Hi everyone and thank you for all the great posts and information. My name's Penny and aside from being very interested in WWII I'm looking for any kind of information about my Uncle, Sgt. Michael Skomsky Jr. who was KIA on June 5 1944 in Rome. I just recently found him in Gettysburg and the mystery gets deeper and deeper.The government tells me his records burned up in '73 and can't help me. I was lucky enough to get in touch with a man in Pennsylvania who was the son of a Polar Bear ( Custer Division) and he gave me the information he had but it was limited. He's trying to gather as much info as he can as well about these men.All we know so far is he was 85th division 339th reg. Cannon Co. Again, Thank you all and I look forward to being part of this forum. Penny
Welcome to the forum rgredhead, I 'Googled" and found this site that (if you haven't already found), may give you one place to start. There are some excellent folks on here who will be along shortly to help you. http://www.custermen.com/History85.htm Group Photo ofService Co, 339th Regt Almost forgot; read through the threads here for ideas/help and you might want to post a new thread - http://www.ww2f.com/military-service-record-genealogical-research/
Good luck to you Penny, and welcome to this site. You will be amazed at the info that is sure to come your way here.
Hi, Penny and welcome to the forum. I see Biak has already given you a good head start on the 85th and the 339th. Read through them and post any further questions you might have. Here is the Distinctive Unit Insignia for the 339th The motto translates as "The bayonet decides". Here is a site devoted to the 339th http://user.pa.net/~cjheiser/ct9/339main.htm
Hi Lou and Thank you for the warm welcome. Mr Heiser is the son of a Polar Bear I was referring to in my initial post. We've spoken extensively, he's a good man.He gave me what information he had and through him I got in touch with the wife of one of the medics that served with my Uncle, unfortunately her husband had passed by the time I found him. I'll try to make a long story short and try to tell you why I'm here. Michael Jr was killed long before I was born, but the family never forgot, I was raised loving my Uncle and held him, and still do, as my hero.All my cousins and I were told he was interred at Arlington, I went for a visit and came to find out he wasn't there. He lies in Gettysburg, all but forgotten.I've been through the regular channels,the government tells me they have no record due to the fire of '73. If I can get enough information together, the Military will reissue his medals and unit citations, and they can be passed on to my children and so on and so forth.Also, any information I find can be added to the Polar Bears database which will ensure none of the men of the "forgotten front" will be forgotten. Thank you for posting the picture of the Unit insignia, I remember seeing it when I was small but it's since disappeared. Penny
