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Discussion in '☆☆ New Recruits ☆☆' started by VET76, Feb 3, 2011.

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  1. VET76

    VET76 Member

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    My name is Matt I am 34 yrs old, and spent 6 years in the Air Force. I joined the AF in 1995, and my Grandfather, who was a WWII Vet, passed away in 1996. I have been searching the internet for clues to what happened with my Grandfather, and I ended up here. I am interested in WWII on the whole, but specifically interested in 2nd Infantry Division info because my grandfather was a member of that Division.

    I am searching for information reguarding my Grandfather and his time with the 2nd Infantry Division during WWII. My Grandfather not unlike many War Veterans didnt speak of the War much. Growing up, I only knew that my Grandfather was in WWII and that he was wounded. It wasnt untill I joined the Air Force that I really begun to appreciate what my Grandfather and his comrades did for our Country. By then it was too late, my Grandfathers mind was starting to get cloudy, and his health was failing rapidly. He passed away in 1996, and since then I have tried to do some research, mainly books and web pages in my spare time.
    I will try to keep this short, I am just looking for any information, and would love to see some official document stating what happened to my Grandfather (not sure if that is even possible). But any information that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. I just feel this is something that needs to be passed on to future generations, and right now I am significantly behind the info curve.

    This is what I know
    My Grandfather served with the 2nd Infantry Division, 9th Regiment, 2nd Battalion, K Company. I believe he was wounded just outside of St.Lo France. My Grandfather has a "skull patch" on his uniform which meant he attended and passed Ranger training in Wisconsin. I also believe he was in a "machine gun squad" or "heavy weapons"?


    Thank you in advance
    Matt
     
    VET76, Feb 3, 2011
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    von Poop likes this.
  2. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    Welcome to this fine forum Matt. As a starting point, you should read through this thread to get an idea on how to go about obtaining his records. http://www.ww2f.com/military-servic...esting-copies-military-personnel-records.html.

    9th Infantry Regiment
    According to Stanton's Order of Battle:
    Stationed at Fort Sam Houston, TX part of 2nd Division. Moved to Cp McCoy WI 24 Nov 42.
    Staged at Cp Shanks, NY 27 Sep 4. Left NY 8 Oct 43, arrived England 19 Oct 43, landed in France 12 Jun 44.
    Crossed into Belgium 3 Oct 44, entered Germany same date.
    Arrived Boston 19 Jul 45. Moved to Cp Swift, TX 23 Ju, then transferred to Cp Stoeman CA 29 Mar 46 and Ft Lewis WA 16 Apr 46.

    Campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.

    He would have been awarded this campaign ribbon with a small bronze star for each of the named campaigns he participated in.
    [​IMG]
     
    LRusso216, Feb 3, 2011
    #2
  3. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    Howdy Vet....hmmmm, now where have I seen you before?
     
    Slipdigit, Feb 3, 2011
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  4. Biak

    Biak Boy from Illinois Staff Member

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    Once again, whilst I type - slow on the draw!

    Welcome to the forum Matt,
    There will be plenty of help heading your way soon from some very knowledgeable folks here. Look forward to your posts. Try posting here;
    Military Service Record & Genealogical Research

    It will be more visible. Good Luck and thank ya' for your service also!
     
    Biak, Feb 3, 2011
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  5. VET76

    VET76 Member

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    Lou,
    Thank you for all the great information. My Dad ordered my Grandpas records just yesterday, anxious to see them.

    Slipdigit,
    Yes, I didnt realize the other site was primarily dedicated to soldiers of the Commonwealth. I asked the moderator, and he gave me this web address. Glad to be hear, hopefully there will be more info reguarding my Grandpas unit that I can use.

    Biak,
    Thank you for your service as well! Thanks for the link I will check it out.
     
    VET76, Feb 3, 2011
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  6. ULITHI

    ULITHI Ace

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    Good to have you aboard Matt. As you have already seen, we have some great people on this site that are really helpful.
     
    ULITHI, Feb 3, 2011
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  7. belasar

    belasar Court Jester

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    Welcome to the forum Matt.
     
    belasar, Feb 3, 2011
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  8. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    Yes, we're both owned by the same person, Otto, aka Gröfaz.

    There is some overlapping, but by and large the fora talk about different things. Who did you talk to over there, VP, Owen, Paul, Diane or Gerard? They lurk about over here, some more than others. One uses a different name here.
     
    Slipdigit, Feb 3, 2011
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  9. Biak

    Biak Boy from Illinois Staff Member

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    VET76, I must hurry up and explain I'm not a True Veteran. I never had the Privilege or Honor of serving our Country. (In a Military way that is; regret #1) The reference under our WW2f site "name/handle" is based on our time and number of posts. You'll be able to quickly pick out who is and who isn't though :)
    Again Welcome Aboard.
     
    Biak, Feb 3, 2011
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  10. VET76

    VET76 Member

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    Biak,
    Thanks for the clarification, I was thinking wow there sure are a lot of internet saavy WWII veterans on this board.

