1. Pat Greenwood aka pgreenwood 2. age 68. Been interested in WWII since I can't remember 3. Lived in Omaha, NE USA longer than anywhere. Born and raised in Dubuque County, IA 4. I'm really just getting started. Father Eldon J was S/Sgt 79th Infantry Division; 79th Signal Corp; "supply sergeant" as I understand it. He was one of few from Iowa or even the Midwest, as it seems most in the 79th ID were from the east coast; but that may just be a function of the population distribution at that time. I'll be on a Rhine cruise the end of this month so I'll be especially interested in the sight-picture of the west bank north of Strasbourg where the 79th ID as part of the Seventh Army was pretty busy late 1944-early 1945. I've been humbled by the depth of knowledge on this site and hope I can contribute! 5. Hobbies: Student Pilot-Airplane Single Engine Land; Private Pilot-Glider. I would say this (WWII research) is a new one I'm just starting. 6. Miscellaneous: Anything else you'd like to share with us?
Welcome aboard pgreenwood, great to have you. Enjoy the Rhine cruise, and by all means, share updates of your trip.
Jeff--I guess there's a 50-50 chance LOL! Born and raised in Iowa; Notre Dame grad. Lived in Nebraska over 40 years and I'm kind of warming up to it. Gateway to the remaining US frontier etc? ...a fine how do you do, indeed LOL! Enough about me. As stated, our group just returned from a Rhine cruise, Basel to Amsterdam. Beautiful country but still lots of ghosts hanging around! I'd love to make a trip back again and just hang around the northeast hinterlands--Lorraine and points west of the Vosges. We were pretty much confined to the Rhine river but did have a side trip to Colmar and visited the site of Audie Murphy's stand. The Colmar Museum is well worth a visit if you're in the area. This was a Viking River Cruise. Eight days. One guide was better than the next. This was our second cruise. Down the Danube 2 years ago on Viking. A great trip operator. I continue my quest to find answers to all the questions I should have asked my dad, Eldon John Greenwood, before he died in 1998. He always said he was in the Signal Corps. I guess that means he was a Staff Sergeant in the 79th Signal Company - so i guess not the 313th, 314th or the 315th. I remember him talking about Capt. Roy F. Tweedle, whose name appears in The Book and a leader of the 79th Sighal Company. But what would a Sergeant in a Signal Company do day to day other than protect the inventory and distribute cigarettes? I know he did a fair share of foxhole time, probably in the Hageneau vicinity, or maybe on the way north to the Rhine crossing during Plunder. I do have an inquiry pending with evetrecs. Maybe that will turn up some valuable tidbits. Be well, my friend! Pat
I know this isn't much help, but I came across this. I assume this is your father. Grave marker Do you have his discharge papers? That might help us research him further.
Lou - that's my dad! Thank you for going to the trouble to match this up and post it. Dad was born, raised and died in Farley; a pillar of the community. He did a bit of traveling in the middle. Got up close and personal "somewhere in France".
Welcome, Pat. Getting to be places your father was in the Second World War is an amazing feeling. I saw some in 2010 and hope to go back again after I can finally see his records later this year. You mentioned wondering about what he might be doing in the signal corps. I found this document that I hope may be helpful. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a208887.pdf It is “A Concise History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps”
Welcome, Pat. Getting to be places your father was in the Second World War is an amazing feeling. I saw some in 2010 and hope to go back again after I can finally see his records later this year. You mentioned wondering about what he might be doing in the signal corps. I found this document that I hope may be helpful. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a208887.pdf It is “A Concise History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps”
My apologies, it has been awhile as I double posted!! Here is another link for the Signal Corps. Getting the Message Through It might be worthwhile to cast about to see if there are any autobiographies or biographies about sergeants in the signals Corp, to understand what he did. I found it very helpful to understand both the basic tasks, as well as the day to day life challenges from lack of hot meals to dysentery, or from a signals perspective broken wires and crossed communications. My Dad rarely spoke, so most that I know of his particular wartime experience has been gleaned from other sources.