Post by roger on Aug 5, 2010 9:50:32 GMT -5
My first and foremost point in introducing myself is to say that I am the proud son of Sgt. William Myers, who is now deceased since 1983 at the age of 58. My father entered the Illinois Reserve Militia, Co. H, 4th Regiment in June 1942. He was 17. He enlisted in the Army of the United States and was inducted December 29, 1942. Dad initially served in the AAF at Burtonwood England from October 1943 to sometime in late 1944 or early 1945. Due to the fact that by then the air war had been won and there was a serious need for fresh troops in the field he was assigned to the 89th Infantry Division as a replacement troop during which time he served in combat. Sometime in May 1945 he was assigned to the 6951st Provisional Guard Bn attached to the 106th Infantry Division at Prisoner of War Temporary Enclosure, A-2, Remagen Germany. When the United States turned that installation over dad was assigned to the 69th Amphibian Tractor Bn that had been formed from the 69th Tank Bn. It is my understanding that this outfit was training and destined to take part in the anticipated invasion of Japan. Dad returned to the United States in December 1945 intending to "career" in the military and was under orders to report to Camp Beale, CA for assigment in Hawaii as part of the Transportation Corps. He did so, but due to my mother's health they had to change their plans and my dad was discharged in August 1946. I was born in 1947.
I was the child of a WW II vet who never asked questions of his father about his military service....nor was he forthcoming with information on his own. I only have a couple stories, mostly overheard or from little clues dad gave inadvertantly that at the time had no significance to me....not until he was gone and i had a chance to think about them. After my mother and he passed I was given a small box of patches, medals, a couple pictures and some "papers". My interest and passion for finding out more about my dad's service was kindled and I have been on this quest ever since. I have discovered that my dad's discharge papers were very incomplete....which I suspect was not unsual especially for troops in the field and on the move. It is also my suspicion that he knew that the papers were incomplete, but was mostly interested in the "signature" when it came time for his discharge. Consequently, there are many "fine details" that I have not been able to document, but I keep looking and hoping. Through photographs, hours of reading years of micro-filmed newspaper articles from our hometown, a few phone conversations and many internet contacts I have been able to piece part of the puzzle together and actually have been able to have his military service record officially updated to a degree....but there are still pieces that I simply can not document. There is a photo of my father on Carl's website under the category in which Carl gives information about the German POW camps. Jim West's website also has some archival information from the the Journal of the 6951 Provsional Guard Bn and other declassified materials that I was able to obtain.
My father was my hero. I miss him. There is not a day that goes by that I don't regret that I never asked....
I am grateful to people on this message board and so many other forums like it, to researchers and historians like Carl and Jim who are dedicated to documenting and preserving and sharing the WW II history of our country and the willing sacrifices that our fathers and mothers made to preserve the freedom that our great country enjoys.
Roger
I was the child of a WW II vet who never asked questions of his father about his military service....nor was he forthcoming with information on his own. I only have a couple stories, mostly overheard or from little clues dad gave inadvertantly that at the time had no significance to me....not until he was gone and i had a chance to think about them. After my mother and he passed I was given a small box of patches, medals, a couple pictures and some "papers". My interest and passion for finding out more about my dad's service was kindled and I have been on this quest ever since. I have discovered that my dad's discharge papers were very incomplete....which I suspect was not unsual especially for troops in the field and on the move. It is also my suspicion that he knew that the papers were incomplete, but was mostly interested in the "signature" when it came time for his discharge. Consequently, there are many "fine details" that I have not been able to document, but I keep looking and hoping. Through photographs, hours of reading years of micro-filmed newspaper articles from our hometown, a few phone conversations and many internet contacts I have been able to piece part of the puzzle together and actually have been able to have his military service record officially updated to a degree....but there are still pieces that I simply can not document. There is a photo of my father on Carl's website under the category in which Carl gives information about the German POW camps. Jim West's website also has some archival information from the the Journal of the 6951 Provsional Guard Bn and other declassified materials that I was able to obtain.
My father was my hero. I miss him. There is not a day that goes by that I don't regret that I never asked....
I am grateful to people on this message board and so many other forums like it, to researchers and historians like Carl and Jim who are dedicated to documenting and preserving and sharing the WW II history of our country and the willing sacrifices that our fathers and mothers made to preserve the freedom that our great country enjoys.
Roger