Old Hickory Recon, Memories of the 30th Infantry Division 1943-1945 - Marion M. Sanford

I looked at the 30th Recon AAR, it was the 1st and 2nd Platoons in the engagement. Mr. Marion remembers this incident well, as he was with the 1st Platoon at the time. It was near the France/Belgian border at Champien on the 1st of September, 1944. The troop AAR give the number captured as 66.

Recon was apparently in constant and heavy contact with Germans during this time. It was late the next day that the troop CO, Capt. Kenneth Cornelius, was gravely wounded southeast of Tournai. Hume assumed command of the troop at that point, although he was still a 1st Lt. Three other men were killed and six were wounded on September 2nd.

I have the troop AARs if anyone wants them. They are in pdf format.

On an aside, I have been trying to locate any family of Capt. James Hume, of Virginia, since he figures promently in several places of the book. He was greatly admired by Marion Sanford. "He knew how to lead men," Mr. Marion has told me more than once. He further added, "We would have followed him to the gates of hell."

 

Here are some photos that I got this past weekend and scanned.
The first pictures is a list who was driving what vehicle in the 1st Platoon in Normandy.
Pictures 2 & 3 are of a M-8 that ran over a land mine
Picture 4 is of a Belgian girl during the Bulge. He does not remember her name, but they were near La Gleize. There is another photo of Sanford and her in the book.
Pictures 5 & 6 are of Gaston Sanford, brother of Marion Sanford. Number 5 is in England, I think, given that he is wearing Class As. The second picture is in Germany, April, 1945. He was an AAA gunner.
Picture 7 is his good friend Goodrich Simms, holding a flag
Picture 8 - soldier getting in a halftrack. I have to get with Mr. Sanford, as I do not recognize him
Picture 9 - Mr. Marion and "Mack". I do not know the location, but I think it is near Magdeburg.
Picture 10 - A cropped version of this pic is in the book. I was working with a copy of that had the man onthe far left cropped out. This is the original. I will have to find out who the new soldier is.

 

More photos:

1. Marion Sanford in Belgium, Dec 1944
2. Marion Sanford on the left with the overseas cap, working on the vehicle. I think this is at Magdeburg, because he is wearing the overseas cap, which he did not have after leaving England until then. Hitte made it for him out of some khaki trousers.
3. Marion Sanford is on the far right, in the shadow. Location unknown.
4. Not sure Marion Sanfor is in the photo. Location unknown
5. Master Sgt Marion Sanford, 1962, on the left, standing.
6. Marion Sanford, high school photo
7. Marion Sanford mechanics school class photo, 1943. Of interest to those who have read the book would be soldier #13. See pages 52 and 279.
8. The other half of the class. Marion Sanford is in this photo, #26 on the left.

 

More photos:
1 & 2 Belgian currency
3 Inside cover of the Bible Philamena "Mientjie" Duster gave him in 1944. He carried until he got home in Sept, 1945. If anyone can translate the handwriting, I would be appreciative.
4 & 5 Dutch currency
6 & 7 French currency
8 & 9 German currency
10 German postage stamps

 

The 30th Infantry Division was at Camp Atterbury, Indiana during Christmas and Thanksgiving, 1943. The recon troop had special meals around both holidays, with programs being produced for the meals on both occasions. The program listed the dishes provided and more importantly, the names and ranks of all the men in the unit at the time of the holiday.

There are images of the programs available on some sites, but Mr. Marion has his own copy of the Christmas dinner The program is on paper similar to what is used to fold and package dress shirts. It is rather thin and delicate, but I have scanned it, producing a far better image than what can be found elsewhere. If there is anyone out there that needs a copy of it, do not hesitate to ask.

I have attached copy of the Christmas program to this posting where I have denoted the men present at Christmas, 1943 who were known to have been killed or wounded in action. It is by far no where near complete, as I have not been able to find a good list of enlisted men who were wounded, so none were marked. The list also does not include men who were replacements and were later killed or wounded. Among the lieutenants, that number is underrepresented by a large margin. I have good reason to suspect that of the lieutenants who enjoyed the Christmas festivities in 1943, none were still with the unit at war's end.

 

The eldest daughter of Captain James Hume has been located and we have spoken to each other several times.

