Hello! ~ My name is Christina. I live in Minnesota. I'm 36 y.o. My member name is a family name- Gundy- after my grandfather, who served in WW2 and the National Guard afterwards. I am big on genealogy- started it about 10 years ago. ~ I'm interested in finding out more about my grandfather's service in the military- I hope to confirm stories he has told me, very specifically he took a flag, parachute, and dagger from a German soldier during The Battle of the Bulge- which are still in our family's possession (have other items from the war as well- letters, rationing stuff, papers with draft numbers, and other misc. items). I'm pretty new to WW2 except for the stories my grandfather has told me or what I've learned at our history museum (The Minnesota Historical Society has a great exhibit called Minnesota's Greatest Generation about the war) or reading online...I'm hoping to find out more about their service in general. ~ Both of my grandfather's served in WW2. 1) PFC. Ellsworth L. Gunderson: He served in WW2 and National Guard (Army). CO E 317th Inf Regiment. Battles and Campaigns (Per records we have- his records were destroyed in the fire): Ardennes, Rhineland, Central Europe. Decorations/Citations: American Theater Service Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, Purple Heart, two Bronze Stars, European African Middle Eastern Theater Service Ribbon, Presidential Unit Citation. Was wounded in action: European Theater Nov. 24, 1944. He was listed MIA twice. He lied about his age to enlist. His older brother, Harold, was also in the war. 2) CPL. James Lee Norgaard Sr.: Served in WW2 (Marines). 28th Marine 5th Division. I do not know much about his service- I don't have records like we do with my other grandfather- only a page from the National Personal Records Center and letters he wrote in to a paper regarding his service. He states he was in the first wave of assault troops on Iwo Jima. ~ How I ended up on this site: I was working on my family history- scanning in a pamphlet from my grandpa dated July 4, 1945, The Fighting First, 18th Regiment, 1st Battalion, A Company. It has other service members, along with some signatures of those who were there with my grandfather- it looks like it was a celebration of the holiday- there is a food menu listed for the day. I started looking for the guys who signed the pamphlet hoping to connect with them or their descendents. I ended up here when searching for Darwin Ritchhart. So... here I am. I'm wondering if there is a specific area I can post the pamphlet so others may see it (I'm a fan of free genealogy and helping others with theirs when possible). Christina
Welcome. what about posting the pamphlet here? http://www.ww2f.com/forum/34-military-service-records-genealogical-research/
Welcome to the Forum, Christina, from a fellow Minne-snow-tan. I believe these are your grandfathers: Corp. James Lee Norgaard, Sr. and PFC Ellsworth L. Gunderson There are great photos of each of them. Let us know if you need help with anything specific regarding their service.
Thank you everyone! And yes, it is freezing here right now: - 4, feels like -12 and that's warmer than yesterday. TD-Tommy776- yes, those are both my grandfathers- I actually posted those for others incase they would like a pic when doing their family history and we manage their Find a Grave site along with a couple other family members. Thank you for searching! The one thing I'm having an issue finding is with James Norgaard Sr.- I'm trying to confirm he was indeed in the 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division and they were on the first wave in Iwo Jima as he stated when he wrote in to a local paper. Any idea where I'd be able to confirm this? We requested records from the National Personnel Records Center and we received one page of nothing specific about his unit (I hope that's the correct term)- there were only items such as name, DOB, address, date enlisted, date of separation and serial number (very minimal). The information from them stated "Undeleted separation document was not used until January 1, 1950.", so apparently it's limited information we get...With my other grandfather I have all the originals and there is a surplus of info on those items. I found one muster roll on ancestry.com dated April 1945 stating he was 1st Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division. Is this enough to say they were in the first wave on the ground? Any help with this would be great as I know nothing about this other than as I stated above. Skipper- thank you! I posted it there.
Presuming he was in the 1st Bn of the 28th Marines, they were assigned to Green beach in the assault landing on Iwo Jima. Here's a map of the landing plan which shows where the 1st Bn landed: The following passage is from page 54-55 of the USMC Historical Monograph, Iwo Jima: Amphibious Epic: (Edit: previous link fixed) I also found a PDF downloadable version of the book The Fifth Marine Division by Lt. John C. Chapin (PDF).
TD-Tommy776, Thank you for all of your help! I'm reading the information you listed now but wanted to say thank you! Christina
Guess what I found TD-Tommy776? I've been searching like mad tonight (since your post of info) and some how came across this book. It gives details about Iwo Jima and has my grandfather's name/info in there on multiple pages. I ordered the book and am hoping for even more info- the online version is limited apparently. Wanted to say thank you again for all your help! Maybe this book can help others who are searching. https://books.google.com/books?id=TQ6BCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Welcome Gundy from another Minnesotanite. You might be interested in (or already know) about a lake up here in the Far North named Gunderson Lake. It's about 45 miles north of Grand Rapids and I believe the name was for a logging foreman back in the early 1900's. Good Luck on your family research,
That's a fantastic find. He was wounded by a grenade fragment on 3 March 1945 (page 242). Here's a map showing the situation and where 1/28 was that day:
Gundy, I'm glad Tommy was able to help. He and Steve (Natman) seem to be able to divine stuff with just a minimum of information. I hope this material is of great help to you.
