both extremely proud...

 

Best regards

 

Leigh 

[Dan D]

Thank you Leigh!

[mbec]

Perfect. As it should be. It’s too bad you had to wait so long but worth it.

[KnightSmith]

Congrats on finding your prized guidon!

 

I am gonna vouch for Michael Santoro for a moment. Not only is he a very good friend of mine, but he did something similar with me before he worked at IMA. When I got into studying and researching WWI, early on there was a connection to a potential ancestor. He was the father of three sisters; my great-grandmother and two aunts, the oldest of which was very very close in my life and came to visit my family every Christmas and Halloween. This aunt told me those things about him, and the person was very primordial in my consciousness, in fact, the only thing people ever really told me about him was that he was a very good person in life and that he died of ALS. That changed when I started looking into WWI and I suspected that due to his age at the time, he fought in WWI. I was confirmed correct by my grandmother who had inherited both the youngest and oldest of the sister's estates. He was a corporal from Company A of the 304th Engineers, 79th division, and his company served as a sapper unit at Montfaucon which was one of the bloodiest areas of the Meuse Argonne offensive. That Christmas, she sent me a large amount of items, including an ID bracelet he made. But no tags. I assumed they accidentally got thrown out, lost to time. My family is good at keeping family stuff, that's why what Michael did hit me like a bombshell.

 

Anyhow here's what happened:

He and another friend by the name of Eric (Who runs Men with Hills Militaria) a couple of years ago bought a collection of mess tins including what was a grouping with a barracks bag, mess kit, and tags. Michael knew of my grandfather and saw the name and instantly recognized it as my second great-grandfather's. When I visited them, he (and Eric) gave the set of items to me for free which included his tags, which were and still are in near pristine condition, and the mess tin and knife have his name stamped in them. That has moved me as much as it did then to this very day. I'm still not quite sure how it left the family, but I think it's because it got caught in a liquidation and my family didn't even know it existed. Tbh, I don't even think it matters, now that it's with me, and this is the most complete my second great grandfather's grouping has been likely since he died back in 1944. IMA is good at uniting family items back with the family don't get me wrong and Alex Cranmer from it recently united an Iwo Jima vet's uniform with the family but the reason you have that Guidon back is because of Michael and his dedication to his research of the stuff he has as well as his extremely high moral integrity, just like me. Do business with him whenever you can.

 

-Elliott

[Dan D]

Thanks all - I know my Dad and Mom are smiling down from above.

[Michael the Young AEF Guy]

Dan, thank you so much for the kind words and it was my pleasure to be able to reunite this guidon with its home. As Elliott mentioned this wasn't the first time I've had the opportunity to bring an item home, and it's something I hope I get to continue doing for the rest of my life! Research & preserving stories is my passion & I'm the luckiest guy in the world to be able to do what I love. I'm so glad to know your parents are smiling down on you having brought this piece home.

 

-Michael

[Dan D]

Hello All - 

 

I was quickly made aware of an error I put out in the beginning story of this post. I stated that my father was the last surviving soldier of the 345 "I" Company which is not correct. My father was the last "active duty" soldier of "I" Company as well as the 345th Inf Regiment retiring in June of 1981.

 

Many thanks to T1gertank519 (Preston) who caught my error.