37th Division of the 129th Infantry Anti Tank Company

Hello Members,

I am the daughter of a WWII vet who served in the Pacific Theater from 43-45. As best I can tell, my Dad left San Francisco on the U.S.S. Marmac on October 21, 1943 and arrived on New Caledonia November 5, 1943. From there he went to Guadalcanal, then Bougainville, and then on to Luzon. I have no idea of what he may have experienced because he passed away when I was only 13. A 13 year old kid fails to ask the questions a 49 year old woman would like to know.

I am attaching his company photo in the event anyone can recognize anyone. I would love to see if there are any other children of these men out there that can add to my history.

Finally, if anyone has any information of this particular company, I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks,

Nancy

 

I should have mentioned his name..silly me. He was Clayton Halverson from Lyle, Minnesota. Third row, fourth man from the right.

 

Thanks for that link. It was that exact link that pulled me in to join the forum. I've recently been doing research and found this site from Google. I've also been reading Stanley A Frankel's "The 37th Infantry Division in WWII". It's a good read, but was hoping to fill in some names and potential faces. Why do we wait so long to research our families past? I have most of my Dad's metals along with a blood stained Japanese flag. Now I'd like the names of the men to go along with my mementos. However, I'd take my Dad over the mementos anyday.

Thanks Lou.

 

World War II Divisional Combat Chronicles

37th ID Unitpage
http://unitpages.military.com/unitpages/unit.do?id=100027

 

Nancy,

My dad, Thomas H. McGee was in your father's Platoon. In your photo, he's in the middle row, first person on the far left side. So, my dad and yours were platoon mates. I've attached the Platoon roster that lists the names and hometowns of everyone in the photo. I also have the other platoon photos and roster of the entire company consisting of three Platoons (our dads were in the First Platoon), Mine Platoon, and HHQ Platoon, a total of 148 men.

My dad died in 1985 and, unlike many who served in WWII, he was never shy about talking about his experiences. Never bragging, mind you, just anxious to share his stories when his two little boys asked him to tell one. He only mentioned a few of his buddies over there and mostly it was regretting the death of his best bud, Joe, who was killed in action while taking cover right next to my father. I have some detail about what the First Platoon did and where they were facts that were detailed in a scrapbook that my dad's older sister kept during the war. I'll contact you offline to see if you'd like to receive some of that detail.

Patrick

 

Thanks for finding me via email. I so appreciate the help and the information.

 

Thanks, guys. I did contact Nancy and she has responded below. I've attached a link to the platoon photo in which both her father, Clayton Halverson, and my dad, Thomas McGee, appear. I've also attached a Platoon roster and a couple of newspaper articles about my dad. This is a great site and it's wonderful that folks like Nancy and I can connect.

129th Infantry, Anti Tank Company, 1st Platoon photo

 

My father was 1st LT Elbert Rhodes. He passed away 09 Nov 1990. Thanks to those who posted the photo and roster of his unit. Attached is a photo of him taken at the end of the war. If anyone has any information about him i would greatly appreciate it.

I remember one of the men from his unit visited our farm in Summerdale, Alabama with his family in the 1960s. I will try to remember his name and where he was from. View attachment 20425

 

Welcome, ER. I found your father's memorial page. I presume you were the one who added the info about his military service. Since the battle for Manila was over by the end of February, I presume that March was the date of the General Order for his Bronze Star. Do you know if it was awarded for a particular action and, if so, the date of the action?

By the way, that's a great photo of him. Thanks for sharing it on the Forum.