Dear Mrs. Chard:

I happened to come across your fine web site tonight while searching for

information on the 253rd Combat Engineers. Unfortunately, I can't find this

unit listed anywhere. I'd like to find some vets from that BN because I have

a 30 minute 8mm film of their tour of duty. The film was shot by one of the

vets during his time with the BN. I bought the film on ebay last year and

have transferred it to video and would like to give free copies to anyone

from that unit that I can locate.

Dr. Michael Brodhead at the USA CofE Office of History looked the unit up

and sent me the following information:

> The only information I could find on the 253rd Engineer Combat Battalion is

> from a reference work entitled Order of Battle, U. S. Army, World War II, by

> Shelby L. Stanton, p. 574; The battalion was formed 15 October 1943 at Camp

> Crowder, Missouri; sailed from the New York Port of Embarkation 31 October

> 1944, arriving in England 8 November 1944; arrived in France 26 December 1944;

> participated in the Alsace-Ardennes, Central Europe, and Rhineland campaigns;

> was at Ulm, Germany in August 1945; arrived in the U. S. at the New York Port

> of Embarkation 9 April 1946 and was inactivated there the following day.

The film begins with scenes at the camp where these men went through basic

training and then follows them on weekend passes at (I believe)

Hopkinsville, KY. It then shows camp scenes but I don't know which camp. If

the town was indeed, Hopkinsville, KY, then Camp Campbell, KY would make

sense.

Then, the film shows the men in Europe. Some scenes are at Ulm, Germany and

that fits with the description above. Other locations include the Danube

River, Heidelburg, and Paris, where the unit was getting ready to come home.

There are scenes of guarding German POW's, a crashed airplane, traveling in

convoys, and several small towns where they stopped for chow, etc. It's

actually one man's film of his buddies and their travels in WWII.

The seller I bought it from on ebay had no idea as to the original

photographer so the trail was cold right from the start. This isn't an

academy award winner but I'm sure any living vets of the 253rd Combat

Engineers would love to have a copy.

Any assistance you can provide about that unit would be a great help.

If you can find any information, I'll send you a copy.

Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Jim Herron

Email: hrvideo@mindspring.com

Address: 2016 N. Village Ave., Tampa, FL 33612

Phone: 813 932-3887

Michigan Red Arrow 32nd Division 126 Infantry

Anyone know Natie Sahn or Howard Finsilver or Frank Curry

<papa@twmi.rr.com

cadetat6

Link courtesy of Jim Hennessey

Hilter's Bunker

You know your old when:

You're asleep, but others worry that you're dead.

You can live without sex but not without glasses.

Your back goes out more than you do.

You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter

who walks into the room.

You buy a compass for the dash of your car.

You are proud of your lawn mower.

Your best friend is dating someone half their age and isn't breaking any laws.

You call Olan Mills before they call you.

Your arms are almost too short to read the newspaper.

You sing along with the elevator music.

You would rather go to work than stay home sick.

You constantly talk about the price of gasoline.

You enjoy hearing about other people's operations.

You consider coffee one of the most important things in life.

You make an appointment to see the dentist.

You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.

Neighbors borrow your tools.

People call at 9 p.m. and ask, "Did I wake you ?"

You answer a question with, "because I said so!"

You send money to PBS.

The end of your tie doesn't come anywhere near the top of your pants.

You take a metal detector to the beach.

You wear black socks with sandals.

You know what the word "equity" means.

Art

I have a general question about WWII ribbons. I believe that they are supposed to be displayed above the left chest pocket, in order of prestige, left to right. My question is this: If a soldier was awarded more than one medal, ex: 2 purple hearts, would that soldier wear two purple ribbons to signify the two purple hearts or would the soldier just wear one ribbon representing both awards? Also could a soldier earn more than one of the same campaign medal, ex 2 European/African/Middle eastern Campaign Medals?

Thanks

Brian