My father's info etc. 338 Harbor Craft Company

Hi all,
My father's name was Morton Grossman. He was from the Bronx & served from 03/43 to 02/46 in the US Army and was in Northern France during the war. He rarely talked about his experience & passed away in 1986 I was only 17 at the time. I found his discharge card while moving. I see he was in the 338 Harbor Craft Company. Some other info (the card has tiny writing) Decoration & citations- 00 33 WD 45 as amended? other info Convenie of the Government AR 615-365 15Dec44 & RR1-1 Demobilzation. Any clues out here what that means? He was a Tech 5th Grade & a General Clerk but I'd like to find out more. Any info appreciated! Mike

 

Write to THE US ARMY PERSONELL RECORDS CENTER
9700 Page BLVD... St louis MO.. Im unsure of the zip... But they will give ya a copy of his entire personell file free for your dad all ya have to do is fill out a couple forms and wait.. it takes awhile due to the amount of folks records theyre but youll have it within 6 months of submitting the forms

 

We have a thread for these kind of questions,

http://www.ww2f.com/military-servic...esting-copies-military-personnel-records.html

 

Thanks guys!

 

Hey! You can indeed write to St. Louis for your dads records, but be prepared; 80% of the United States Military records between 1900 and 1960 were destroyed in a fire there back in 73. They'll be able to give you something, but I would not expect much more than maybe mention of an award here or there.

My uncle was with the 28th infantry, and when I sent them a request, I got just his basic stuff. They didnt even know what unit he had been in. they did know he had received a bronze star, but for what is still a mystery. I just dont want to see you get all excited for a detailed history of your Dads time, and then get jack s***

Have you tried talking to any of his old friends? If you really want to find out more, look for a registry from his funeral, see if there are names you dont recognize, and utilize them. You're gonna have to become part Mickey Spillane if you want any satisfaction out of this! If you can find any old photos of him from the War, alot of the time the guys on here or even reenactors can help identify units based on patches alone.

Anyway, I googled your Dads unit, and unfortunately, your post came up as the first thing every time I tried a variation on those words together. BUT, I did come up with the following hits which may-or may not- help you at least a little bit.

History of the 329th Harbor Craft Company World War II - | Between the Covers Rare Books

Two WWII Coast Guard vets reunite with their wartime patrol craft

History Detectives . Investigations . WWII Landing Craft | PBS

 

Hi, my father in law was in the 338th Harbor Craft Company. I have some of the same information that they were demobilized but he was in 352nd Harbor Craft after that. I might have some photos that may pertain to your father if you have a picture of him. There are some that don't have names on them.

 

Folks, we have brought US Army ST479 back to where she was built in 1944: DeLand, Florida. We know she was in Europe, probably Northern France, and it appears that a group from the 338th Harbor Craft Company brought her to Antwerp...we now have nice photos of that from a descendent. And, it also appears that the person keeping the photos did not know quite a few of the men on the trip which leads us to think the original crew came along! I have tried to purchase the History of the 329th Harbor Craft Company book, but no success yet. I just asked the library in South Carolina to create a copy; we will see. But we know three of our twenty nine wartime ST's were in the 329th as we found an excerpt from the book online: ST341, ST344 which hit a mine and sank at Cherbourg; and ST477. We do not know what HCC ST479 was assigned to. We have not placed any of the others which I will list shortly. Dan Friend, President, DeLand Historic Trust, Inc., military curator for the City of DeLand, Florida. danieljosephfriend@gmail.com FYI our boat has the original engine and drivetrain intact! Check out the history of the tugs on my website usarmystugs.com. We plan to make a monument out of our boat, known as "Tiger" in her commercial life...and like everyone else, we need money!

 

I

just

 

I just received a PDF of the ultra-rare History of the 329th Harbor Craft Company. It's 116 pages, and the scans are light thus hard to read, but it has tons and tons of details. The file is too large to upload... email me at danieljosephfriend@gmail.com..check out ST history on my website usarmysttugs.com. 386 943 9537

 

Here are the ST numbers of the 29 boats built on the shores of Lake Beresford in DeLand, Florida, that were sent out in time to participate in WW2: ST 40-43, 341-344, 474-479, 672-679, and 839. Love any details or photos you might have relating to these tugboats! ST479 was taken to Antwerp by men of the 338th..but we do not know for certain which HHC she was assigned to...but we do have great photos of that effort and some crew names were identified.

 

What was his name? We have ID on a few of the 338th men.