Sadly, I never asked my Dad about his time in the Army during WW II. I knew he was in the Army Signal Corps and spent his time overseas but I wasn't even sure where. After his passing I found his letter of discharge from the Army and that did provide me with valuable information. In addition to the standard facts of birth date, location, place of enlistment and place of separation, I focused in on a couple of areas of the form. One being the permanent address listed
Amhurst, Nebraska. This is very odd as after 1930 I did not know that anyone from my Dad's family was left in Nebraska. My Dad was discharged from the Army in 1945. That is an item I will have to do more research on. The next area that answered many of my questions is the sections for Battles and Campaigns. This is where I found out my Dad had spent his time in Africa, Italy and France!
I was curious to know more and wrote to the National Personnel Center and included a copy of my Dad's discharge papers. I requested detailed service records. The letter I received was a little disappointing. The National Personnel Center didn't even have his discharge papers due to the fire there in 1973, however, they were glad I had provided them with a copy! The letter went onto say they had forwarded my letter to a division of the Army, but I should not expect any better results. They were wrong!
Three months later I received an envelope from the Department of the Army. Enclosed were copies of historical data on the 1005th Signal Company. While there was no reference to specific individuals it was an overview of the movements of the 1005th. A particular entry caught my eye as it mentioned the 1005th Signal Co is entitled to battle honors from the Tunisia campaign. As I read further I found two similar entries. This was exciting but after going through all of the Dad's boxes again I did not find any type of medals. I shouldn't have spent the time looking for them. About two weeks later a box arrived from the Department of the Army containing reissued medals that my father had received!
- The Good Conduct Medal
- Victory Medal, World War II
- European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
