Cpl. Richard Christel - Artillery or Infantry?

Hi all,
I've been researching my family's World War II service over the years, and while most of what I've discovered is pretty cut-and-dry, there are a couple of head-scratchers. The first is concerning my great uncle Richard. The one-page record I received from the NARA years ago lists his unit as the 552nd Field Artillery Battalion (a 240mm Howitzer unit). However, his list of decorations is where the mystery begins. He was entitled to the usual: EAME ribbon with three battle stars, Victory Medal, American Campaign, Good Conduct, and even a Bronze Star Medal with an oak leaf cluster. In addition, he was also awarded a Combat Infantryman Badge. This puzzled me, but I figured he was "loaned" to an Infantry unit as a replacement, probably during the Battle of the Bulge. The 552nd was entitled to five battle stars, but he only was entitled to three, so I figured he was a late arrival to the Battalion. Still, this along with the award of the CIB always nagged at me. Recently, my aunt sent me a picture of him in uniform, taken around the summer of 1944. I can clearly make out his Corporal chevrons and an expert marksmanship badge with one bar. The SSI, however, is a bit unclear. I would swear it is for the 69th Infantry Division. If it is, his award of the CIB makes sense. I also understand that, after the war ended, troops were often reassigned to units completely different from the ones they served with for the purposes of being shipped home and discharged. Examples I've seen include infantryman reassigned to Air Corps or Quartermaster units. The one thing that confuses me is, if he is actually wearing the 69th's patch, why three battle stars? I've looked up all three Infantry regiments of the division, and all were only entitled to two stars.

I'm very tired, so I hope this is making sense lol

In short, I was wondering if anyone out there may have access to rosters of the 69th Infantry Division, or Brandon Weigand's Index to the General Orders of the 69th Infantry Division, and could look him up for me? I would love to finally solve this little mystery! I am attaching two photos of him wearing what I believe to be the 69th's patch.

Thank you!



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Wasn't the 552nd FA Bn a Nisei unit attached to the 442nd or am I mistaken? If so, it would seem to support your thought he just happened to be with that unit when he was discharged after the War.

I can't really make out the sleeve insignia, so I can't say if it is the 69th or not. I will have to defer to your judgement since you have the actual photos. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

 

Hi Tommy, you're thinking of the 522nd. They seem to get mixed up with each other quite a bit lol

 

Unfortunately, I don't have the originals. I'm not sure if my aunt has them or if she got the photos emailed to her from one of Richard's children. I have one close up photo of him in an OD shirt, but he isn't wearing an SSI. I'll try to blow the picture up when I have some free time later on. Hopefully it'll be a little clearer.

 

Oops! Sorry about that. My dyslexia is acting up again.

 

lol

I tried blowing up the picture, but this is the best I could do....



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You were certainly correct about them getting mixed up. I just noticed that there are several websites that have the 522nd mislabeled as the 552nd. One of them is the 442nd website, www.goforbroke.org, believe it or not. I don't feel quite so stupid now.

I tend to agree with Slipdigit about the patch. Another thing I just noticed with the enlarged image is that the patch appears to be a bit narrow. This may be due to the far side of the patch being curved toward the back of his arm. In other words, we may not be seeing the entire patch.

 

I just came across a very nice website for the 69th Infantry Division. The unit history section has regimental & even battalion histories. As I was rummaging around, I found some photos on the 2nd Battalion, 272nd Infantry page that might be a good reference. Four of the five photos at the top of the page show the 69th patch at oblique angles and in B&W. I'm becoming more convinced that the 69th Division is it.

Something else just occurred to me. It is possible that he trained with the 69th, but was transferred to another unit before going overseas. The above photos may have been taken when he went home on leave. If that is the case, he may have been in combat with another division/unit which was in 3 campaigns, thus the 3 bronze star devices.

 

A much belated follow up...

It took ages, but after some "creative Googling" which led me to a copy of the Bulletin of the 69th Infantry Division Association, I was able to confirm that my great uncle was a member of the 69th Infantry Division - specifically Company "L", 272nd Infantry Regiment. I found this out a few months after my initial post here, but due to a variety of factors, I had totally forgotten about my post til now.

 

Thank you very much for updating us on your research. You may have already found this, but the Bangor Library has a digital copy of the Pictorial History of the 69th Division, 15 May 1943 - 15 May 1945. It's a PDF and can be downloaded for free.

 

Thanks! I actually bought an original copy off eBay several months ago I'm just waiting for my copy of the History of the 272nd Infantry to arrive in the mail. Hopefully, that will have some info on my great uncle.

 

Never hurts to have a digital copy. Saves wear and tear on the hard copy.

I hope the 272nd history does have something on him, though it may only be in a personnel roster. Regimental histories vary quite a bit as to the amount and specificity of the information they contain. Even in the most detailed histories, very few individual soldiers are mentioned in the narrative. This is not surprising since there were about 3,000 men in an Army Infantry Regiment. Unfortunately, in some cases, the history doesn't even have rosters. I don't know where the 272nd Infantry's history falls on the continuum, so we'll hope for the best. Sorry to be a "Denny Downer".

Having said that, it may still be a valuable resource. You should get a better idea of what he experienced while with the Regiment. It will of course talk about the Regiment in combat, but it may also mention places and events when they weren't in combat, the names of the transport ships used in crossing the Atlantic, etc.

I look forward to hearing what you find after getting the book.