Hello, I have been slowly working on building a better history of my grandpa's service in WWII, and have always lacked what my next step should be, thanks to this forum I have a better idea on how to tackle this. A short history of him. I know there is some more info my dad has (not much) but what I know is he was KIA 2/17/45 as a member of the 11th infantry regiment and was a Staff Sargent. Most of his army enlistment was as support, either training in the states (Oregon for sure) and I think in supply while in Europe (he would have been an old man back then since he died at age 27). His name was Ralph G Vix, I am pretty sure my next step is getting the IDPF file request made and going forward after I get a better idea hopefully of at least which company he was in. Looks like to me (though a guess) he was a replacement in the 11th either right before or after the bulge.
After over a year got grandpas idpf and got a few new pieces of info. So he was company L (thought grandmas letters in there say company I, the offical docs say L) of the 11th infantry Regiment, 5th division 3rd army. Also his date of death 2 17 1945 was day he went missing. Looking for maps that show what the 11th was doing in that time frame. Found some once but now cant find them. Final mystery is his cause of death was SF head, any idea what that means?
I did some googling of WWII medical abbreviations. I put together that it *could* be slight or severe fracture...to the head.
SF = Shell Fragment. He was hit in the head by an artillery or mortar fragment...depending on the size and location it was likely instantaneous. I'll see what I can find, but on that date the 5th ID was headquartered at Scheidgen, Luxembourg and was attached to the XII Corps. Starting points would be to look at Mac McDonald's, Last Campaign, the XII Corps AAR for that period, and the 5th ID history. Digging further would require looking at regimental AAR's and Company Morning Reports.
I know on the 17th was in the Saar region of germany moving to the Rhine. So i know a pretty small area. Just once found a map of comapny movements at that time and need to refind. Cant find where i saved it
The Third Army AAR for 17 February says, "The 2d and 11th Infantry Regiments (5th Infantry Division) launched attacks which were proceeding well at the end of the period, with the former regiment clearing SCHANKWEILER (L04), six miles northwest of ECHTERNACH (L03), after advancing one-half mile and taking the high ground overlooking the PRUM River." The next day, the 11th infantry was clearing the west bank of the Prum River, north of its confluence with the Sauer River. There are just a few pages in the 5th ID History that deals with this period, Fifth Infantry Division : Polk, David : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.
Thank you so much for this link. My uncle (PFC Rifleman scout) of the 11th Inf. Reg, Co E. and talked little about his service. We know he served under Gen. Irvin (5th Inf. Div.), and he was wounded twice and recieved the Bronze Star etc. 2nd wound hit his leg and happened in or near Luxembourg. He was stuck as Germans were around him. I'm told that once his Co. E were able to get back in area, it was too late and his leg got gangrene and had to be removed. That link helps me a lot. I also found this link too. Roster of the 11th INFANTRY REGIMENT, WWII