    I found a very good historical story about my Grandpas division. I found it actually on the 2ID's current website. He was 2ID, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment AKA Manchu. I learned a lot from this website, click the link if you would like to learn more.
    http://www.2id.korea.army.mil/organization/units/1hbct/2-9inf/

    As promised a photo of my Grandpa
    [​IMG]
     
    VET76, Feb 3, 2011
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  11. 693FA

    693FA Member

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    Matt,
    If you havent found or seen this site it may have some interest to you....all they discuss is 2nd ID in WWII.
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/...of_2nd_Infantry_Division_WWII/
    looks like ive entered the link wrong...anyway google 2nd infantry division yahoo groups and it should come up
    hope it helps.....
    Regards
    Clint
     
    693FA, Feb 4, 2011
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  12. von Poop

    von Poop Waspish

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    Looks like these chaps are beginning to sort you out Matt.

    I like to see family history sort of stuff on here.
    I'm not much cop at US unit things, but it's always interesting what personal queries can throw up; the real detail on people so often leads down other alleys.

    Good luck with finding more about Grandad.
    ~A
     
    von Poop, Feb 4, 2011
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  13. VET76

    VET76 Member

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    Thank You for your help Adam. Its greatly appreciated! Really wish someone in my family had tried to talk to him a little more when he was younger. Have checked with all my relatives and they all state that he was very quiet about the war. I did have a couple of potential breakthroughs yesterday. My Grandfather was a long time member of the VFW so I am in contact with his old post I am hoping they can dig up some old records or something. Also, contacted the Admin at the 2ID's Museum hoping they will respond with something as well. I am early on in this, so my confidence is still good. Thanks to all who have responded, I will certainly check all of the links and info that the users post to this website.
     
    VET76, Feb 4, 2011
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  14. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    Welcome to the forums Matt!
     
    GRW, Feb 4, 2011
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  15. dazzerjeep

    dazzerjeep Member

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    Welcome to the forum Matt and enjoy your stay
     
    dazzerjeep, Feb 4, 2011
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  16. VET76

    VET76 Member

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    Thanks you guys. Glad to be here. I will be posting some more pictures tomorrow night hopefully. I will post them in this thread and the genealogy thread. They will be close up picks of the insignias metals etc. I will also post a picture of his regiment photo. It all hinges on whether or not I can remember to take my camera with me, I forgot it today........
     
    VET76, Feb 4, 2011
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  17. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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    Welcome to this fine place Matt. Besides information about your dad, you may also be interested in the threads we have about Saint Lo and Normandy.
     
    Skipper, Feb 5, 2011
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  18. VET76

    VET76 Member

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    I would be very interested. Not too good at the search tool yet. I would appreciate it if someone could post a link or two. I will try again.
     
    VET76, Feb 5, 2011
    #18
  19. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    The search feature on this forum engine is, well, not my best friend.

    Go to Google, type in "site:WW2F.com phrase or word you are looking for" example.----> site:WW2f.com St Lo

    Here is a link to a search I did using that search string. site:ww2f.com St Lo - Google Search= giving you returns that contain St Lo.

    Here is a link to Google's Quick Reference Guide. It can help you to modify any of your search terms to better help find things.

    I find the + and - signs especially useful to force inclusion or exclusion of certain words.

    Also put quotes around terms to make Google search the term and not the individual words. e.g. search 2nd Infantry Division and you'll results from all three words. Search "2nd Infantry Division" and you should only get pages that have that phrase.

    You can combine funtions ----> "2nd Infantry Division" +"St Lo" -Korea will force a search for the 2nd Infantry Division at St Lo, while excluding Korea. Consider doing any search that uses a minus sign without the minus sign as it could remove relevant pages just because it has a specific phrase in somewhere.

    Also, Click on "FORUM" at the top of this page. It will show you structure of the forum. Scroll down until you see the sub-forum "Theaters of the Second World War. Under it you will see several more sub-forums. Double click Western Europe. Under it, you will see more subforums and some threads below that. Double click Western Europe 1943-1945 and you will see more threads. Threads are still being moved to where they belong, so you will find threads where they should not be.
     
    Slipdigit, Feb 5, 2011
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  20. VET76

    VET76 Member

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    Slipdigit,
    Thanks for the info......that has already really helped me out. I found a WWII veterans war diary. He was in the 2ID 9th inf reg, 1st battalion. He has almost a complete diary all the way to Pilsen. It was really neat reading about it. Lots of good info on that site, I will be returning. Anyhow will be posting pics in the next 15 minutes or so. I am horrible about sizing them so hopefully they are not to big. Admin, if you need to go ahead and delete if they are too big, also I posted them to both of the threads I started I really hope this is ok. Stand by....

    First a bonus pic, my M1 Garande

    [​IMG]

    You know, all the pictures I was going to post here, I posted over on the geniological thread. Maybe I shouldnt be posting them here too. Let me know what you guys think.

    I will just post a couple here because I am curious about what these insignias mean any help would be greatly appreciated........

    Above right chest pocket (right if you were wearing the uniform)

    [​IMG]

    On lower sleeve of left arm (again left if you were wearing it)

    [​IMG]
     
    VET76, Feb 5, 2011
    #20
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