The letter clearly displays the commaraderie they shared in Europe. How wonderful that you still have it in your possession.

I like your comment about penmanship. That sure has gone to hell in the last few decades. That and spelling. Sigh! Many lost arts and studies, but that's another subject for another day, yes?

[say, by the way Old Boy, how is Trudy? Are you going to get married or are you going

to satisfy ALL of them?

Great sense of humor too!

Quote: "My father had enough points to go home finally in mid March 1945".

I find this quite unusual as I believed the ASR score for discharge (points ) did not effect til May '45. I dont recall hearing of any of our guys

in our Infantry Division going home on points till after wars end in ETO at least reguardless of points. And a few

were still left from the 1942 landing in Africa and had over 85 points by far. Whats your take Roque and Sgt ?

Good point (so to speak ) Joe, because the point system (ASRS) did not come into effect until May of 1945. And this was how it worked:

How the Advanced Service Rating Score worked. Points were awarded for the following:

+1 Point for each month of service

(between 16 Sept 1940 - 12 May 1945)

+1 Point for each month overseas

(between 16 Sept 1940 - 12 May 1945)

+5 Points for first & each award received:

DSC, LM, SS, DFC, SM, BS, AM, PH

+5 Campaign stars worn on theater ribbons

+12 Points for each child (< 18 yrs)

up to a limit of 3 children.

Gee this is VERY interesting!

I didn't realize that the point system wasn't instituted till May '45 &

just assumed that 's how he got home.

Clearly by the date of Bob's letter, everyone was now obsessed with

calculating their points.

How did Dad get home???? All I know is that he was drafted 3/41

and came home 3/45, but wasn't discharged from the Army till May (after VE day).

This is pure speculation, but I remember reading about MPs in North Africa

who got to take prisoners back to the states.(other MPs were envious).

Could it be possible that he had to do that? I hardly think it likely

at that late date that they'd be bringing German prisoners to the U.S.

Found this site while surfing around looking for info re going home.

Has anyone seen it? Bob Gallagher's WWII memoirs. He was an MP

and became an engineer in civilian life. Great site & photos!

Copying the epilogue page link because I like his list of things

he didn't like about the army and things he learned.

Go to his table of contents for his whole story.

http://www.gallagher.com/ww2/epilogue.html

Mary ann, it very possible your dad escorted POWs back to the states in March `45. POWs were being shipped back right up till the end of the war until the large enclosures were built in europe.

From a Texas article from Camp Hearne, texas:

"More than 150,000 men arrived after the surrender of Gen. Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps in April 1943, followed by an average of 20,000 new POWs a month. From the Normandy invasion in June 1944 through December 30,000 prisoners a month arrived; for the last few months of the war 60,000 were arriving each month. When the war was over, there were 425,000 enemy prisoners in 511 main and branch camps throughout the United States. "

Seems your dad was lucky enough to be in the states at the end of the war and didnt have to go back over.

My dad escorted POWs back to the states from Marseilles 28, Sept `44 arriving in the US 18, Oct. He got to go home for awhile then shipped back over on 30, Nov 44 arriving back in Marseilles 23, Dec rejoining IV Corps during the BOB. At the end of the war he was stationed at the POW encloser in Bretzenhiem (real nasty place according to accounts i`ve read) He departed ETO for home, 23, July,1945 arrived US 2, Aug. 1945. He was discharged 29, Oct. 1945. at Fort Dix Separation Point

His DD-214 lists his ASR score as 72 so i dont know how he was selected to go home.

Larry

Here's a list of camps in the US

http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-pow-c...e-united-states

Larry & Marion, thanks so much for this info!

Larry, it must've been alot harder on your Dad to come home & then

have to go BACK! I can't even imagine how he must've felt!

I never really thought much before about how my Dad got home.

He wrote alot of letters during the Italian campaign, but there aren't

as many from France. In the ones that I have, he talks about "our boys being kept

very busy" and I think they were moving around alot.

It never occured to me before that he might've come back to the States

escorting POWs, but now that i think about it - he had a bunch of photos

of German prisoners. They puzzled me, especially the ones with German sailors.

Clearly, they weren't taken near any water and the sailors are smiling for the

camera (they didn't look at all unhappy about being POWs, in fact they all

look like they're on vacation & sightseeing). Camp Edwards Ma is on the list that Marion sent,

so maybe Dad was taking POWs there.

I don't have any letters saying: "I'm coming home!" (I wish I did!).

