My grandfather was Herbert L. Johnson, and according to his Report of Seperation, he was a private first class (CE and AUS) and served with Company B 313 Engineer Regiment just after the war (active service began 1 Feb 46, place of entry was Ft. Leavenworth, KS). Service outside continental U.s. and return indicates that he served overseas from June 9, 1946 (date of departure) to May 4,1947 (date of arrival back in US), with the destination stated as MTO. His military occupation was "oneer 729" (the document is damaged on the left side), he had the military qualification of M-1 Exp (I assume that means he was trained to fire an M-1), and decorations include "ny of Occupation Medal L" and a World War II Victory medal. He received an honorable discharge on April 24, 1947 (reason: PAR AR 615 365 Conv o(f?--the letter is blurred) Govt and rr 1-1. Can somebody explain some of this information, and if somebody knows of anybody that served in that unit, I would really like to ask some questions and such.
I could not find a "313 Engineer Reigment" [sic] activated by the US Army prior to September 2, 1945. Either the 313th was activated after September 2, 1945, or its lineage was from another unit. "MTO" generally meant Mediterranean Theater of Operation. You typed that your grandfather was overseas "to May 4, 1947." You also typed that your grandfather "received an honorable discharge on April 24, 1947." A typing error on the Discharge Documents? Richard V. Horrell
MOS 729 means he was in a Pioneer unit, although I'm not sure what that would entail. He was entitled to the Army of Occupation Medal See this site for Criteria World War II (WWII) Army of Occupation Medal He also received the WW2 Victory Medal He also qualified as Expert on the M-1
May 7 is when he arrived back in the states, so I assume those missing days are transport days and possibly some leave time. My mother believes that he was in Italy, so that explains the MTO. I'm still not sure what he would have been doing there (clean up, rebuilding?). I should note that he lied in his paperwork and was only about 16 when he joined. Anyway, thanks for the info.
I went on www.newspaperarchive.com (a subscription service), and found one reference to the 313 engineer regiment--at Ft. Dodge, Iowa, from a newspaper dated April 5, 1918. I'm not sure if that means it's connected to the WWII regiment, or if the army reuses the numbers.
Can you scan and post his Report of Separation? Maybe if we see it we can decipher a few things. I've come across a 313th Engineer Combat Battalion attached to the 88th Infantry, but the history ends with the end of the war in May 1945. http://www.milhist.net/88/313engr.html Also referred to here Blue Devils-History of the 88th Infantry Division Blue Devils