By way of introduction I am a decendant of Samuel A. Drake, pfc 803rd Engineer Aviation Battalion, Co A. My uncle was determined to be MIA on 6-May-1942 in the Phillipines. From the information I have gathered, talking with Joe Vater (member of the same company and a POW) and Clarence Campbell (author of the article "A Tribute to the 803rd Engineers") there is some concise information available from them. If anyone has roosters, citation information, etc. for the 803rd please share it with me. My mother is 93 and we are putting this information together for her, I have some information and citations from my grandmother (silver star, purple heart, asiatic campaign ribbon), Mr. Campbell related to me that Co. A was also, awarded the US Presidential Unit Citation (3 times-Co's B, C were awarded only once) and the Phillipine Presidential Unit Citation. The personnel at Military records said there was very little information on my uncle due to a fire, however I was instructed by one of the above gentlemen to obtain a Privacy Act Release Form from my congressman and they will request information on my behalf. So making a short story long, if anyone has information on the 803rd please reply.
Hello Sam. Welcome to our forum. It's nice to hear from you. And yes, as you stated in your reply to me via email, it was very appropriate to apply for membership on Memorial Day.
I don't know if you've had a chance to read this section of the forum, but I always refer newbies...
http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/eng...hp?showtopic=23
It will give you guidance on how to get started on your quest.
Here's a link and I see you already found it, regarding the 803rd:
http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/eng...?showtopic=6100
I was just sent an anonymous email from a guest who presented me with the following information. Many thanks to the person who sent this our way.:-)
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From my roster of the 803rd Engineer Battalion I have this information on Samuel Drake:
Name: Samuel A. Drake; Corporal, Serial Number 34103884; Company A, 803rd; Killed in Action, May 6, 1942, beach defense on Corregidor; awarded Silver Star and Purple Heart Medals posthumously
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