what was Grandpa's job

I am looking for some help figuring out what my grandpa's duty was in WWII. I know he was Amy Air Corp, but that's it. I was given his uniform and have a copy of his discharge. He served from Feb 42- Sep 45. He was a Cpl, organization was says 27th Fighter group, and military occupational specialty was Chief of section 539. On his uniform he had a a 9th Air Force badge, his hat had a Intelligence Strength emblem, also he was awarded the EAMA Theater ribbon with 7 bronze stars, and Distinguished Unit Citation with 4 Oak leaf clusters. I never got to know him and he only had 2 daughters and always said that his girls didn't need to know about war, that's how my mom always says he told them. We appreciate any help you can give us.

 

Can you post a photo of his discharge?

As a MOS#539 was a glider mechanic
http://www.coulthart.com/134/mos.htm

 

Rusty, a " section" is equivalent to a squad in the Army, it consist of 8 to 12 men. Section Chief is like a squad leader. Was corporal his highest rank held? (Look in box 38 on his separation paper.). Usually this position is held by a sergeant, but a hard stripe Corporal was considered an NCO. Since the 27th flew fighter and light bomber aircraft I'll make a guess that he was in charge of a section of the ground crew. That little fighter group got around in WWII, from the Pacific theater to the Mediterranean, and then to Europe. Five DUI's is more than I ever heard of for one unit ( had to look at their awards to see if I read that right) I believe they earned a couple DUI's in the Pacific and by 1942 when your grandfather joined them, they were in the Med, but, while he was assigned to the 27th, he was able to wear all the unit awards that the unit earned. Seven campaigns stars is commendable also. Too bad he didn't share his experiences with your mother, bet he had some interesting stories.

 

A picture of his uniform would be nice also. The "Intelligent Strenght" insignia is the 27th unit crest.

 

How the heck do i get pictures on here.

 

Ok, so I finally figured out how to load pics, (had to break out the big laptop). He had taken most of the ribbons and badges off the uniform to make his shadowbox. Mom also remembered that he told her he did something with tanks at one point, he bragged about stealing gas from the German's, whether true or not who knows .He had said that if someone was killed someone would just jump in and take their spot, trained or not. I figured he must have done something with artillery having the training manuals with his name on them. Being a part of the Air Corp was especially neat to me as I'm Air Force. Never realized I had followed in his footsteps somewhat. I really do appreciate the help your giving. Thank All of you.

 

I noticed that the Discharge paper references a General Order of the 93rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion. I did a quick search and found the unit history of the 93rd AFA Bn online. Here is a link to the roster page which lists "WAGGONER, Carl E." on the bottom right of the page. The Campaign Credits match those of the 93rd, which means that was likely his unit during the War. He may have been transferred to the 27th Fighter Group late in the War or after VE Day, possibly to be discharged on points -- he had a very high total of 107.

 

I think you are spot on with this.

Also, the dates in Box 36 "Service Outside Continental U.S. and Return" match perfectly with the departure & arrival dates in the text on page 17

 

Thank you both, after going to the link I realized I have that book, After Five, was afraid to open it up because its pretty weathered. I've been blessed to be given these things by mom (also have her grandfathers www helmet), she wasn't aware of the dogtags and things in the pocket until I sent her a picture. Now we know more of his hidden history. Thank you again.

 

If you haven't already, you can download the history from that link. That way you can have your history and read it, too.

 

Another good possible source is to get on Find-a-Grave and look for this chick.
Find A Grave Contributor: B24CoPilotNiece
Her uncle went down as a bomber test pilot in WWII and she knows a lot of stuff. It's her profession. She already had creator and manager status of my uncle's memorial and transferred it to me. Most of the meat was already on the bone. I just had to tweak it. Her specialty is WWII aviation and genealogy. She's pretty as hell too. Talk her up.

 

Tommy, I also believe you hit the nail pretty square on this, but I have never ran across anyone from the Army ( in Armored Artillary) being transferred to the AAF for release. I would have an easier time if it was the other way around since the AAF was still a branch of the Army and had the duty to process the guys for home. Seems they even gave him a new MOS as glider mechanic--something just don't pass the smell test. Be great to know exactly how this went down.

 

I do agree that it is unusual, but it wouldn't surprise me. I've seen a lot of odd units in Box 6 on discharge papers. I think they were doing all they could to out-process as many soldiers as they could as quickly as possible. The best way to sort it out will be to get the Morning Reports for the 93rd AFA Bn to find out when he joined and left the 93rd.