Max Schwartz is looking for any 1306th brothers in arms and their family members. He has written a book and it is available FREE OF CHARGE to members of the 1306th and their family members. You can visit his site at:
Here's another one. Found this on a university site and contacted them. They wrote back that Mr. Hoch died earlier this year. If any family members see this, please contact me if you wish to tell your loved ones' WWII story.
Woodrow Hoch, '42 B.S. CChem, served with the Army Corps of Engineers 540th Amphibious Brigade in Africa, Italy, France, and Germany during World War II. He was decorated with the Purple Heart and Silver Star. In 1951, he founded Master Oil Products and served as its president until 1957, when he bought Viscosity Oil, merged the companies, and remained president. Until 1985, he led the company as Viscosity Oil became a major supplier of lubricant oils, rust inhibitors, calibration fluids, greases, industrial oils, and diesel engine oils. He sold Viscosity Oil to Tenneco Oil and Gas in 1985 and retired.
Found the info below that was listed on a genealogy site. Contacted the webmaster but he has no futher info on this man. Maybe someone from his family will see it and contact me in the future. You never know and it's always worth a shot.
Melborne "Mel" Henry Mouw was born on November 4, 1910 in Holland, Michigan, the son of Henry and Grace (DeWeerd) Mouw and died at age 89, on Friday, October 27, 2000. He worked at the Orin B. Hayes Oldsmobile dealership in sales and service for 31 years. Mel was a decorated Veteran of WW II, assigned to the 540th Engineers, serving with both the Third and Seventh Armies. He was awarded 7 Bronze Stars, and 1 Bronze Arrowhead. He served in Africa, Algeria-French Morocco, Sicily, Naples, Foggia Rome, Southern France, Rhineland and Central Europe as well as Anzio Beach. He was a member of the American Legion Post 475 and a lifetime member of the VFW. He was survived by his daughter Alice of Zion, Illinois, sons John of Dade City, Florida and Michael of Galesburg. Mel was buried in Mt. Everest Cemetery with full military graveside honors provided by American Legion Post 475 (an abbreviated transcription of his obituary from the Kalamazoo Gazette, contributed by Marie Mackey).
Resources at Your Fingertips - Advice for Family Members Seeking Info/Documentation Regarding WWII Veterans
Years ago, while still living in Detroit, I began my quest to discover my father’s WWII history. I was only twelve when he passed away, and now I wanted to find out as much as I could, putting the various puzzle pieces back together. While he was one of the veterans who were willing to share his experiences, a long time had passed and those stories I treasured so much as a child, began to fade. I retained a box which held his keepsakes from the war, including photos and army patches; nonetheless, I could no longer recall various details including his unit designation.
One of the first things I was advised to do, was to contact the National Archives in St. Louis, but it took three successive tries, and many months before I finally received a letter at our new home in northern Michigan in autumn 2003. Sorry, they informed me, your father’s records burned in a huge fire in 1973. That was it. There were no instructions on what to do next. Was this a dead end?
I was so distraught it took me almost three weeks before I could show the letter to my husband. I then began to feel angry and that anger led me to one conclusion; I would not give up and this would not defeat me. I had the Internet didn’t I? Without going into a long diatribe, my research led to a happy ending, even though the path proved arduous at times.
However, it is not my intent to share my entire story today, but to provide you with a helpful guide. I’m hoping that my knowledge and experience will facilitate your research into your loved one’s history and save you from all the headaches and red-tape that so many of us have experienced.
Note: this article/advice is intended for families of veteran’s who returned home from the war. Also please be aware that during World War II the serial number was NOT the same as the veteran’s social security number. Many people often get this confused.
Obtaining a Copy of Their Discharge Documents - DD214
There are numerous ways to obtain copies and contrary to popular belief, NARA is not the only place to acquire this documentation.
· The National Archives - St Louis, MO - This can take weeks or months so be prepared to wait. I strongly suggest going another route first and using this as a last resort. Also many of the personnel records WERE destroyed in the fire of ’73, so...
· The Veteran’s Administration - This is how I obtained a copy of my father’s discharge papers. Within three weeks, I had received a copy of his DD214’s.
· Court House of the County that the veteran resided in after WW 2
· Many Town Clerk’s offices have discharge documents on file
· A copy may have been filed with estate records at the county Probate Court
· The funeral home that handled burial arrangements will have a copy if the veteran had a military funeral or applied for a government headstone
Obtaining Unit Records
These are actual archived records from each branch of the service. Again, many facilities have these records, but it may vary from place to place. Some units, (i.e. infantry and airborne) will have more information than others. Smaller/lesser known units (i.e. an engineer mapping company) may have little to none at all, so there are no guarantees. Nonetheless, my research has led me to discover, that most people are successful with this part of their hunt.
· National Archives - College Place, MD - This is how I obtained my father’s unit records. I hired a private researcher who painstakingly copied each document and mailed them to me. While this was not cheap, it was well worth the cost and effort for I gathered hundreds upon hundreds of daily journals, after-action reports, maps and more. Please read the page carefully for it is very detailed. It also explains how to arrange to copy the records yourself.
When filling out the form please select the History Dept., as your recipient. You may also call them at 703-428-6563. They played an instrumental role in my early research, for my father was a member of the 540th Engineer Regiment.
· Fort Leonard Wood - Office of Engineer History Historian, U.S. Army Engineer School 320 MANSCEN Loop, Suite 043 Ft. Leonard Wood, MO 65473 573-563-6365
· Military Awards and Decorations - The National Archives They will provide the medals for FREE, however, you may have to wait several weeks or more to receive the medals, once they receive your application.
· My Military Medals However, if you KNOW which medals your loved one should have, you can also buy replacements for a small sum of money.
If you would like a copy of this for your records, you can download the PDF version. This version also contains a short bio and photo of me, plus my website links, for it was written for a friend's blog.
