John Yocum my grandfather

The past year I have started to really get into WW2history and started to do some research on my grandfather. He passed in beforeI was born so I never got to talk to him about the war. He did not talk much tomy mom either about what he went though so I had to start from the beginning. Idid some looking around and found he was in C company 28th infantry regiment2nd infantry division. He was with them to VE day. I do not have much to goback on till I found his uniform and a plaque that he put together after thewar. Also found some other things like his bible that was given to him from thearmy, and all his chevrons as he was promoted. This was truly a great day whenwe found all of this. (Also found my great great grandfathers company photofrom WW1 with this) Those are the photos that I have up. I do not know what hedid in the war and I think that is sad. Really wish I could have talked to himabout the war. I did find more about his brother (my great uncle) who was inthe C company 310th infantry regiment 78th infantry division. He won the bronzestar during the Bulge but was killed by artillery soon after. Still need to domore searching but I really hope I can find more about my family in WW2.
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Welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately, I know all too well the situation you are in. I have long since wanted to talk to my 2d cousin about his experiences in Vietnam, but he has never talked about it ever. It's very sad and confusing.

However, I salute your family name for the service and sacrifices they gave this country. You have my deepest appreciation.

My Grandfather, William Flynn Jr, was in the 2nd Infantry division as well. He served in the unit from 1954 - 1956 I believe, just after Korea. He was the BAR man for his squad and he has a lot of funny stories about his time in the army. One time while on duty driving supplies from Reno to Fresno, he and his friends drove like madmen down the swerving mountains of the Sierra Nevada and freaked out thier commanding officer xD Thankfully nobody crashed or got hurt. It must be the Irish in him.

He is a great man, served in the Madison WI Police Department from 1957 to 1989 after his time in the 2nd Division. Hell of a man. I absolutely love him. He taught me how to shoot.

Great post my friend, and welcome to the forums.

 

Welcome aboard, Chris! My path to this forum was similar to yours. I was trying to research the WW2 of my two great uncles who were brothers. I came across this forum and have been hanging out here ever since. I think you will find a lot of helpful and knowledgeable people here who will help you with your research. I wish you all the best in your quest.

Oh, and thanks for sharing the photos and brief bio of your grandfather and great uncle.

 

Thanks guys! Yeah I have learned a lot from this forumalready!

It has been a great help to me so far. One thing I want to do is try and find areunion of the 2nd and see if I could find men he fought with but I have nothad any luck so far. I am going to talk to some of my professors about someoneI can talk to about this. Finding the uniform was a big deal from my wholefamily but when I worked out where he was during the war and what battles hewas in my Mother and Uncle (my grandfathers son and daughter) were so happy.Just because they never knew what when on. I took them to the ww2 weekend inReading PA this year and they loved it. It was good for both of them.

 

Here is the 2nd ID Association website. You may want to contact them and put a notice in their newsletter. It looks like they have a pretty active organization. Their Penn/Jersey chapter is having a reunion next April.

 

Thanks alot man!

 

Not a problem. When it comes to researching our family members' service in WW2, we're all in it together. Of course, a full report of the reunion is expected.

 

Well that comes with out saying! When that time comes I will post what my findings are.

 

Chris,

I am a researcher of the
78th Division and we are trying to confirm company affiliations of our WWII
KIA's. One of these, Robert Z. Yocum, appears to have been the uncle to whom
you refer in your post about your grandfather. I would appreciate if you could
confirm his Company as 'C' 310[SUP]th[/SUP] and also if you could tell
me where he is buried. Thanks

 

I can indeed comfirm that is him, and he did serve in C 310th 78th. I know this because we found a mailing address to John in my grandfathers bible, but I do not have any military recordes yet. I have been trying to find something but no luck so far. But with the mailing address I am almost sure that he served in C company. I do have the 310th book about them in ww2 and he is listed as KIA. I think he was killed buring the Battle of Kesternich but I am not 100%. Books I have are Lightning: The Story of the 78th Infantry Division and US ARMY 310th INFANTRY REGIMENT, 78th DIVISION BOOK. He is buried at St Andrews Perkasie PA along with my grandfather. If you have any info for me let me know! Thanks for asking about him!

