My Grandfather in WWII

Good evening,

I am attempting to create a shadow box for my grandfather - Sgt Edward Joseph Wright (05/18/1911 - 06/03/1989) US Army serial #32329742. I feel it is very important to keep his story alive and honor his service.

I believe he was in the 2nd Armored Division. According to a newspaper clipping, “the 30 year old tankman served in Africa & Italy before making the trip to France.”

From the National Archives Center, I received his Purple Heart w/ Oak Leaf Cluster, European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (EAMECM) w/ bronze arrowhead, 1 silver star, 1 bronze star as well as his WWII Victory Medal. Do the attachments on the EAMECM represent an amphibious assault landing and 6 total battles? If so, how can I find out what battles?

If he was in fact attached to the 2nd Armored Division, is he eligible for the Belgian Fourragere and or Croix de Guerre? Is he eligible for any other medals/awards?

I was unable to obtain his DD-214 but my aunts/uncles are looking to see if they have it. I attempted a search on the Fold3 Ancestry as well but wasn’t provided w/ much information.Thank you all in advance for any information you may have!

I will upload pictures of some items we have of his.

 

Some pictures:

 

It looks like he was in the 88th Armored Reconnaissance according to a picture I uploaded to “media.”

 

Then he was probably reassigned to the 2d Armored Division (if that was his unit) shortly before it deployed for TORCH. The 88th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion was redesignated the 88th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron after the reorganization of September 1943. It was a component of the 8th Armored Division, not the 2d Armored Division.

What else do you have to show he was in the 2d Armored Division? Was the map of the division's route part of his papers? The only thing that possibly does not fit for the 2d Armored Division is his service in "Italy". It was in the Sicilian Campaign, but not the campaign on the Italian mainland, and most Army documentation distinguished between the two by referring to Sicily and Italy separately.

BTW, he was wounded twice, there is an Oak Leaf Cluster on his Purple Heart.

 

Thank you very much for all the information!!