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976th Engineer Maintance Company-info

Discussion in 'Military Service Records & Genealogical Research' started by koryandleslie, Jul 13, 2009.

  1. TD-Tommy776

    TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

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    To upload a file directly, it must be less than 500kb. Click on the "More Reply Options" button and scroll down to "Attach Files".

    You can also upload them to a website like Photobucket.com which will generate a link for the images. Then you can use the Image tool (below & left of the Smilie in the toolbar). With this method, you don't have the size limitation.

    As far as privacy issues, I would say that's a judgment call. The NARA considers almost all WWII era personnel records "archival", which means they are available to the general public.
     
  2. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    Here are the NARA docs:
     

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  3. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    The RG info:
     

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  4. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    So it was just these kind of weekly reports from Germany. Not too interesting.
     
  5. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    And the discharge record. Please let me know if you can find any other interesting clues! Thanks TD-Tommy776!
     

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  6. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    Unless I'm missing something, I see no reference to Rome/Arno on the discharge paper. I only see that he was entitled to the EAME medal with one service star. How did you determine that the campaign was Rome/Arno?

    Whoops. I just saw it. My face is really red. :(

    If that was the campaign, my guess is that he served in another unit than the one listed on his discharge. My father's discharge only list the infantry unit he was in at the end, but I know he was also part of a CA unit and an AAA unit. They are not listed on his discharge.
     
  7. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    Look under no.30.
     
  8. firstflabn

    firstflabn recruit

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    I believe I would ask USAMHI to look for a unit summary and honors. I've never asked for a service unit, so not sure if they have anything. Maybe Rome-Arno is in error - or MTO and dates of service there would also be shown. Tommy, tell me if I'm wrong, but don't campaign credits require service in the combat zone? If a service unit served only in COM Z in ETO, would that unit show any campaigns? Isn't that what the EAME ribbon is for?

    I suppose it's possible to serve in the combat zone in the MTO, go with your unit to the south of France in Seventh Army serving the entire time in COM Z, then get transferred to a unit of convenience for the trip home and discharge. As is often the case, the MRs hold the key.
     
  9. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    Thanks for the response firstflabn! I'm new to this stuff so please help me with acronyms - COM Z , MTO, USAMHI, etc? I have no photographic evidence he was in Italy, but I do remember this as a story (not exactly airtight). We do have have photos though of him throughout France (all locations listed above).
     
  10. firstflabn

    firstflabn recruit

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    Sorry about the alphabet soup. It's an "occupational" hazard.

    MTO - Mediterranean Theater of Operations - essentially North Africa and Italy. A separate command from ETO. The units that invaded southern France came from MTO and were soon absorbed into ETO.

    COM Z - Communications Zone - "the rear" in the ETO. Once forces were established in depth on the continent, areas in the combat zone were commanded by army commanders; COM Z was operated by service forces.

    USAMHI - Army Heritage and Education Center at the U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle PA (now do you see why I cheated and abbreviated it?)

    USAMHI is the army's historical command. You can find their website and send an email asking them if they have any record of the 976th. Who knows, they might have personal accounts as they collect those too. Nice folks and a good bibliography. If it turned out they had a pile of material, that's not far from you.

    But...it's looking more and more certain he transferred into the 976th after V-E Day for the trip home - which would make the 976th of limited interest to you. That leaves you with a need to look at the 976th's Morning Reports in St. Louis to find the day he arrived at the 976th. That day's report showing his arrival would state what unit he was transferring from. There's no guarantee this earlier unit is the only one he served in, but it's a good guess he only served in one other unit in Europe. Only by looking at every day's MR could you be 100% sure. If you get that previous unit from the MRs, you're off and running chasing that unit's travels. That's probably the one involved in Rome-Arno.

    We know he got to the 976th after V-E Day or he would have gotten campaign credit for Central Europe, so that gives a starting point for MR examination. Others here who have actually researched MRs in St. Louis can give you tips, but it essentially comes down to hiring a private researcher to go through the microfilm, starting at V-E Day and going backwards.

    I really enjoy logistics and, thus, am attracted to the neglected service units. Wish there was a complete listing of arrival/departure dates similar to the unit citations list. CGSC has such a work for divisions, but, to my knowledge, nothing similar for combat support and service units.

    Wonder how many rolls of microfilm the MRs comprise? Maybe time for fold3/Ancestry.com to crank up the automatic microfilm scanner like they used on the ETO collection!
     
  11. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    First off - thanks LRusso216 and firstflabnn for the info and help! The acronym explanation is quite useful! I'll shoot an email to St. Louis and see what they have. I probably won't be able to pay anyone for this work for some time, but it's certainly on the check list of things to do in the future. We also found a photo of him in Rome in 1944 so this timeline now is starting to make a lot of sense.

    I'm going to attach the three pages of material I got from St Louis on him. Please let me know if you notice anything else. Thanks again!
     
  12. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    1 of 3
     

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  13. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    2 of 3
     

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  14. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    3 of 3
     

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  15. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    If he was in Rome in 1944, it is possible that he belonged to one of these units
    During the night of 4 June elements of the 1st Special Service Force, 1st Armored Division, and the 3d, 34th, 36th, 85th, and 88th Infantry Divisions entered Rome and quickly moved north
    http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/romar/72-20.htm
    So far, I have not been able to narrow it down any further.

    Can you post the photo you have? Maybe we can glean some information from it.
     
  16. firstflabn

    firstflabn recruit

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  17. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    Thanks for the idea firstflabn - unfortunately, I literally just moved from DC yesterday, so my nara trips are done for the time being.

    LRusso - turns out the Rome photos are just postcards or landmark shots - they're not actually in any of them.

    In other news, let me upload a few other photos - maybe there are some clues on his uniform.
     
  18. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    no idea on dates on these
     

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  19. jm1981

    jm1981 New Member

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    my grandfather on our left
     

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  20. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    He seems to have a Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI) on his cap. Try going through these to see if you can match it. http://www.wardogmilitaria.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=61

    [​IMG]

    This looks good, but it is an Army Air Force Technical Service Pin. The other guy also has AAF stripes and collar disk. This really confuses the issue. I hope someone else has an answer.
     
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