5th Signal Company, HQ Bn, 5th Marine Division

[ViewfinderGyrene]

Good afternoon all,

 

I have made great strides narrowing down the personnel within 5th Signal Company, 5th Marine Division which may have used the Jeep I am restoring.  It retains its original bumper marking to 5th Signal Company and has brackets on the rear indicative of use as a wire laying Jeep, specifically wiring related to Telegraph equipment. 

 

If any of the following names are familiar to members, please PM me! I am seeking any narrative, interviews, or photographs from these Marines.

 

Firstly, the Wire Platoon of 5th Signal Company was led by Warrant Officer Wilburn Keith Rogers.  I do not believe he had children, but he had several sisters-in-law

 

Under him were 55 Linemen MOS 641, the standard field lineman designation.

 

Also within the Platoon there were 6 Telegraph Linemen, MOS 238.  It was previously unknown to me that the Marines differentiated between these two tasks and assigned a separate MOS for lineman duties specific to Telegraph equipment. 

 

The degree of granularity goes one level further.  Exactly two [2] Marines within Wire Platoon were trained as MOS 039: Cable Splicer, Telegraph.

 

This literally makes 2 teams of 4 men each whose job was exactly what the Jeep’s nicknames imply, splicers for Telegraphs.

 

Below are the 8 Telegraph personnel, followed by the entire roster of standard Linemen within 5th Signal Company.

 

***If any of the following names are familiar to you, please contact me.***

 

Names with an asterisk indicate I have not been able to locate an obituary or a tree on Ancestry.com:

 

Telegraph Personnel, Wire Platoon, 5th Signal Company, HQ Battalion, 5th Marine Division:

Sgt. John H. McDermott, TELEGRAPH SPLICER

Sgt. C. C. Craig, TELEGRAPH LINEMAN*

Sgt. William K.  Needham, TELEGRAPH LINEMAN

Sgt. Roy C. Rortvedt, TELEGRAPH LINEMAN

Sgt. Roy H. Thomas, TELEGRAPH LINEMAN*

Cpl. John J. Dennis, TELEGRAPH LINEMAN*

Cpl. Walter Smucinski, TELEGRAPH SPLICER*

PFC Michael Wozowick, TELEGRAPH LINEMAN

 

Lineman Personnel, Wire Platoon, 5th Signal Company, HQ Battalion, 5th Marine Division:

S/Sgt. Joseph R. Gilfillan Jr.

S/Sgt. Don M. Schoemaker

Sgt. Arthur J. Cragg*

Cpl. Kent V. Morrison Jr.

Cpl. David H. Teyema

Cpl. James M. Walker*

PFC William E. Dinisio

PFC Elmer B. Hartman*

PFC John A. Horner*

PFC Elwood Hughes*

PFC Walter H. Judd*

PFC Ward L. Klinkers

PFC Kendall K.  Koball

PFC Elva C. Mason Jr.

PFC Curtis L. Maxwell Jr.

PFC Meryl R. McManaman

PFC Sylvio A. Milani

PFC Robert S. Miller*

PFC Alfronzo W. Morales

PFC Arthur Newell

PFC Albert M. Oberfoell*

PFC Richard P. O'Donovan

PFC James J. Pesdan

PFC Michael A. Petrizzo

PFC Robert T. Piasecki

PFC Irving D. Rosenstein

PFC Gilbert C.  Sauceda

PFC Walter R. Schnieder*

PFC Charles S. Schroeder

PFC Donald V. Shank*

PFC Clifford E. Smith*

PFC Arthur E. Snodgrass*

PFC Robert B. Swol*

PFC Stephen I. Springowski [Shortened name to Springer postwar]

PFC John P. Staffa

PFC Hugh L. Stodghill

PFC Albert K. Taylor

PFC Juel C. Thompson

PFC William C. Townsend

PFC Burnie E. Underwood

PFC Robert D. Upstill

PFC Robert M. Verno

PFC Robert B. Willenbrink

PFC Robert E. Willett*

PFC James L. Wilson Jr.*

PFC Lyle S. Wilson*

PFC Frank J. Yannone

PFC Kenneth A. Zude

Pvt. Robert E. Barry

Pvt. Charles B. Heed

Pvt. Edward A. Hefke

Pvt. Andrew G. Holzinger

Pvt. Robert Van Drimmelen

Pvt. Walter G. Walker*

 

 

Thanks very much!

 

~VFG

[ViewfinderGyrene]

Bumping this in case anybody has turned anything up. TIA!