Belgian Grandfather, looking for info

Although his personnel records may have been destroyed in the fire make sure you ask for his medical records which were stored in a different location and not destroyed.

 

Story time, my dad and his siblings were told stories by my grandmother and family friend named George Mead ( Mr. Mead served also, not sure where they met). The story goes like this my grandfather spoke German so he was involved in a mission...you guessed it to kill Hitler, pause for laughter. My grandfather was shot in the head and returned to the states, he was sent to Fort Logan where he met my grandmother who was a nurse. He had a metal plate put in his head and then made multiple trips to the VA Hospital here in Iowa. This story was great to me as a kid, but my dad was told this story by George when he was in his 20's. As I have grown older and gathered information and found out more about my grandfather it sounds like he made up a great story to win over my grandmother. He never personally talked to my dad or his siblings about anything...I just cant believe that a 33 year old Belgian man would be trained that quickly and sent on that kind of mission

 

I just got off the phone with the VA Hospital, we need my dads birth certificate and to fill out a form and we can get whatever they had, I'm excited but not too hopeful that they will have anything.

 

This may interest you! Attached is a copy of your grandfather's Petition for Naturalization (found on Ancestry.com); it's dated October 14, 1944. Chock full of good info. According to this document in October of 1944 he was serving in Company A, 12th Battalion, 8th Regiment of the IRTC--Infantry Replacement Training Center.

It doesn't answer your question about whether or not he ever went overseas, but this is a pretty good place to start looking for the answer.

 

The sepertion document shown is the front side of WD AGO 53-55. This had the seal, indicated what unit the man was discharged from, and was suitable for framing. The back of the 53-55 is where all the information is (like the copy posted by Eatrhican). All military personnel were told to have their seperation paper recorded when they were discharged in case they were lost-and most did. If the County Auditor/Recoding Clerk has a copy of the front side, they also have a copy of the reverse. Go back and ask them for both copies. adambhoy is correct--his service number shows he was drafted. How this took place is speculation. The MP Detachment may not be where he served only where he was dischaged from.
zcopp80, please look at your private messages and contact me-think it will clear some thing up for you.
Dave

 

Thank you for posting that form, I have seen it before and was unable to print it off. I remember searching for that Company and not really finding anything. Does anyone have anything on that Company?

 

Mission to kill Hitler and married a nurse, eh? I see one problem with that story. His petition for citizenship says he was married already.

Many infantry replacements are wounded (or killed) in their first days of combat. That does not leave much of a story to tell. Many are glad to escape with their lives. Easier to deflect with a joke then explain what may seem like an unlucky wound.

Family lore, takes all kinds.

 

Ah gotcha--here I thought I made some major discovery! haha

Pretty sure that company was his training outfit. He'd have trained with them stateside and then would have been assigned to whatever unit needed replacements at the time of the completion of his training. Like I said it's a good place to start, but doesn't answer all the questions about how he was wounded, where he would have been, etc.

 

If they give you everything they have it will tell you where and when he received his head wound. I just received a stack of medical papers from the VA Archives (held by NARA) on my brother and they were pretty informative. Not only explained his combat wounds but a couple trips to the hospital for non-combat injuries. It even had a copy of his seperation papers.
Takes a bit of determination, but it appears you have that quality. Dave

 

My grandfather was a mystery man to all my family, like I said he had multiple wives and many children

 

yes he was married 4 times, the last one was my grandmother who he met at Fort Logan. Not sure what happened to Vera. The man was a cheated on my grandmother and may have been married to her and someone else

 

So your saying that this discharge I have should have another page recorded with it? Lucky for me I know a guy who works down there and he is currently getting me some info as we type

 

One more thing that I have not figured out, between the time he was discharged and married my grandmother he changed his last name to Cooper. That was another piece of the story, the military had him change it.

 

Exactly--The WD AGO 55-53 was a two sided document. The front was decorative and the back had all the information.
He recorded it in 57 but it's definately his seperation paper. They would have recorded both sides, which is a common proceedure. It will be easy for them to locate--it's in book 2952 on 588 (and I'll bet 589).

You'll need to send me an email so I can reply with an attachment. Dave

 

You guys have been a lot of help and I am getting more excited about the information that is still out there to be discovered. I can't wait to see if he served overseas or not, just would like to see the truth.

 

Was it common for veterans to change there last names after being discharged? If not, any logical reason my grandfather would have done this?

 

In a word--no.
It could be he was trying to hide from his many ex-wives (or other wives)

 

I love it, what a bummer though because I liked his last name that he had

 

It was also not uncommon for immigrants to change their names, though Buten42's suggestion is much more interesting.

 

I know he changed the spelling of his first name but to change his last name is something I am trying to figure out