Hello. thanks for writing back. I think you are right on the stripes. he has 4 horizontal stripes on the left sleeve, two years service.

I also think you are right about the ruptured duck. I just learned about that today.

As far as Sicily goes, there is some confusion in the family. My uncle, the oldest son of my grandfather, does not remember Grandpa mentioning Italy. he thinks that he went straight from training in North Carolina to Britian. However, my aunt says he did mention Italy. So I am uncertian now. We are haveing a family cookout Sunday and I am going to pick peoples brains about Grandpa.

What does this say about the 7th patch. It doesn't seem likely to me that he would have been assigned to the 7th if he went straight to Britain. Also, he enlisted in May of 43. He was still in NC in July. I assume that he probably shipped out in late July 43 or August. Would that leave time for transportation overseas to Italy, serve there as a motor pool driver/mechanic, then transfer to England to prepare equipment for D-Day?

The patch on the lower right sleeve is the Meritorious Unit Service patch.

Rob