I was able to identify a few off the back off of the 1st squad photo. My grandfather is in the middle row in the center for frame of reference (Anton Pagoria). The others names I identified beyond nicknames or possibly after the marching orders document were:

 

Ray Kollman

Ralph Bateman

Floyd Savill

John Guthrie

Maynard Toot

Forrest Will

 

Names I did not find were: Gardecki, Kosmari, Moran, Lawrence, Herzie, Schemehorn, and Santer.

Ken,

From the documentation that I have here is what I found concerning the unidentified that you listed:

Gardecki... didn't find him yet

Kosmari... didn't find him yet

Moran... didn't find him yet

Lawrence... PFC Manuel H. Lawrence SN 31 388 955 listed as getting a Good Conduct Medal on 9/27/45

Herzie... PFC Robert A. Herzig SN 36 881 728 listed as getting a Good Conduct Medal on 3/28/45

Schemehorn... PFC Harry V. Schemerhorn SN 31 417 098 listed as getting a Good Conduct Medal on 3/28/45

Santer... TEC5 Edward G. Santer SN 36 900 178 listed as getting a Good Conduct Medal on 3/28/45

Here's a little info on the guys you found:

Ray Kollman... listed as PFC Roy T. Kollman SN 36 841 154 listed as getting a Good Conduct Medal on 3/28/45

Ralph Bateman... PFC Ralph W. Bateman SN 35 814 028 listed as getting a Good Conduct Medal on 3/28/45

Floyd Savill... PVT Floyd E. Savill SN 35 902 799 listed as getting a Good Conduct Medal on 3/28/45

John Guthrie... PFC John F. Guthrie SN 42 054 615 listed as getting a Good Conduct Medal on 9/27/45

Maynard Toot... listed as PFC Raymond E. Toot SN 36 900 151 listed as getting a Good Conduct Medal on 3/28/45

Forrest Will... listed as CPL Forrest E. Wilt SN 35 813 651 listed as getting a Good Conduct Medal on 3/28/45

Now we have to try to ID which name goes with which guy in your photo so we can ID them on one of the company photos. More nuggets found... more to come.

Gary

Hello Everyone,

Ran across this article tonight that mentions the name of the ship, Hampden-Sydney Victory (http://7seasvessels.com/hampden-sydney-victory-1945-imo-5080665/), the 292nd returned on to the port of New York after the end of the war. This article appeared on page #11 of the 2 March 1946 edition of the Bradford PA. newspaper, The Era.

This answers another one of the questions I had always wondered about. Have a good one everbody.

Randy

I was able to identify a few off the back off of the 1st squad photo. My grandfather is in the middle row in the center for frame of reference (Anton Pagoria). The others names I identified beyond nicknames or possibly after the marching orders document were:

 

Ray Kollman

Ralph Bateman

Floyd Savill

John Guthrie

Maynard Toot

Forrest Will

 

Names I did not find were: Gardecki, Kosmari, Moran, Lawrence, Herzie, Schemehorn, and Santer.

Ken,

Question... just to clarify, I cropped out the guy from your original photo that I believe you said was your grandfather (1st image). Am I correct? If so, is the guy I cropped out of the company photo (2nd photo) possibly him also?

Gary

Gary,

That is him! I know that mug anywhere... Thanks a bunch. Where is he located?

Ken

Ok,

I had the owner of the company photo scan it to me. Unfortunately they don't have a large scanner so they had to spit the photo in two. I layered it and flattened the images the best I could.

Any recommendations to send to some people who are not that tech savvy, but have the tech to do it... If any of you are better at photoshop and could get a better layered image let me know and I can post the two images on here.

Hey everybody,

Another new post. I was going through my grandfather's stuff and stumbled on something unique. I wish was complete but I only have half of a dollar bill with squad signatures on it. I scanned what I have for posterity sake.

Hey everybody,

Another new post. I was going through my grandfather's stuff and stumbled on something unique. I wish was complete but I only have half of a dollar bill with squad signatures on it. I scanned what I have for posterity sake.

Oh Ken this is great, what a treasure you have found, thanks for sharing this with us! It appears what you have here is what was called a "short snorter" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_snorter). Basically you and your buddies signed one another's dollar bills and they must be presented upon request, if you didn't have it with you, you had to buy a round of drinks. I'm thinking here that one of your grandpa's buddies has the other half of this bill and if one did not have their half with them when asked, they were buying. It was a common, fun ritual during WWII that had been started by flyboys in the 1920's.

Here is a story about one such short snorter. http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/02/short_snorter_dollar_bill_is_a.html

Randy

Gary,

That is him! I know that mug anywhere... Thanks a bunch. Where is he located?

 

Ken

Bravo Gary! Nice job.

I was able to identify a few off the back off of the 1st squad photo. My grandfather is in the middle row in the center for frame of reference (Anton Pagoria). The others names I identified beyond nicknames or possibly after the marching orders document were:

 

Ray Kollman

Ralph Bateman

Floyd Savill

John Guthrie

Maynard Toot

Forrest Will

 

Names I did not find were: Gardecki, Kosmari, Moran, Lawrence, Herzie, Schemehorn, and Santer.

Ken,

Question... just to clarify, I cropped out the guy from your original photo that I believe you said was your grandfather (1st image). Am I correct? If so, is the guy I cropped out of the company photo (2nd photo) possibly him also?

Ok,

I had the owner of the company photo scan it to me. Unfortunately they don't have a large scanner so they had to spit the photo in two. I layered it and flattened the images the best I could.

 

Any recommendations to send to some people who are not that tech savvy, but have the tech to do it... If any of you are better at photoshop and could get a better layered image let me know and I can post the two images on here.

Ken,

I would have had to do the same thing and did the same with the copy I have with the hole in it. I would love the opportunity to assemble the images that were scanned! Was the photo scanned at a pretty high resolution? Give me an idea of this and we can formulate a plan to get the images transferred my way.

Thanks for the opportunity, my friend!

Gary

Gary,

That is him! I know that mug anywhere... Thanks a bunch. Where is he located?

 

Ken

Ken,

He is front row, 12th from the left (just five guys down from my grandfather). I'll be posting an updated company photo shortly with Mr P identified. Glad I could help, my friend!

Gary