I am now looking for relatives of Paul Prejean of Houma, Louisiana. He served with the 743rd Tank Battalion, which was attached to the 30 Infantry Division through the European Campaign. He was badly wounded in 1945, possibly losing a leg or foot.

I am also looking for relatives of Frances J. Sutton, formerly of Pennsylvania and possibly in the Nashville area post-war. His nickname in the unit was "Duggan." Sutton served in the 30th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized) and was a good friend of Marion Sanford. He was thought to have settled in Nashville and married a woman (name unknown) who had a daughter around 9-10 years old.

 

I've been digging through a website that has most of the 30th ID's general orders. Purple Hearts are listed in the general orders and I have been combing through them, looking for cavalry casualties. I have no idea how many it is missing, but I know Capt. Cornelius and Lt. Jewitt are not listed and they are two that I know for certain were WIA.

 

I wonder if this is his son? The age is correct, and so is the city. Plus, he's a Junior. Do you know Prejean's middle name?


Paul J Prejean Jr


Home (985) 868-1511

141 Wayne Ave
Houma, LA 70360-2453

Age: 60-64 Associated: Bart J Barrient, Ava J Prejean, Patricia R Prejean, Laura R Barrient, Natasha Prejean

 

I called that number a while back and it is no longer valid. I also looked up the associated names and those numbers were not active anymore, either.

Long story short, I called the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office in Houma and they directed me to someone who then directed me to this person, routing me through an office of governmental agency where he had worked before retirement.

I went down swinging hard.

To be honest with you, I think Mr. Marion got bogus information on Paul Prejean from the person he talked to in the 1960s. I don't think the Paul Prejean that Mr. Marion knew was from Houma, but rather he was from Scott, LA, which is near Houma (see below for more on this). When I called the Terrebonne Parish SO, the man they directed me to had been employed by the sheriff's office in the 1950s. He only remembered one deputy at that time who was missing a leg and his name was not Prejean.

The only letter Mr. Marion still has from the 11 months he was in combat was from someone named "Henry." He found it earlier this year, after the book was published, where it had been stored away by his first wife. Mr. Marion had been directed by higher-ups to destroy any personal correspondence, which he did except for the letter from Henry. Mr. Marion figures the letter was stuck in some other things and accidentally not destroyed.

In the letter to Mr. Marion, Henry mentions someone named "Paul." All three men (Marion, Henry and Paul) were in Paris at the same time according to the letter, although "Paul" stayed longer, which contradicts Mr. Marion's memory that Paul rode back to the front with him when their leave was over. This was in February, 1945, I think.

Marion remembers that Paul and Henry were brothers.

I have two separate rosters of the 743rd Tank Battalion, the unit Paul Prejean was reported to be in. Neither roster has a Paul Prejean listed, but both have a Henry Prejean, even going so far as to list what company he was with. One of the rosters also goes so far as to show that Henry Prejean was from Scott, LA. In that part of Louisiana, Prejean is a rather common surname. They just as well be named "Smith" when it comes to looking for someone.

Paul Prejean is one of the few names in the book that I could not get multiple confirmations of. I am not going to state the obvious, but I think you can gather what I am thinking, where memories are concerned.

I think I would be better off to let sleeping dogs lie.

 

I think you're right on several levels. I agree about memory, and letting sleeping dogs lie. Sorry I couldn't b e of more help.

 

http://indianamilitary.org/30TH/SoThinkMenu/30thSTART.htm

Look in the left hand column.
Most of them are there, except for early 1945.

 

Captain Hume's daughter visited her mother a little while back and was able to go through some of the items he saved from the war. One memento was a 78rpm recording of a radio show from March, 1945 called The Army Hour.

Apparently the US Army interviewed different members of the armed forces, added it to the news of the day for the war and created a radio show for broadcast back home. In this particular broadcast, Capt. James Hume was interviewed before the Rhine River crossing and he talks broadly of the actions of the 30th Recon in scouting prior to the assault for broadcast after the crossing.

Capt. Hume's daughter had the 78 record converted to CD format and sent a copy to me. Mr. Marion has been so excited about it and I will be getting a copy to him either tomorrow or the next day . If we did not live 12-14 miles apart, I would have carried it to him tonight.

Capt. Hume's portion of the recording somewhat brief - 3-4 minutes - but you can hear the tiredness in his voice. He reminded me somewhat of a football coach, trying to say something to the reporter without really saying anything by using cliché's.