The following is correspondence from Don Jr., a new person and member who found our site. I am posting his info here for you to read, and hope Don will join in and continue. Lots of interesting stuff.

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Dear Admin-

You asked for a reply, here it is. I'm not sure about the VI corps, but my dad was on active duty when the war hit in '41. He was a buck pvt. and promoted to sgt. while on Ascension Is. while building the airbase there in early '42, then to staff, tech and 1st going thru Belgian Congo and on to Algeria. He was shot in the hand in North Africa, and was sent home in 1943 and to OCS. Shortly after his return to England in '44, he landed on Omaha with the 38th Engineers (his outfit thru Africa) and into France and Germany. When his discharge finally came in '46 he was a 1st Lt.

An uncle I never knew, Sgt. Frank Cassell , was killed near St. Lo on June 19th, 1944 and is buried in the cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer. He was dad's brother in law and was attached to the 175th infantry of the 29th division.

Another uncle spent his time also with the 38th Engineers, and my brother and I were lucky enough to be able to take him down to the memorial in DC before he passed away 2 years ago.

I am a Navy vet, serving on an FBM submarine from '67- '73. My brother Jim was with ASA and spent two tours in Korea from '68- '72, and my nephew just returned yesterday to Pendleton from his second tour in Iraq.

Sorry, no SPAM- Pop wouldn't allow any in the house when I was growing up because he hated the thought of having to eat any more of it. It was too much of his diet from 1942-1946. He said it "was the ham that couldn't pass it's physical."

I sure don't know if this is what you're hunting for, but I'm kind of interested in where he and Uncle Larry actually traveled, and it would be interesting to find out how Uncle Frank gave his life.

Regards,

Don Jr.=========

Don's second letter to me:

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Hi, Marion-

Just want to fire off a quick reply before I head out to Kansas for a few days.

The 38th from what I can or have dug up, did land on Omaha on 10 June 1944. It was apparently part of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade, and was now the 38th Engr General Services Regt.

Now for some fun. I haven't been able to find much on the N, Africa travels- yet. But if you go to http://www.heritage.org.ac/hs901.htm you should get an Ascension Is. homepage. There is a pretty good history of the island under Avis, parts 10, 11,12, & 13. There are several websites mentioning the airbase if you pull up Ascension Island that have segments regarding Wideawake Airbase, as well as some really good pictures under war vets and the history sections. One site also mentions the send off of the 38th to Congo after the airbase was completed. These sections also verify the regt was then the 38th Combat Engineer Regiment when they landed in March 1942. This also had to be one of the first Engr deployments of the war- I can't imagine the Army getting a regiment equipped, loaded and deployed to an assignment much quicker than 3 months from Pearl Harbor with everything else they had on the table.

There's also a short blurb in "Ascension Island Government" under "about Ascension'.

I also found a neat thing, WideawakeNews (WWII). Also look at Ascension Is., NASA base. These sites are pretty interesting. One mentioned the defense aircraft dispatched to protect the base as B-25's and P-39's. When I was a kid, Pop bought me a P-39 flying plane. He did tell me that these were the type he assembled while on Ascension. So, the engineers who built the base did a lot more than move dirt. One of the sites also mentions the shortage of rations, and the dump. This was Pop's first experience with Spam, of course followed for the next four years. He used to talk about the fresh eggs they had. They'd go out on the beach and raid sea turtle nests and occasionally caught an unsuspecting sea turtle which made a delectable meal. PETA and Greenpeace and Cousteau would have a hissy fit if they did that today. One of the supplies they had plenty of was dynamite and grenades. They'd take a boat out, lob in stick of dynamite or a grenade and have a fish fry with the fish that floated up to the surface shortly thereafter.

You may be able to download the pictures and repost them on the VI site. There was also another site I got into about the 38th reunion on Ascension. They dedicated a monument, and there were a few pictures of the reunion and island war pictures from several of the men. Uncle Larry is in the dedication pictures, front row right with a camera. I've met with some of these men, but they quit holding reunions about five years ago because most of them are in their 90's, and there are only a few left.

By the way, the Wideawake name comes from the boobies they had to chase of the area where the airbase was built. It was a rather large nesting ground and the birds relocated to another part of the island. The regiment adopted the nickname of the "Wideawakes" and carried it throughout the war.

