Forums

Yes, this is him =)

Is this him?

 

NARA RECORDS

I have emailed you a copy of his Separation Paper and information from his Separation Qual Record which may be helpful. I have not figured out how to upload photos to the site yet, sorry. This site has already helped me decipher some of the info on his papers so thank you!

Of interest, I did write to NPR several years ago and sent them copies of all the papers I had for my Grandfather. They stated it was more than they had because the records on my Grandfather burned in the infamous fire. They did however, award him 3 medals post humously, but did not elaborate on his service record.

Hi Cori, it will help alot if you can send us a copy of of his discharge documents, if you can, upload them to the forum or email them to Marion or me.

We need to find which Infantry Division he was originaly was in when he was wounded, he was not with the 351st when wounded.

In you rour post you say he was wounded 7 Aug 44. I seen your message board post on Ancestry.com in which you stated " My Grandfather was also wounded, sent home for a brief time to recover and then sent back."

In this case, he would not have been sent back to his orginal unit. When he went back he would have gone through the system of Replacement Depots and assigned to his new unit ( the 351st GSR) shortly after his arrival back in France.

The 351st is shown on his discharge because it is the last unit he served with.

There may be clues to his original unit in his separation papers.

I do also remember my Grandmother saying that his unit was in a fire fight and he somehow was the only soldier that survived. I am not sure if this is when he was wounded. I don't think he actually was returned home when he was wounded, the newspaper article just stated he was "returned to duty after being wounded in action in the European area."

Hi Cori:

Am uploading the file for you.

Okay, now that we have that, maybe we can find more clues. Thanks!

Also doing research for Ed, whose dad was listed as being with the 351st (on his discharge papers). Am uploading here. Ed is also questioning whether his dad served with another unit prior to.

Here's a couple of letters....

On Fri, Jul 13, 2012 at 2:50 PM, Edward Ferrari wrote:

Hi Marion,

I could use your help and advice. My father Walter Ferrari served in the 351^St General Engineering Regiment during ww2. He died some years back and I’m trying to make sense out of his service record. According to his discharge papers, he was in the D Day invasion at Omaha Beach, Battle of the Bulge , Ardennes and others. He spoke of being with Patton’s army which I remember from years back. He was shot in the arm in France and after recovery was sent back to Patton’s army and division which he said was great because other units were sent to a pool and Patton wanted his people back.

Anyway, when I researched the 351^st GER, according to what I have read, I found that the 351^st was not involved with Patton’s group nor in the battles. He said he was there and his paperwork shows the same. Was it possible to be in the 351^st and be in the third army? I can not find any listing of the 351^st with the 3^rd. I have no idea which division he would have been attached to.

How do I find information regarding this? His occupation was called a Rigger 188. I believe these are the people that were removing mines but again I do not know if that is correct. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

Ed Ferrari

---------------------

Ed:

There is a table which refers to WWII MOS listings (Military Occupational Specialties). Rigger 189 refers to his specialty, which fell under the following category. The numbers are simply Army designations.

Army MOS CODES WWII

If you go to that site and scroll down and click on Rigger 189, you get the following. Pretty cool huh? Hope all this begins to shed light on him.

Marion

RIGGER (189)

Performs all types of general rigging work on military construction, manufacturing, shipping, reclamation, and other activities.

Raises and moves heavy equipment, using derricks, cranes, gin poles, a-frames, cableways, and chain blocks. Sets up, braces, and rigs hoisting equipment, splices rope or steel cable, and reeves and runs rope and guy wire.

Uses such equipment as rope, steel cable, chains, hooks, snatch blocks, pulleys, ax, sledge, wrenches, knife, and other small tools.

Must be able to climb. Must know knots. splices, correct method of moving heavy objects, and safety precautions to be followed in moving heavy equipment.

Dads Discharge - William Ferrari.pdf

More info...

WD GO 33 45 refers to a General Order that issued a campaign ribbon and medal in 1945. A General Order is issued from Army headquarters. In this case: WD GO 33 45 was General Order #33 issued by the War Department in 1945 that established the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Medal.

------------------

I also sent him a list from NARA which listed three men. None of those was his father....

---------------

Hi Marion,

I checked the three Walter Ferrari's and they are not him. I found out what a rigger 189 was doing according to a few people at the WW2 event in Chantilly over the weekend.

