US First Army,1944

I am trying to piece together the wartime history of my Uncle Jack (John P. Finegan), who served with the US Army in World War II and was killed in action in 1944.

Here is what I know (or at least think I know).

Jack enlisted as a Private on 2nd March 1942 at New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. He was from Pittsburgh. In October 1944, during the battle for Aachen, he was killed. By that time, he had been promoted to First Lieutenant. I believe that his red keystone shoulder patch and his Purple Heart were forwarded to his family after his death.

If all of that is correct, then it tells me he served with the 28th Infantry Division - the Keystone Division - part of the US First Army, but there's something puzzling me. I have in front of me right now a photograph of Jack which must have been taken when he was still a Private (there are no stripes on his uniform). The shoulder flash on his shirt is definitely not that of the 28th Infantry Division but that of the 38th Infantry Division. The "Cy", for Cyclone Division, is very clear.

That puzzles me on two counts: one, the 38th Infantry's theatre of operations was the Philippines, not Western Europe, and I've never heard of Jack being involved in the war against the Japanese; and two, the Indiana-based 38th Infantry recruited from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and, for some odd reason since it isn't contiguous with that group of states, Delaware, but not from Pennsylvania. Yet there's no doubt that, in the photograph in front of me, Jack is wearing a Cyclone Division shoulder patch.

Why would someone enlisting in Pennsylvania be assigned to the 38th Infantry? Was it normal for someone to transfer from one division to another, so that Jack might well have joined the 28th Infantry - the natural home for him - at a later date? His enlistment record gives his serial number as 33147507, whereas his death record gives his ID as 01306712, so perhaps that did happen.

Would I - a UK citizen and resident - get access to his service record? If so, how would I do that?

 

Here is the photograph I was talking about. It shows my Aunt Mary Alice and my Uncles Leo and Jack. Jack is the one on the left, with, as seems clear to me, the 38th Infantry (Cyclone Division) shoulder patch. View attachment 25263

 

Your Uncle Jack enlisted with two years of college under his belt on 3 February 1942. I suspect he was assigned for basic training to the 38th ID and then was tapped as an officer candidate and then reassigned to the 28th Division. His enlisted serial number, 33147507, was changed to an officers serial number, 01306712, when he was commissioned. Unfortunately, officer serial numbers are difficult to search, since NARA only has digitized enlisted records. You may want to do an Ancestry or other genealogical site search on his OSN.

 

I would imagine that the photo was taken in 1942, probably not long after Jack and Leo enlisted. It seems to me natural that they'd want to be photographed in their new uniforms, along with their sister Mary Alice in her nurse's uniform. All the suggestions offered as to how he might have come to be in the 38th ID to begin with, and afterwards in the 28th ID, fit together and sound good to me. I have a strong feeling I now have the answer. Can I just thank you people over there for being so helpful, as I knew you would be (which was why I posted). Many thanks.