8 posts total
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GBD Son
Junior Member
Member # 33537
Posts: 3
From: Indiana
Registered: 5/21/2015
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posted 5/21/2015 11:40:07 PM    
I found my father's records in the 12th Armored division.
His name was Garnett Butler Deel from Tazwell, VA. He would not talk much about his military experience until the last 3 years of his life.
I want desperately to connect with my father. I feel he is with me again when I relive his memory through his military record, WWII documentaries and war movies.
He told me he was wounded in the leg by a motor shell exploding beside his jeep. Him and another US solder were taking a German prisoner back through a town the division had just taken. The town was not completely cleared of German troops and they were fired on by those left behind. Shrapnel in one side of his leg, and out the other. Bandaids on both sides, get back in there and fight.
But that small wound in his leg paid for my college tuition.
I have some of his information but wanted to find out what his involvement on D-day, his movements through France, his major battle star involvements, through his discharge.
How do I go about this? It would seem that the US government should have all this info. The online websites only feed you little by little and charge you more and more.
Thank you
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MikeWoldenberg
Junior Member
Member # 16
Posts: 887
From: University at Buffalo (NY)
Registered: 6/1/2004
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posted 5/22/2015 12:19:38 AM
Hello, Your Dad was in the 56th Armored Infantry Battalion. The roster of 17,000
men says that he was in HeadQuarters Co.
However, there are errors in this roster.
I think I will be able to find out because
he was wounded. Here is what I will do.
On the left margin click on BOOKS AND WRITTEN EXPERIENCES. Scroll down to the 56th. Then
click on History of the 56th AIB. This is a diary of daily events. Find the pages with
the names of the wounded. Your Dad should be on this list. You will see his company listed after his name. You will find the date he was wounded. Then go to the end of the book and find out where the 56th was on the day he was wounded.
Also, read the books by John Nugent and Dale
Miller.
I am travelling and am away from my files.
I will return home on June 1. But I will
check the History of the 56th from this
website.
You can check back in a couple of days.
Mike Woldenberg
Also, read the book by
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harry dhans
Junior Member
Member # 9107
Posts: 276
From: Abilene,TX
Registered: 5/24/2012
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posted 5/22/2015 4:22:45 PM
roster that I found has him in HQ CO.
hAVE FOUND HIS ENLISTMENT RECORD.
found his burial record in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Hall, Indiana.
Would be helpful if we knew approximate date that he was wounded.
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MikeWoldenberg
Junior Member
Member # 16
Posts: 887
From: University at Buffalo (NY)
Registered: 6/1/2004
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posted 5/22/2015 7:52:56 PM
Hello, I have not yet found Garnett Deel's
name in the History of the 56th. However, I
did find Pfc Diehl (Co. A of the 56th) who
was wounded on January 16, most probably in the vicinity of Herrlisheim, near Strassbourg.
I am travelling and must look at other sources. I wonder if the person recording the information spelled Deel incorrectly, because apparently the 56th had no one by the name of Diehl on the 17,000 man roster.
If your Dad was with the 12th Armored in training, then he did not participate in the Normandy invasion. The 12th Armored arrived in France in November ??? 1944 and were first in combat in December.
Mike W.
I will look again when I return home in a week or so.
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GBD Son
Junior Member
Member # 33537
Posts: 3
From: Indiana
Registered: 5/21/2015
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posted 5/27/2015 10:16:55 PM
Thank you so much for your quick replies. I remember my father told me he was in infantry support. He said he had to walk and the tank crew got to ride.
He also told me he had 4 major battle stars and almost received the 5th at the Battle of the Bulge, but he was withdrawn after 2 days and needed 3 days in the combat arena to receive the battle star.
I can't tell you how much it means to me to be able to connect with his fellow comrades, or even those who know the history of his unit. It would be great to find someone who knows him personally. He was from Tazwell Virginia.
I did find his enlistment records and other information, but it really doesn't mention his war, his path through history in Europe.
I'll keep searching.
thank you again for your help. I will keep in touch
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GBD Son
Junior Member
Member # 33537
Posts: 3
From: Indiana
Registered: 5/21/2015
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posted 5/27/2015 10:30:03 PM
Mike,
you are right. I remember my day. Dad said he was lucky and was not there on D-Day. He said he was in heavy artillery and said the beaches needed to be clear and American before bringing in the heavys.
He said he was transferred to the armored infantry division and walked behind a tank.
He opened up to me one time and told me how the division trapped some Germans who were heading to high ground with some 88s. He said they were running out of gas and were using horses and mules to pull their armor up the hill. When they opened up on the hill, he was saddened by the horses being slaughtered.
All those stories of his were so vivid in my mind and fashioned my deep love for our country..
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MikeWoldenberg
Junior Member
Member # 16
Posts: 887
From: University at Buffalo (NY)
Registered: 6/1/2004
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posted 5/28/2015 4:09:28 PM
Hi there is a lot of material on the 56th to go through when I
get back home in a few days.
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Guest
Unregistered
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posted 5/12/2016 5:22:16 PM
Originally posted by GBD Son:
I found my father's records in the 12th Armored division.
His name was Garnett Butler Deel from Tazwell, VA. He would not talk much about his military experience until the last 3 years of his life.
I want desperately to connect with my father. I feel he is with me again when I relive his memory through his military record, WWII documentaries and war movies.
He told me he was wounded in the leg by a motor shell exploding beside his jeep. Him and another US solder were taking a German prisoner back through a town the division had just taken. The town was not completely cleared of German troops and they were fired on by those left behind. Shrapnel in one side of his leg, and out the other. Bandaids on both sides, get back in there and fight.
But that small wound in his leg paid for my college tuition.
I have some of his information but wanted to find out what his involvement on D-day, his movements through France, his major battle star involvements, through his discharge.
How do I go about this? It would seem that the US government should have all this info. The online websites only feed you little by little and charge you more and more.
Thank you
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