info on Father that served in 17th Airborne and fought in Battle of Bulge

Oz,

Amazing info you can find!

I will search the Tennesse pictures i downloaded for Camp Forrest of both 193rd and 194th (there are 68 photos total so will be a few evenings fun looking) . I thought I remembered him doing basic in Tennesse but he may have discharged from there? If I cannot find Dad's picture from Camp Forrest I will need to find training group pictures for Camp Mackall in North Carolina.

I have ordered the book.

Thank you,
Sam

 

Sam,

I hope you found it at a good price. You are referring to "Thunder From Heaven". There are two separate books, Thunder From Heaven is just history and Roster, and the Division yearbook is a paperback souvenier album that the division printed in 1944 just before going overseas. Those typically sell for between $95-175 depending on condition and if they have signatures in the autograph section. I hope i did not lead you astray with the purchase > If you bought it tinking it was full of photos because of my post, I will pay your return shipping if they will take it back and you don't want it...sorry!

oz

 

Hi Sam--

Just reading through these posts, and I just wanted to let you know that if I were you, I'd focus on the 155th for the moment. The roster from the Don Pay book DOES show Samuel G. Price as belonging to the 155th and while I agree with Oz in that the roster in Pay can be wrong, there is no reason to assume that it is. I think that you should probably focus on THAT unit and not the 193rd GIR or 194th GIR, before other evidence crops up that leads you there.

The 155th flew in gliders during Varsity, so I think you'd be probably barking up the wrong tree if you didn't look at the 155th first. Just a nickel's worth of free advice, from someone who went through the exact same process you're in the middle of. Take that all for what it's worth, just trying to help!

Adam

 

Sam,

I think I'll underscore Adam's point. Go to my blog as I've posted the entire 155th there. It is my hope that you find his face in one of the company photos.

oz

 

Excellent blog, Oz, and very generous of you to help out others who are searching.

Also, good advice from Adam.

Well done, guys.

 

We live to serve!

 

Gentlemen,
My Dad may be in the 155th photos, I have sent info to my sister to see if she thinks it is him and will catch up with my other sister this weekend!
My Wife and I looked thru Oz's latest post and all the Tenn photos last night and I re-reviewed this morning on Oz's site.
I have posted up the only uniform photo I have of Dad.
If Dad was in the 155th he may be "Battery A" bottom pix, second row, second from left.
Look forward to receiving "Thunder from Heaven" book i ordered!
Thank you Oz

 

Hi Sam--

I did some digging on the website of the Scions of the 17th Airborne, which is a veterans/descendants group I belong to. It's not the best website from a functionality/presentation perspective, but it does contain a lot of great info for research purposes. Some of the members have made trips to the National Archives to obtain copies of documents relating to the component units of the 17th.

Here is what they have on the 155th AAA Battalion. There is some nice info about Battery A in the combat narrative for Operation Varsity. If this does in fact turn out to be your father's unit, then this will help you determine where he was and when, along with what he may have been involved in.

Adam

 

Adam,
those are some great docs to read!

oz

 

Thanks Oz!

I'm proud to say that the docs on the 680th were contributed to the website by yours truly. ;o)

But in all seriousness, you're right--they are packed with really great info. Between those docs and your awesome book (which I got the other day; thanks for the quick shipping!) anyone interested in the 17th will find a wealth of info to keep them busy.

Adam

 

View attachment 20345

Great news, the county court house provided me a copy of Dad's discharge form! Thank you Adam for suggesting, it took a phone call, and email and a letter.

So now I have, thanks to all of you, Dad's basic training location and his discharge location.

In researching the parts to his discharge form I need direction on a couple items such as would his date of discharge and 57 score indicate he was sent home or served additional time in Europe?

Note that I have ordered all his badges, ribbons, pins and medals from an online source.

Look forward to any/all replies about his discharge info as I begin filling in the details of my father's service to his country!

Sam

 

Great news indeed, Sam! I'm really glad you were able to track this down.

Regarding your dad's ASR score, and his date of discharge, the short answer is... no, he wasn't sent home immediately. 57 points would not have been enough to be discharged immediately, as enlisted men needed 85 points. His discharge record shows that he left Europe for home on 29 December, 1945, so he was still in Europe well after V-E Day.

The 17th Airborne Division was disbanded in June of 1945. After that, the men of the 17th who didn't have enough points to rotate home were sent to component units of the other airborne divisions. Your dad's discharge shows "A Battery, 80th AAA Battalion" as his unit, which was part of the 82nd Airborne. It looks as though after the 17th's disbanding, your dad went to the 82nd, which served on occupation duty in Germany. He was there until late December, and then boarded the boat for home, arriving back in the US on Jan 3, 1946.

Now you know the basics what your dad did in the army, and with whom, as it says he was an anti-tank gun crewman (37mm antitank gun, per his discharge), in the 155th AAA battalion, 17th Airborne (his name is on the division roster as belonging to that unit in Don Pay's book) and then later the 80th AAA battalion, 82nd Airborne (from his discharge). You know he rode in a glider and participated in Operation Varsity (he has an invasion arrrowhead for his EAME ribbon, per his discharge) and that he had an Expert qualification on the 37mm antitank gun, and a Sharpshooter qualification on the M1 Carbine.

That's quite a list of accomplishments for a 19/20/21-year old, and believe it or not, is a lot more info than a lot of people who are looking for info on their family member's service are ever lucky enough to receive.

Again, I'm really happy for you! I hope you feel as satisfied as I did when I found out about my grandfather's service. The more we know, the more we can all better appreciate and commemorate the service of these fine men and women.

Adam

 

This

outstanding stuff , not sure if I’m doing this right , I recently found my Grandfather’s name in the 194th GIR roster , I served as an infantryman and my son served with 101st , my gf died 52 years ago , all I know is from my grandmother , his name was Walter Sudlesky and I’m pretty sure he joined out of Maryland although he lived in Northeastern Pa. any help narrowing his service is greatly appreciated ..ty for all you do