View attachment 18380 Just wanted to share something I have been working on. This photo is of my grandfather next to a soldier's grave. On the back is written "Harold Mac Jordan 36986995 Co. C 414 Inf 104 Timberwolf div". I assume this was a friend of his. My grandfather served in Co A. 292nd ECB so I'm not sure how they would have met. Family members do not know who PFC Jordan was and my grandfather has been gone for over 40 years now. I was curious to know a little more about PFC Jordan and where and when this photo was taken. I have had made some headway in answering some of these questions. Harold Jordan came from Montgomery County Illinois, Hillsboro according to census records. He was KIA on 6 April 1945. I was able to find that he is today buried in the Sunnyside Cemetery in Sorento, Illinois. View attachment 18382 I have requested his IDPF from the AHRC, should be receiving it here in the next few weeks. Hopefully this will tell me how he met his fate and maybe where this photo might have been taken.
Thanks for sharing your research on PFC Jordan. The IDPF should help with the location of the photo at the very least. He would have been KIA somewhere between Paderborn, Germany and the Weser River, based on the date and the history of the 104th. Is it possible they knew each other before the war? After the war ended, I think it was not unusual for soldiers to find the grave of a family member or friend and take a photo to send back to the family. It will be interesting to see what you are able to turn up.
Good info in your research. Perhaps you can try here 104th Infantry Division Home Page for more data. If you do a Google search for the 414th Infantry in WW2, there is plenty of material on them. You might also read more about the 104th here Lone Sentry: Timberwolves: The Story of the 104th Infantry Division -- WWII G.I. Stories Booklet. Good luck in your search.
You have definitely given me food for thought here. I was thinking more along the lines that they crossed paths sometime during their service. Whether they knew one another before the war at this point I do not know. My grandfather's youngest brother is still living, I'm going to send him an e-mail to see if he can shed some light on this angle. As far as the your suggestion about the purpose of the photo, I think you might just be onto something here. It seemed to me that importance was attached to this picture the first time that I saw it. It is an 8 X 10 photo and he had two copies of it, by far the largest photo of the many in his wartime collection. Thanks so much for your input.
Thanks for your suggestions. I have been browsing some the 104th Infantry Division sites. I must give a big thanks to Sandra the 104th webmaster, she was very prompt and helpful to my inquiry. She pointed out where to find Harold Jordan's headstone photo.
Well, it took 10 months to get here, but PFC Jordan's IDPF finally arrived recently. Been interesting for me to learn about his story and help me solve the location of the cemetery photo. PFC Jordan was killed by a shrapnel wound to the neck on 6 April 1945. The location given is Erklen Germany, however a search for this town yields no result. I think there maybe some name confusion or a misspelling here. I am wondering if Etteln Germany was the actual location, which is about 6 kilometers south of Paderborn. Anyway, on 12 April 1945 PFC Jordan was buried in Plot H, Row 2, Grave 27 at the US Military Cemetery #1 in Ittenbach Germany. This gave me the location where the photo was taken, it felt good to finally have an answer. The IDPF had grid coordinates for the cemetery, I was able to use those on Google Earth to find where the cemetery was once located. View attachment 20016 (yellow push pin shows former location of US Military Cemetery #1, today an empty field) All remains from this cemetery were reburied elsewhere soon after the war. On 6 Sept 1945 PFC Jordan was reburied in Plot YY, Row 2, Grave 32 in the US MIlitary Cemetery at Margraten Holland. PFC Jordan was 19 years old and unmarried at the time of his death. His parents Mack and Audrey Jordan of Taylor Springs Illinois elected to have his body returned for burial in their local cemetery. PFC Jordan's remains were disinterred for a second time on 24 Sept 1948 to begin his long journey home, arriving at the funeral home in Hillsboro Illinois on 26 Jan 1949. Final burial took place in the Sunnyside Cemetery, Sorento Illinois. How my grandfather knew this soldier I have yet to determine that. PFC Jordan entered service on 14 June 1944, almost 6 months after my grandfather. I have contacted his youngest brother to see if he might have known something, but nor he or any other family member seems to know. One thought I have had is that maybe Harold Jordan, not living far from St. Louis, may have went to work at the same plant as my grandfather. R.I.P. PFC Jordan :S!
Your reasoning makes sense. It would not be surprising to find misspellings in an IDPF, especially the name of a German town by a non-German speaker. IDPFs are a great resource, but not a perfect resource.
Major General Maurice Rose, commander of the 3rd Armored Division, was killed on 30 March 1945 south of Paderborn. He was buried on 2 April 1945 in the same temporary cemetery at Ittenbach as PFC Jordan was 10 days later. Here are a few photos of General Rose's funeral at Ittenbach. View attachment 20335 View attachment 20336 View attachment 20337 View attachment 20338
