PFC John F. Foley- Signal Company

[jastraub]

Hi, Does anyone have any information on my Uncle PFC John F. Foley of the 106th Signal Company. He was from Dunmore PA. Some people called him "Skipper". He was injured and listed as MIA for awhile before he returned home. He was awarded the purple heart. Thank You, James Straub Jr.

[Carl W.]

Hi James

Did your uncle join 106 SIG from it's activation or was he transferred into the unit later on?
I do have a roster for the Company dating back to april 1944, I will have to check for his name and let you know.

Carl

[jastraub]

Hi Carl, My uncle began his military experience on Feb. 17th 1941 and was discharged on Aug.1st 1945. His military number is 20301150. That is all I know. Thanks for your interest. , Jay

[Carl W.]

Jay,

Your uncle's name did not show up on the two 1943 dated rosters that I have. Given your uncle's ASN, he was inducted from the National Guard and it is likely that he could have served in other units prior to being assigned to the 106th. During its training period in the States, the 106th was frequently stripped of manpower to provide replacements for other units and other men were transferred in.

Have you had any luck with a Form-180 request to the Nat. Archives? This could probably help you reconstruct his military past in terms of unit designations etc.

As for your uncle's service in the 106th Signal Co, do you happen to have the certificate that came with his PH medal? Sometimes this states the date and action for which he is decorated.

Carl

[jastraub]

Hi Carl, Please forgive me for taking so long to get back to you. I did send a form 180 to St. Louis and they informed me that my uncle's records were probably destroyed in a fire in 1973. I or no one in my family ever saw a document that would have accompianed his purple heart award. Thank You for your concern. If you or anyone can still offer any asistance I would be most grateful. I want to keep my uncle's story alive. Thank You Jay

[connie]

What I have to offer may not apply to your situation at all. But, regarding those records lost in the fire... there are secondary sites from which they can rebuild some of those records -- if you have enough information. Knowledge of things like enlistment site/ date, discharge site/date, location and time of stateside hospitalizations, etc. might help the Army tap into secondary sites and give you another round of going for records through your current source.

That of course is dependent on your having in your hands more information than you are trying to recover.

If your uncle processed out of the service on his return to Pennsylvania, there is a chance he was shipped from his port of entry to Indiantown Gap for out processing. I don't know what records they retain there (if any) from that period. But, if you have an idea of his time of return and some spare time, that might be a place to make some inquiries.

(If you do ask there, I'll be interested in knowing if they retain archives back to 1945 or where they sent these -- if they were archived somewhere else.) Discharge papers, if you can find them through this backdoor are supposed to have some of the information you seek.

Good luck!
Connie

[connie]

James,

Looked over your post again this morning. I'm not sure what help you received from Carl off line and what you have been able to learn.

I am aware that others have noted that soldiers were to file copies of their WWII discharge papers with local courthouses. I assume this would be county courthouses. Having passed this info on to others, I have not tried checking this fact out myself. So this morning I tried e-mailing what would be the county courthouse for Dunmore, PA-- Lackawanna County Courthouse in Scranton.

I just mentioned that I co-facilitate this site and that someone on this site was seeking war records for their relative who was from Dunmore. I noted that since many war records had been destroyed in a fire many people are seeking secondary sites and that I had been told that copies discharge papers of returning soldiers had been filed at their local county courthouses. I wanted to make sure I was steering people correctly so I thought I'd take this chance to see if Lackawanna County did indeed have archived copies of WWII discharge papers and where someone might go in person to find these or if they could access information via e-mail. We'll see if I get a reply.

The questions might be better received coming from you with your Dad's name, but I thought I'd try for a generic answer, anyway. I'll let you know if I get a reply.

Connie

PS Under the Site Soldier Index for the 106th Signal Company, there is a link to a photo of T& T platoon of the signal company: 106thdivision.proboards.com/thread/576/signal-personnel Any chance your uncle is in this photo?

[connie]

OK. I sent you a personal message. If you look at the blue banner on the home page with the 106th Infantry Discussion Group name, you will see a list of clickable words below that name including "Messages." Click on that to find the info I sent.

Essentially the county person I e-mailed with referred me to someone at the Veterans Affairs Office. I have included that name and contact info in the personal note to you. I was told that with a name, date of birth, and branch of service, they could see if they had the discharge paper or if not they could check with the Recorder of Deeds.

As I look at the copy of my own father's discharge papers, it bears a stamp that says that it was recorded in the Discharge Book in the office for Recording Deeds in his home county.

With the info you already have, it's probably not worth traveling far to get this paper, but it might otherwise be nice to have if you don't have it. Besides having an eagle at the top and looking very official, my Dad's "Certificate of Service" has only his name, rank, serial number, Field Artillery Battalion #, Division number, dates of service, place of discharge, and date of discharge. It was later recorded & then stamped by the County.

All this is probably much about very little. But there you have it on that piece of paper -- unless someone else has additional info to add.

Connie