11th Infantry Division Co F

New to this forum, but been researching as best I can about my Grandfather's service in WWII. What I know, Staff Sergeant 11th Inf Regiment, KIA 2/17/45 and name Ralph G Vix. I also know he was listed as MIA prior being listed as KIA.

Things I I have heard, but have no proof off, that due to the bulge he was shifted from supply to front lines (My Grandma's brother always blamed Patton for his death), He was orignally a trainer and around 1943 was in Oregon (my dad was born then and there) and was still in states sometime after (I am pretty sure there is a picture of Grandpa and dad when dad would have been about 9 to 1 year old.

Other than that I can't find any good info, this thread got be the closest to about where he died. Was wondering a few things,

1. Did anyone researching the 11th, find a roster with the name Vix on it? would love to narrow down from Regiment level what unit he was in.

2. Does anyone know if the KIA date is the Date they found him or date he went MIA, seems like he passed either at the sauer river crossing or shortly after. But can't find out if the date of death is when found or when missing.

 

Thanks, Lou,

I am going to put in a request for the IDPF (never new about that until yesterday), the more I read about the 11th at the time he died the more I suspect he was a replacement called to the front from the supply unit (I have read some letters he wrote grandma and he often talked about sleeping on the truck hood since it was warm. Just guesses but will keep digging.

 

The IDPF should tell you which company he was in at the time of his death.

I came across a couple of links that may interest you. They seem to be part of a research project or presentation regarding a soldier of F Company, 11th Infantry who was MIA on 9 Feb 1945. The researcher's name seems to be Barb Geisler and the missing soldier is Pvt. Frederick W. Goempel. Because it has a rather narrow focus, it may not provide any answers for you, but it is interesting reading nonetheless. There are maps, a partial AAR of the 11th, a report on the 11th breaching the Siegfried Line, as well as a bibliography which may be useful.

Investigation analysis

Reports, Bibliography, etc.


The first link above has an interesting section:

At this point, we don't know if your grandfather served with Company F. However, it is at least an example of soldiers being reported as MIA and later being changed to KIA.

Please keep us informed on your progress in researching your grandfather.

 

I have now put in the IDPF request, so time to wait and see.

 

Hello all,

is this post still active? I have found it, while I was searching information regarding F-Co. For many years already I am searching for to MIAs in the Sauer river crossing area.

So if this post is still active, please tell me ;-)

regards,
Mike

 

what I forgot ....

If somebody is interested by sharing documents or Idpfs .... I have lots of reports for this period around Feb 9

regards
Mike

 

Hi, Mike. It's not dead, just in hibernation. Active threads tend to be more "visible", so reviving it may help you connect with others of similar interest. You should also also click on the "Follow this topic" button which is to the right of the topic title. You can opt to get notifications when someone posts to this topic.

How did you get interested in Company F and the Sauer River crossing?

 

Hi @ all
Back from work and now relaxing in the backyard, I can tell you how I came to F-Co J
For several years already I am searching for MIAs of WW2. No matter which nation, I don’t make a difference between Germans or GIs. They all have been human beings and had a mother, father, etc.
Some years ago, my mentor, Fred Karen, told that there is an elder woman from the states who is looking to figure out the place where a family member has fallen in WW2. He was a member of the 5th Inf Div, 11th Inf Regt, 2nd Bn, Co-F. His name was Michael Greco. He went missing during the sauer river crossing and was found a year later by a young civilian.
I was able to locate the exact spot where he was fallen an I could locate some of his personal stuff.
One day, I received an email from another person, asking me if I am familiar with the sauer river crossing site, because she heard that I had found the Greco location … she told me that she is also searching for a family member who is still missing. Her name is Barbara Geissler, and the case I am talking from is Fred Goempel (he is already mentioned in this post). I promised her to find Fred!
Among the years I have collected piles of stuff, reports, etc. … I located other MIAs in other areas … and and and … but still searching for Fred.
And now I have found this forum and this post about F-Co. And you have to know, I am doing all this as non-profit researcher. I think that my motivation is only to give a little back to these persons for what they have done for us. I try to bring back home all this missing persons and give back a face to all the unknown.
During the years we wrote a database including all unknown burials trough ETO to figure these people out which have been buried as unknowns, but where today we are able to give them back a name J

So here I am … and please apologize for my bad english J

 

No need to apologize, Mike. Your English is fine. I have much respect and appreciation for what you are doing. Gratitude is a rare and underrated human attribute these days. Keep up the good work.