Well that's it for now. I'll be back in about two weeks. Yak with you then.

Regards-

Don

This letter was sent to James Hennessey, 87th Infantry Division:

Jim,

You may be interested to know that the pictures of the soldiers (A) taking cover and ( struggling ashore on Omaha Beach were men from my outfit (Sixth Combat Engineer Amphibious Special Assault Brigade). Our mission was to get the 29th Inf. Div. across the beach and then continue to support it as it moved inland. I remained with the Brigade through Normandy and most of the Northern France Campaign. I then joined the 87th in mid December, '44.when it was decided the Infantry needed us more -- particularly, since we had all received basic Infantry training in the States before being assigned to the Brigade upon our arrival in England.

While we were in England preparing for the invasion someone thought that if the Infantry needed to locate an engineer in a hurry to clear a mine field, blow a pill box, shove a Bangalore Torpedo under a barbedwire entanglement, etc., then we should wear something that would make it easier for the Infantry to be able to quickly locate us. So, here's what some stupid jackass came up with.

Notice the 'WHITE ARC' stenciled on the front of our helmets and underneath, also stenciled, was our 'gold on blue' shoulder patch; it had a gold eagle on top, a Thompson submachine gun in the middle with both superimposed over a ship's anchor (like the "red on black" patch worn by the British Commandos).

Needless to say, it also made a perfect target for the Krauts to shoot at.

Suffice it to say, those of us who were lucky enough to make it to the beach, wasted no time trying to find mud or anything else to cover up the Arc and the patch.

In addition, all officers (Infantry as well as engineers) were instructed to have a WHITE vertical bar stenciled on the rear of their helmets while all NCOs (Corporals/Tech 5s and above) were instructed to have a WHITE horizontal bar stenciled on the rear of their helmets. That, too, got covered up.

I understand when they finally got around to cleaning up the beach several weeks later, they found a truck load of combat engineer helmets with bullet holes through or near the patch -- plus a number of Infantry and engineer helmets with holes in the vertical & horizontal bars on the rear of the helmets.

So much for smart planning! What would our liberal media press, TV, etc., do if anyone came up with the above idea for Iraq and/or Afghanistan!

Tom

Marion's note: I am trying to find out which photos he is referring to, and if so will post them here later...

Got it from Jim:

http://ebsr.net/ESBhistory.htm

Thanks buddy!

Photographs by Arthur S. Mole and John D. Thomas. Arthur S. Mole was a British-born commercial photographer who worked in Zion, Illinois. During and shortly after World War I, Mole traveled with his partner John D. Thomas from one military camp to another, posing thousands of soldiers to form gigantic patriotic symbols that they photographed from above. The formations depicted such images as the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, the Marine Corps emblem and a portrait of President Woodrow Wilson. The Wilson portrait, for example, was formed using 21,000 officers and men at Camp Sherman in Ohio and stretched over 700 feet. His "Human Liberty Bell" was composed from over 25,000 soldiers, arranged with Mole's characteristic attention to detail to even depict the crack in the bell. Mole and Thomas spent a week or more preparing for these immense works, which were taken from a 70 or 80 foot tower with an 11 by 14 inch view camera.

http://www.hammergallery.com/images/people...%20pictures.htm

https://www.georgeglazer.com/archives/print...olemarines.html

http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/edph/ho_1987.1100.478.htm

http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/24/kaplan.php

Wow, you guys certainly loved your spam !!!! Burtonwood was a huge WW11 USAAF base near Warrington, England

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I saw on the news yesterday that Paul Tibbets, pilot of The Enola Gay had died. It said per his wishes there was to be no funeral or memorial service , lest it be cause for protests and demonstrations by his detractors. How very sad that an American Hero like General Tibbets had to request this, but graveside protests by nut cases has become another unfortunate sign of our times. I personally know of one handsome young sailor , age 18 and serving in the Pacific in the summer of 1945 who was awful happy to hear the news that Japan had surrendered after 2 atomic bombs had been dropped, the first one falling from the bomb bay doors of Enola Gay. Thank You General Paul Tibbets for your great service to this country, and for making it possible for my Dad and countless other American servicemen to come back home! Rest In Peace.

Dogdaddy