Hello, my name is Alison. As you can tell from my user id I'm the niece of Charles (Myers). I'm the family historian and I've decided to focus my efforts on finding out all I can on my Uncle Charles and his military life. Charles, according to his headstone application, was a member of the 157th Inf Reg, 45th Div, Com D. He was KIA in Italy. We have his service records, or whats left of them. They were in the fire. The page that list the medals were destroyed, so one of my goals is to try and have his metals replaced. When my grandparents passed Charles' medals "disappeared". Also in the papers we discovered he was MIA for a number of months. My mom remembers being told that he was MIA because he was one of many that died in the same area and his body wasn't recovered right away. He was buried in France for a while but was returned to my grandparents in PA to be reburied. I'm so glad I found this forum, as you can read I have so many questions and from what I've read so far everyone is so helpful. I'm going to post my questions one at a time so it doesn't get confusing. I have almost zero knowledge of WWII besides what I learned in school (many many moons ago) so I hope some of my questions aren't eye-rolling ones My hobby is genealogy, not just my family but anyone who asks me to research theirs. Thank you for letting me join (I did have to google the verification question).
Welcome aboard. Several of the people here are very good at researching service records so you've come to the right place. Don't fell bad about asking questions they are the key to learning ( a little research first doesn't hurt though and often leads to the more interesting questions) *** edit for *** You may want to consider putting a post in the information request or service record sub forums with his name, nationality, and unit in the title. That'll possibly get you a quicker response and if someone else is looking for people in the same unit or possibly even the same person that will make it easier to find. Several fo the unit threads have good examples of this..
Otto has added a couple of other forums (i.e. imported whole forums that used to be run by others) recently so the structure is a bit chaotic. Here are links to the two places you might want to consider.... Should have done this in my first post: Those Who Served and Information Requests *** edit for *** No one gets really bent out of shape if a post goes into the "wrong" sub forum with the exception of modern politics in the WW2 areas. The mods are also good about helping you move things if you think they are in the wrong spot or just about anything else which is initiated by a polite request.
Thank you again!! I did have a problem finding the information request forum, but I got his name posted. I'll check out the other one now.
Welcome Alison. Since you love Genealogy you know a lot about doing research which is a great asset in your quest. Hope we can give you some useful information.
Welcome Alison, it's great to see you doing genealogy a very important, and rewarding hobby. I have no doubts you'll be able to learn more about your uncle, and I want to express my gratitude and respect for your uncle's sacrifice in the war.
Is this his grave ? Charles W. Myers (1923-1944) - Find A Grave... You say he was killed in Italy but buried in France before being repatriated. Surprised he was buried in France , when the huge US cemetery is not far from where he was killed . I assume he was killed at Anzio as that is where 45th Division were at the time of his death. This is worth a read & also some good maps.(such as this one https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-A-Anzio/maps/USA-A-Anzio-11.jpg ) HyperWar: American Forces in Action: Anzio Beachhead (22 January-25 May 1944) Some of his comrades in arms will still be here. Sicily-Rome American Cemetery | American Battle Monuments Commission
Welcome Alison, it's great you are making progress. I'm working on putting together a better firum structure. For now just pose your questions and we can move them to the best places for them.
Yes, that's his grave. He's next to my grandparents. I am probably wrong saying he was buried in France, I don't have the papers in front of me. I'm almost positive, but could be wrong, that his records do say where he was buried in Europe. I was in shock when I read the MIA fact and being buried over there. I don't remember my mom ever telling me that before. I questioned her, asked if they had opened the casket but she said they didn't. She was 9 when he was sent home. When I get the records and have exact info I'm going to post some questions about that. Thank you for the link to the cemetery. I don't know any of his friends names but I'm going to look and see if there are some from his Company.
Anzio was pretty well surrounded and pinned on the beach, unable to break out, for quite a while (like months) so wonder if they took those KIA to France for burial? Curious what Alison finds out,
Wouldn't have thought so because France was occupied by the Germans at the time. EDIT: Just done a search on the ABMC site & found 306 members of 157th Infantry Regimnet, 45th Infantry Division lie in the Sicily-Rome Cemetery. https://www.abmc.gov/database-searc...ntry=All&field_cemetery=7122&field_cemetery2= I went there 10 years ago next month. It's a beautiful place.
Welcome Alison, I have no doubts that you will enjoy this forum and what it can offer just like I have.
By the way, have you requested his Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) from the NPRC, St. Louis? The IDPF is a separate file from the service records, 80 percent of which burned in the 1973 fire. Half of the IDPFs have been transferred to St. Louis from the Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, and St. Louis is in the process of digitizing them. It would be worthwhile to get this, since they contain correspondence between the family and the War Department over the disposition of remains. Dave