Marion -
I stumbled on some information on another site that helps me wrap my head around some of this - and it just happens to have been written by you.
It is on the Daughters of D-Day site and the specific piece I got excited about was:
"All along I assumed that each unit fell under a division, but I soon discovered that many engineer units were known in army lingo as "bastard" units; they were individualized engineer regiments or battalions that went where and when they were needed. Sometimes under an Army, sometimes under a Corps, and often times attached to other divisional units."
The descriptions of an engineering unit I had been given said they were attached to an army or a corps, and I think that was probably implied in that description, but I just wasn't sure if that meant they were directly attached or if they still belonged to a division or what. I needed it spelled out. And I couldn't understand why my father couldn't remember what division he was with, yet he remembered he was with the 608th. But this makes sense to me if he was part of one of the "bastard" units.
Wow...It probably seems like such a little thing, but I think you will understand how excited that makes me.
And - I love the photo of you and your father. It's priceless.
Clementine
(I noticed you have this article at this site as well - I just hadn't gotten to it yet.)