37th Infantry Division, 129th Infantry 1943-1945

rkline56 - Got your PM & replied. I'll see what I can find.

retiredohcop - I will send you a PM shortly. If your father was with the 37th ID, you might be interested in a thread I started not long ago titled, Bougainville: The Battle for Hill 700. It has a link to an article which recounts the 37th ID's battle with the "nonexistent" Japanese on Bougainville Island in the Solomon Islands.

 

retiredohcop - For some reason I cannot send you a PM. Therefore, I will post what I find in this thread. It may take me a couple days, so please be patient. Thanks!

 

This is for retiredohcop:

I checked the roster in the back of the 129th Regimental book and it has the following listing:

So, it seems your deduction was correct. Unfortunately, it is not likely that I will find any more information that specifically refers to your father. I acquired the book with the hope that I might find some references to my grand uncle who was KIA on Luzon. I found out that very few of the soldiers are mentioned in the historical account. I was also hopeful that I might find a photo of him, but again, only a few are shown in photos.

If you would like a copy of the page showing your father's name, I would be happy to email it to you.

 

My email is lbutler@mt.gov. Too bad you are unable to locate any information on when he was wounded. He was with another GI when a hand grenade was tossed into the building they were fighting from. I would like to know the other GI's name to see if he is still alive. My father spoke of that day but I don't remember him mentioning the Gi's name. You are a great resource. thanks

 

You may want to go back to your original post and edit out your email address to reduce the chance of getting spammed. I have your email address now and will send you the page as soon as I can get to it.

 

37th Division Veterans Association - Division Memorials

Mandy, at the 37th Division Veterans Association is very helpful and may know people from the division who can help those who are looking for information.
35 E. Chestnut St., Suite 425

 

Thanks for the info, Rick. I sent Mandy an email and only got an automated response. Hopefully, I'll hear from her Monday.

 

I'm researching my Father's WWII service. Would you please check the 129th roster for Raymond J. Bachewicz? My email is bachewicz@iwon.com Thanks

 

I will be happy to look into it for you. It may take a day or two, so I hope that won't be a problem.

 

Sorry, Ken. I could not find anyone by that last name listed in the rosters of the 129th Infantry Regiment.

 

I just came across a selection of 35 photos from the Robert S. Beightler Audiovisual Collection on the Ohio Historical Society website. Digital copies of the pictures can be purchased online. Photos are of the 37th Infantry Division during WW2 and include soldiers of the 129th as well as other elements of the 37th.

And from the Ohio Historical Society Collections Blog, an article on the Buckeye Division in the Pacific with a few Hi Res photos from the Beightler Collection.

 

TD-Tommy776 I was wondering if you could look up my great uncle who was in the 129th. His name is Edwin C. Ziemann. Thanks.

 

Sure. It may take me a day or two, but I will check. Are you looking for anything in particular?

 

Well I know he was a Sgt. and he was KIA on Feb. 15th of 1945 in Manila. I guess any and all information you can find on him would be much appreicated. Thanks again.

 

That's helpful info. Thanks.

While you're waiting, you should check out a couple other threads related to the 129th IR:

Bougainville: The Battle for Hill 700 - Several external links to some excellent material about the 37th ID on Bougainville.

The Japanese Soldier That Got Dad - Very compelling posts by a forum member, James Cox. He also has a website dedicated to his father's service which I highly recommend www.129thinfantrypage.com

 

Thanks. I will check these out.

 

arwalcker,

Well, I was able to check the 129th IR book and did not find your father listed in the "In Memoriam" section. I then checked the regular listing of Enlisted Men and found:

Sgt. Edwin C. Ziemann from North Dakota, Company "M", 3rd Battalion, 129th IR

Since you mentioned that he had been KIA in February 1945, this didn't make sense to me. So, I decided to check my 37th ID book which also has an "Honor Roll" section. The 37th ID book did have him listed as KIA DOW February 16, 1945. (DOW = died of wounds. Apparently, he was mortally wounded in action and died at a later time or date.

I have no idea why the 129th book still had him listed as active especially since it was published in 1947. One would think they would have gotten it right after 2+ years.

Anyway, that gives you a bit of info.

 

Thank you for the info. The info I got about the day my great uncle died was off his grave stone at Fort Snelling cemetery where hes buried it said it was the 15th of February. So maybe there is a discrepancy on what day he did die. From what I heard about how he was killed was shrapnel got him below the helmet. So from what you say I guess he survived it but later succumbed to his wounds. Reading from your info that he died of his wounds was not exactly what I wanted to hear after hearing from family that he took shrapnel below his helmet. However Im happy to find out what company and what battalion he was with because that was some of the info I was missing. Thank you again for your help.

 

TD-Tommy776

I was wondering if you could also possibly provide some insight on how he was part of this unit being he was from North Dakota. Since I believe the 129th was an Illinois national guard unit and the 37th was Ohio national guard. Im guessing he was drafted and placed into this unit???

 

Like you, I had a great uncle who was in the 129th and was KIA in the Philippines. His brother, who was also from Minnesota, ended up in a Tank Destroyer Battalion formed from a North Dakota National Guard artillery unit. I believe your guess is pretty much the case. If they enlisted or were inducted, they were put wherever there was a need. It may be that they had a region (i.e. Northern Plains-Midwest region) that guys were assigned to, but that is a guess as well.

BTW, the 129th was originally with the 33rd ID out of Illinois. It was detached and attached to the 37th ID during WW2. After the War, the 129th was reattached to the 33rd.