 

Chris,

Since your g-uncle died of wounds, we are not sure the date of injury. The only way to determine that is to order his company MORNING REPORTS, I would guess at least for the week prior to his death. These will note names and dates of company casualties, as well as the LOCATION of the company's headquarters. The records are kept at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis on micro-film. There are people who will do your research for a fee. It is rather costly, but still cheaper than making the trip, hotels, meals and gas yourself. Depending on the cost, maybe you will want a months worth of records.

If you do order them, keep us in mind if you read of other KIA's from C/310. We would appreciate the names. My email is coop29_99 at yahoo.com
Thank you for confirming your uncle in C/310 for us.

 

Chris,

You may want to consider requesting your great uncle's IDPF (Individual Deceased Personnel File). It will take a few months to get, but it might give you more specifics as to the where/when/what of his injuries. Also, depending on the number of pages involved, it might not cost you anything.

 

Thanks guys I i will indeed look into doing that and give you the up dates on what I get back!

 

Here's a link to the thread on IDPFs and how to request one. They're easy to request, but take forever to receive.

 

K/311/78 do you have any record of my great uncle receivingthe Bronze Star? When I found my grandfathers things I found a ribbon for aBronze Star and I know it was not his. So am thinking it was my great uncles, butI cannot find a record of him receiving one.

 

Ok that could be!

 

Hi John,

Same story but a little older. My Grandfather 'Poppa' joined the Australian Imperial Force and fought at Gallipoli, the Western Front, where both of his brothers were killed, and ended the war in Palestine. He had a massive breakdown in 1919 and took years to recover - a bit. He would sometimes talk half to himself when he was a bit drunk then catch himself and go silent. I was about 10. He started about Portugese soldiers panicking and his NCO screaming for the ANZACS to hold or the 'Hun' would have them all - then stopped. He was reliving it and then saw that I was there. I have Poppa's three standard medals issued to all survivors of 1914-18. I also have the beautiful plaque issued to all survivors of Gallipoli. Mum and Aunty picked it up in 1993 at a special one-off ceremony. Poppa didn't go the ceremony in 1923 even though all expenses would be met by the government.

My Uncle Max was in a jaunty mood one day when I visited him in Tasmania and he met an old war pal as well. A few beers later, lemonade for me, I learned that 'Maxy' was flying a RAAF Hurricane in Crete, was downed and uninjured. He hatched an escape with two pals and crossed the wire. The fright was that the Germans were on them immediately. They ran to a strawstack and burrowed in. German searchers were bayoneting this fodder and one of his friends was stabbed through the stomach. The bayonet was wiped by the straw. His friend sat silently and bled to death. A Greek saw the two survivors emerge and guided them to the nearby coast where a fisherman took them over to a Turkish island. The rest of Maxy's war was three and a half years of comfortable, bored detention in neutral Turkey. But a cloud so to speak came over that day and wouldn't blow away, even in Tasmania's beautiful green mountains on a warm, blue-skied summer's day.

None of them could ever really talk about it except with those who went through it. Loners like Poppa suffered alone and made their families miserable. Confident, successful men like Maxy had the Returned Soldiers League with its many service cliques.

Thank You - you touched a nerve there. I'm 59 and haven't thought about these things for many years.

Regards
Pat

 

Am glad that I got you thinking about it! Always a good thing to tell the stories of the people that have served and what they did in the war. Am home for winter break from college and I have done some research on my grandfather and great uncle, and have found some great photos! I will put them up on here when I can. Also going to talk to some of my of my moms family to find out some more things about him. Got a lot of work to do, but I will post what I find out!

 

This could help you to get military records for your Grandfather and or Great Uncle. Sometimes knowing where to look is half the battle. ~Gary

Veterans' Service Records