John Yocum my grandfather

Yup I have found that site before. Over the break I have found great info about both of them! I found out about everYthing from before the war to post war. I have to get them up on here! The photos and documents that I now have helped so much!

 

Yup, I will get all my findings on here when I can get them scaned to my computer.

 

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Here are three photos of my grandfather. I have documents talking about he had about everything that he did in the ETO, but you can not read them on here so I have to find way to get them for you guys. I found around 100 photos and lots of other things that helped me put everything togeather for what he did in the war. I also found all the info for my grandfathers brothers that were in the war. Like i siad I had no idea what they did but now I know when they went in to when great uncle was kill. I need to get all of it up on here when I can, but here are some photos of him.

 

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Here is some more. My grandfather went into the Army in January 1941. He was then put into the 2nd Inf Div. He spent time a Ft Sam Houston, Tex. In 1942 he went Aboline, La for maneovers, then to Camp McCoy Wis, for winter training. in 43 he went to Camp Shanks N.Y. on 8th Oct 43 he shiped out on the USS Florence Nightenorle at NY harber, bound for the ETO. On the 18th Oct 43 he landed in Belfast Louch Ireland.

Still working on what he did between then and D-day.

 

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More photos I found.

 

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More...

 

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This my my great uncle that was kill (Bob Yocum). I still do not know much about him before the war but I have found out alot about him before he joined and his death. In the photos I have the newpaper listing of his death. After his death he was bured in Holland. His body was then sent home in 1947 when they had the funeral. The photo with the flower is part of his funeral brochure. I still have more to post about him when I can get all my info right.

 

I am down 113 a little, near the YMCA, but I am going to college in Williamsport PA so I am never really in Souderton.

 

Thanks for sharing the photos and other items, Chris. Your grandfather and great uncle were brave young men.

 

Great thread Chrisdm4, thanks for sharing with us!!

When I read the funeral brochure I noticed that your great uncle was wounded in or near Rollesbroich in germany. The name of the town rang a bell and I remembered that I visited the region a few years back. I was visiting some intact Siegfriedline bunkers, that lie in the "Buhlert" forest, just a few kilometers to the north of Rollesbroich. If you want I can post some pics later on.

 

Thank you very much! Yes they were!

 

Yeah if you could post them that would be great! Other then were he was wounded (Rollesbroich) I do not know much more about the battle that was fought there and the part the 78th had in the fight. I am going to do more research about the battles they were in when I get back up to school.

 

Great photos, Chris. And a salute for your Great Uncle, Staff Sergeant Robert Yocum, for sacrificing his life and to your family for having to live with that sacrifice.

 

I love these family stories, thank you so much for sharing.

One pleasure I get from these is the motivation to look closer at how these divisions were activated and trained.

The 2d Division existed in some form since WWI but always at less than full strength, often less than half strength. When the European war started in 1939 the Army was authorized to expand through volunteers. In this process Regular Army divisions, like the 2d, actually lost personnel to provide cadre to new Regular Army divisions (numbered 4 through 9). Most likely prompted by the fall of France in the summer of 1940, Congress passed the draft legislation in August.

So your grandfather, based on his serial number, was drafted early -- January 1941 -- and only the fifth month of "the Draft". Fort Meade, at that time, probably served as a Reception Center for the middle east coast states. Reception Centers administered tests, provided vaccinations and issued initial sets of uniforms (wool OD's and green cotton fatigues). The time spent at a Reception Center could vary from one to five weeks. Groups of soldiers would leave the Reception Centers by train -- with a coal and steam locomotive, picture that -- usually bound as fillers for an infantry division.

The expansion of old divisions and the activation of new divisions occurred through a process of cadre and fillers. A cadre of junior officers and senior NCO's would be provided a filler of new enlistees. For a rifle company the cadre would be a company commander (Captain or 1st Lieutenant), a First Sergeant, a Mess Sergeant, a Supply Sergeant, and up to Four Platoon Sergeants. Fillers would consist of about 200 men. The idea was for the cadre to provide basic and infantry training for all the fillers in about 17 weeks. As they went through this initial training junior NCO's would be selected and other junior officers would arrive from Officer Candidate School or other sources. Together they would form a new rifle company and proceed through advanced unit training. With other new rifle companies they would form battalions and then new battalions together would form regiments.

From what you posted, it seems initially your grandfather was in A Company of the 1st Battalion of the 38th Infantry Regiment. From his June 1942 letter, the pride your grandfather expresses in his unit shows that this system could be very effective with a competent cadre and adequate resources. Later in the war this process could degrade a bit due to various factors.

Unit training was usually conducted through field training exercises. At the various levels (company, battalion, regiment, division) the type of field training would become longer and more elaborate. These culminated with maneuvers where units would conduct operations against each other as Red and Blue forces. Umpires from other units would determine the outcome of "battles". The ultimate maneuver was whole armies -- several divisions each -- operating against each other in an area that could span two or more states.

From my sources the 2d ID participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers in the summers of 1941 and 1942. It would be understandable if, in your grandfathers memory, they blurred into one.

Following Pearl Harbor the Army was required to expand again. So trained divisions were required to provide yet more cadre. The 2d Infantry Division provided cadre for the 85th and later the 102d Infantry Divisions. This process opened up opportunities for advancement for those remaining but also a need to received replacements from the Infantry Replacement Training Centers. These replacements would already have the 17 weeks of basic and infantry training so they would not disrupt the division training schedule.

I don't consider myself much of a writer but that, if I may say so myself, is a pretty good summary.

The 78th Infantry Division departs from the cadre-filler scheme somewhat and I hope to learn more about them.

If it is still available I recommend the book "How a Ninety-Day Wonder Survived the War" by Charles Curley, Jr. He was a platoon leader in the 38th Infantry and he writes well about his time in combat.

 

Thank you so much for this info!!!!! Both my family and I thank you! I have been trying to find a book from someone that was in the 38th, so I will indeed look at that book and get it. Am back at college so I do not have much time any more to look into this stuff sadly, but I will get back to it when I have time to. I have more photos that I need to put up that are cool that I found from my grandfathers two brothers. Bob that was killed, and my great uncle Richard Yocum.

He was in the USAAF in the ETO. His unit was 893rd Air Engineering Squadron and 475th air service group. He passed a couple years ago, and I was not to close to him but I did get to talk war stories with him when I could. Need to look into him more to.

Thank you for all your input guys! It helps so much

Chris View attachment 15482

 

You are very welcome, my pleasure.

Not sure if I'll find out very much about the 78th ID so I'll post these now. The book "Taught to Kill" by John Babcock is very good if a bit dark or blunt. He came to the 78th from the ASTP and served as a mortarmen and an NCO.


Here's a link to a website of another 78th ID veteran. He started as an infantrymen but is transferred to Division Headquarters before going overseas. It is still an interesting look at the experiences of a typical draftee.

My Dad Goes To War.


I checked the enlistment records for your great uncle Robert. It indicated he entered service on 11 March 1943 from Allentown and was formerly employed as a File Clerk.

Let's see if I can link to the record:

NARA - AAD - Display Full Records - Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records)

 

I will indeen look into that book. Those recordes are very cool thank you!

 

Sorry it took me so long. Here are some pics of the bunkers in the Buhlert forest, to the northeast of Rollesbroich