 

I will say this. My grandfather never often spoke of his service. He did share a tale with my uncle about an experience he had had. He and his men were in France, possibly near Luxembourg (He wasn't in the ETO all that long - February 1944 to January 1945). One day, he and his men went to fill their canteens by a small body of water - possibly a stream, a river or a ravine - due to the passage of time (this story was told more than 40 years ago and you're essentially getting a third hand account) the exact area/exact river has been forgotten (He may not have even mentioned it in the first place)...Anyway, the water in their canteens tasted "funny." They followed along the river and a ways up they came upon the source of the odd taste - the river was littered with bodies, German and Allied alike. There's probably a great many men who perished in rivers and streams across France - some whose identities will probably never be known or connected with a military death, especially with the 1973 fire, and who probably were listed as MIA then and remain so.

 

The links I posted in #24 are no longer good. However, I have found the new location of the information to which I had linked:

The Search for Pvt. Frederick Goempel

 

Got the IDPF yesterday, supposedly fitting on memorial day weekend .... planning to visit his grave next year on memorial day 2020.

He was in L company .... though grandmas letters to army say I, ill assume his burial record is correct.

He died on feb 17 45, also was day me went mia. Found on 22nd.

Cause of death was SF head, not sure whay that meant.

I looked up others from 11th that died that day and are burried in military cemeteries, there were 3. I dont knownif there are others not burried in official cemeteries.



Now i just need to find a map of what the 11th was doing then. Found it once but need to refind.

Suppose should move over to thread that isnt company f

 

Dustyz, thank you very much for providing this account - New member here interested in Company F of the 11th Infantry. My father was a bazooka man with Company F who arrived in Europe mid-January and was in Europe through the end of May. He never spoke about his experiences when we were little except to joke about scaring off a German tank with some bazooka rounds during a battle. But at the end of his life he opened up about an ambush his platoon executed on a group of German soldiers at sunrise. The lieutenant had the platoon train everything, bazooka, machine guns, etc., on the encampment and wait for the soldiers to come out for the morning. They finally popped out of their tents to take a leak and were literally in mid-stream when the order to fire came. My dad was 18 and a new recruit and he could see that these were young teenage boys, much younger than him. There was nothing left of them after the firing. It obviously haunted him.

Does anyone know the casualty rate for Company F? I know it's possible to research this, just don't know how. Based on these accounts, it must have been much higher than 100% by war's end.

Thanks, all, for all the information - this is very helpful and much appreciated.

 

Wow. Nearly 5 years to get an IDPF. Anyway, not sure how I missed your post back in May. The letters "L" & "I" can be very easily confused. I agree with you that the burial record is more likely to be correct. If all of the documents in the IDPF that provide his unit info also have his Company as "L", it would reinforce that presumption.

SF is most probably "Shell Fragment". That could mean mortar, rocket, artillery, or tank round fragments. It could also include grenade fragments, but that may be less likely.

 

Hi everyone!
My uncle was in Company F, 11th Infantry Regiment. Pvt Wallace J. Harris. KIA 2/9/1945, which from what I’m reading here seems to have been a pretty rough day for this company to say the least. Anyways reaching out to see if Wallace is a familiar name to anyone, especially with other family members of the company out there. Trying to piece together his story. Have the IDPF, but got the lovely “burned in fire” response when I sent off for his OMPF. Morning reports have definitely been my planned next step in tracing his steps, in fact some were recently by shared with me by another researcher highlighting some of his movement in January ‘45. Anyways, I’m looking for resources to learn more about not only Wallace’s personal story, but also that of the unit. Any book recommendations, websites, etc.? Thanks in advance!!