Mud, Mountains, and Medicine

Hello, all.

Recently, within the past two weeks, I discovered the great grandfather that I never knew I had: Lieutenant Colonel Edward W. Paulus, of the 34th Infantry Division. My father brought me a stained book, labeled Mud, Mountains, and Medicine, up from the basement. The published version of my great grandfather's war diary. His daughter (my grandmother) found the diary and in 1974, asked him to read her the diary, since she couldn't read his handwriting. It must be a family trait. She made about ten copies for the family, and I now have one of them.

The journal records Paulus's time in the Army from January 1, 1942 to October 19, 1945, and has an entry for almost every single day. Along with these entries, he wrote an epilogue on the details of the Medical Battalion, the construction of division headquarters, the evacuation of wounded, the Anzio beachhead, mud, his service medals (a Bronze Star for developing a plan for dental care among the soldiers, and an additional oak leaf cluster for meritorious service.) The final part of the epilogue explains his relations with the division surgeon of the German 34th Infantry Division, who gave Paulus his luger (this souvenir's location is currently unknown to me.)

Paulus was dragged into the war along with the Iowa National Guard, and even before they were sent overseas, he was made Executive Officer of the 109th Medical Battalion. Later during his time overseas he was promoted to Commanding Officer of the 109th. His first field duty was in North Africa, where he saw action in Tunisia, then after the Tunisia Campaign, the Division was shipped to Salerno, Italy. After this, he spends the rest of his service time in Italy, and treated casualties at many major battles, including Anzio, Monte Cassino, and others. A few months after the capture of Rome, Paulus took some time off to go back to Iowa City to visit his wife. Upon returning to the war, he was made division surgeon of the 34th and he stayed in Italy until September 25th. He ends his journal on October 19 with these words, "Everything lovely. Get on civilian clothes."

Along with the journal, my dad also brought me Paulus's first edition of Up Front, a first edition copy of Road to Rome, and a cloth booklet with Paulus's Division badge, his name tag, his eagle pin, and several photographs. My grandfather is in possession of his garrison cap, but the I do not know if my grandfather--or anyone else--knows what happened to the Luger or the Bronze Star.

And there is a simplified version of the service of Lt. Col Edward Paulus. If you are interested in this topic, or if you have questions, feel free to comment. I'm going to do a more thorough reading of the journal, and quite possibly make a map of his service, so I will answer them to the fullest possible extent.

 

Nice! That's a treasure.

 

Amazing treasure.

 

Thanks, I'll look into them! Yeah, it surprised me when I read the journal, since I'd only heard Paulus mentioned in conversation, but I never knew who he was.

 

Wow, what a great thing to have! I bet it's an amazing read. You should definitely have it published. Do him a service and get his story out here, and make sure it's never forgotten.

 

I'll add my voice to those who think you should look into publishing the journal. It would it be a great way to honor your great grandfather's service It would also be an important historical document for those researching the 34th Infantry Division not to mention the 109th Medical Battalion.

I did a quick search and found a narrative history of the 109th Med Bn. It covers the North African Campaign and your great grandfather is mentioned a couple times.