Here is the discharge paper. Any help here would be great.

I also sent a formal request to the Archives.

Please see attached

Thank you sincerely

Ed

Looking over Lewis Tumia`s discharge, the clues give us some possibilities but nothing definite on the unit he was with when wounded in Aug `44.

Box 31. "Combat Infantryman" This means he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Box 32. does not show a " w/ arrowhead" so he most likely did not participate in the Normandy invasion, but arrived in France after 8 June 44.

Box 33. Purple Heart, GO 34 HQ 220 GH 44. His Purple Heart citation was issued by the 220th General Hospital in 1944. There is a date conflict here because the 220th GH did not arrive in the European Theater until Feb 1945. So the possibility is that he was sent back to US for recovery of his wounds or he was in various hospitals in France or England through Feb 45.

Box 36. Dates of Departure: 12 May 44 , Arrival 24 May 44. Checking the Troopship crossings for the dates, the closest match is The SS Colombie sailing from Boston 13 May 44, arriving Glasgow Scotland 25 May 44 carrying replacements from the 106th Infantry Division.

In early `44 there were several fully trained Divisions of all types in the US that were not scheduled to be sent to Europe until the buildup months after the Normandy invasion. The Army planners took the fully trained men out of these divisions and placed them in the replacement pools, sent them to the various Theaters of Operation and reassigned them to whichever division needed replacements.

So we still do not know what unit he was in when wounded, there is a good possibility he was assigned to the 106th Infantry Division when drafted and trained with them in the US until sent over as a replacement.

Marion, are there any more documents Cori sent you that may have clues? The Separation Qualification Record maybe?

Wow! That is some great info!

I don't think his Separation Qualification Record will scan very well, but the info on it states her served

3 months as a Pvt Basic Training, Inf (521

15 months Pfc Rifleman (745

8 months Pfc Machine Gunner (604

3 months Pfc Plumber (164

Date of Entry into active service 27 Feb 1943

Thanks for all your input and insight! This is all very interesting.

Ah, there's your answer Larry, directly from Cori.

I have been looking and Googling - this is all very confusing and I wish they gave more info on these documents to prove where people had been. I am wondering what the "with arrowhead" signified? Just the Normandy Invasion.

I spoke with my dad and he recalls stories of his Dad being in a fight on the first day of Battle of the Bulge and was wounded early. he was sent back and the rest of his unit went forward and were ambushed and nobody survived. Then later at some other battle they were running through a field and a guy he was running with was fatally wounded and as my grandfather went running received mortar shrapnel in his back, but was able to escape with his company. That is all he remembers being told. My Grandmother said she visited my Grandfather at a camp in St. Louis Missouri - would have been Spring 1944 - when my Dad was conceived =)

Looking over Lewis Tumia`s discharge, the clues give us some possibilities but nothing definite on the unit he was with when wounded in Aug `44.

Box 31. "Combat Infantryman" This means he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Box 32. does not show a " w/ arrowhead" so he most likely did not participate in the Normandy invasion, but arrived in France after 8 June 44.

Box 33. Purple Heart, GO 34 HQ 220 GH 44. His Purple Heart citation was issued by the 220th General Hospital in 1944. There is a date conflict here because the 220th GH did not arrive in the European Theater until Feb 1945. So the possibility is that he was sent back to US for recovery of his wounds or he was in various hospitals in France or England through Feb 45.

Box 36. Dates of Departure: 12 May 44 , Arrival 24 May 44. Checking the Troopship crossings for the dates, the closest match is The SS Colombie sailing from Boston 13 May 44, arriving Glasgow Scotland 25 May 44 carrying replacements from the 106th Infantry Division.

In early `44 there were several fully trained Divisions of all types in the US that were not scheduled to be sent to Europe until the buildup months after the Normandy invasion. The Army planners took the fully trained men out of these divisions and placed them in the replacement pools, sent them to the various Theaters of Operation and reassigned them to whichever division needed replacements.

So we still do not know what unit he was in when wounded, there is a good possibility he was assigned to the 106th Infantry Division when drafted and trained with them in the US until sent over as a replacement.

 

Marion, are there any more documents Cori sent you that may have clues? The Separation Qualification Record maybe?