How I wish I'd asked my Dad what it was like to see his mother & father & be home again!

Here's a photo of Dad and Bob Cunningham Oct 13, 1943 in Maddaloni Italy

(that's right near Caserta). VI corps had secured the Naples area and Southern

Italy I believe by Oct 6. He looks pretty good in the closeup photo, but in later ones,

taken after Anzio, he looks AWFUL. I'll have to find those, so you can see the contrast.

Mary Ann

Glad we could be of assistance M2. It's funny how many things get solved by accident; when you are even looking or trying! Man, it's been that way for me so many times.

Hey M2, if you are interested, I have several programs that touch-up, repair/improve old photos. If you have any, such as the ones above, I can see if I can sharpen them up a bit. Let me know if you are interested.

HERE IS MORE ON 85 P0INTS CADETAT6 PAPA

Don Langer passed away on November 4, 2004 USMC

discharge. Points: 1 point for each month in service, 2 points for each months overseas, 5 points for every ribbon, and 5 points for each additional star. 85 Points were needed for discharge; I had about 125 and received my discharge out of Bainbridge, MD

The ASR or Advanced Service Rating Points System found on the Enlisted Record and Report of Separation was used to determine a soldier's eligibility for discharge. The higher the score, the closer one was to going home. At the end of the war in Europe, 85 points were required for discharge. This was later lowered to 75 as demobilization continued and finally reached 60 in November 1945. Many found the system confusing and it did not apply to all servicemen. For example, pilots went home after 25 combat missions regardless of points accumulated, although they still remained in the service.

The points were awarded as follows: 1 point for each month served in the Army, 1 point for each month served overseas, 5 points for each campaign star worn on theater ribbons, 5 points for the first and each award received such as Distinquished Service Cross, etc., and 12 points for each child at home under 18 years of age (up to 3 children). Points were awarded for months served between 16 September 1940 and 12 May 1945.

amazing, isn't it? When I was researching my Howard family history,

I found out all kinds of stuff even though my grandfather died 6 months

before I was born. Over 50 yrs after his death, and with my Dad, Aunt, and

Uncle now gone - who could imagine that I'd discover so much?

Right after my Aunt died, I got an avalanche of "Howard info" (I swear

they're "busy" up there!). I found out that my great great grandfather

was Denis Howard b1799 in Co Clare and my great grandparents

were Patrick Howard & Catherine McCaull.

Surfing around on the web, I found a site that had alot of info about

the village of Tubber (where my Grandfather was born). I sent an email

to the site's creator Dr Casey in Switzerland. I guess he almost fell off

his chair when he got it, because he'd been looking for my grandfather

and his descendents for some time. He emailed me back & said: "Mary Ann,

you are my cousin! Your great grandfather Patrick and my great grandmother

Honor were brother & sister!".

We were off to the races after that & began addressing each other as "Holmes"

and "Watson". He was also looking for his great Uncle Willliam and knew only

that he'd come to the states. I happened to mention this to my Dad's

first cousin, who said: "Your grandfather & my father used to take us to

visit a Mr Casey in Watertown". I figured this was a long shot because there

had to be a million Caseys, but then I thought: "My grandfather had NO time

for socializing, so if he was visiting someone, they HAD to be a relation." BINGO!

It was THE Mr. Casey, my grandpa's 1st cousin. I managed to track down his

descendents & take all the first cousins out to lunch (they hadn't seen each other since

the 1930s).

So it just shows you what can come from even tiny threads of info and looking at things from

different angles.

yeah Marion, I'd be interested in getting some photos touched up. You probably

have MORE than enough stuff to do without tinkering around with my

photos though!

m2

Hey M2

Here's a quick example of what can be done. Here's the photo of war buddies.

I sharpen the pixels and slightly changed the brightness and contrast.

THANKS m1! THEY LOOK SO MUCH BETTER!!

Quote: "My father had enough points to go home finally in mid March 1945".

 

I find this quite unusual as I believed the ASR score for discharge (points ) did not effect til May '45. I dont recall hearing of any of our guys

in our Infantry Division going home on points till after wars end in ETO at least reguardless of points. And a few

were still left from the 1942 landing in Africa and had over 85 points by far. Whats your take Roque and Sgt ?

Joe I had 91 points in Sept. '45. and the Divn. came home in Nov. If I had known I

would have stayed and came with them. Saw your picture, NICE. Roque