Welcome Kent, glad to have you with us!

 

I will be interested in learning more about your father, and his experiences during his military service. Like you, I have been amazed by all the information the members of this forum have been able dig up. Everyone here is so helpful, and it has been a great learning experience for me. I have spent the last month or two trying to dig up more information about my uncle from other relatives in New England, sadly with no success.

 

I look forward to learning more about the service and sacrifice the men of the 292nd made, and more about your father. Thanks for joining!

 

Steve

Steve,

Just keep at it, my friend, and hopefully more information will be forthcoming. As soon as information regarding your Uncle's IDPF file arives you will be the first I contact. Until the next time... au revoir!

Gary

Let me introduce myself ...

 

I just want say hello to all the descendants, relatives and friends of the members of the WWII 292nd Combat Engineers Battalion. My father was Sylvester A. Stuiber. He passed away last August 23 at the ripe old age of 92. http://www.zacherlfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Sylvester-A-Stuiber?obId=1047815#/obituaryInfo

 

I came across this thread a while back when I was researching his WWII past. My Dad never talked much about the war. Frankly, he was not much for conversation in the first place and much less so when it came to the war. So, I was excited to find this thread and to find his name mentioned and pictures of him before he shipped out.

 

I have a few things I can contribute here, some pictures and things I remember him mentioning. And, this is a bit of a tease, but I have an souvenir he brought back that I took out if the box today and discovered it has names and addresses on it! I'll post about it later when I get some good images of it.

 

Most of all I want to thank all of you for posts and pictures and research. This gives me a better idea of what his experience was like in WWII, and, well, makes me feel a little more connected to him now that he's gone. Thanks.

 

 

My condolences on your loss, Kent.

We are certainly glad to have you here on board with us, our little 292nd family is getting larger, and hopefully will continue to grow with others finding us such as you have. Really looking forward to anything and everything that you might want to share with us, we love pictures!

I noticed from you father's discharge paper that his entry date into service of 3 Mar 43 predates the 5 Nov 43 formation of the 292nd. This tells us he was probably assigned to another engineer unit before the 292nd. It was common practice to transfer in or "seed" newly formed units with some soldiers that already had some experience to go with the "green" new recruits.

Enjoy your stay here with us Kent!

Randy

Randy,

 

No problem, my friend. I assure you that I will never disappear from those that I have made contact with here. I look forward to anything you can provide in the way of documentation and will reiterate that as someone who owns a photography company and deals with media every day, I would love to get copies of any and all documentition and photos that ANYONE has to provide, welcoming the opportunity to scan this information with the very high quality scanner that the company has to distribute for any and all. We need to get this information out so that this one of many little documented units does not fade into history.

 

Randy, here's the image, most likely a company photo, that I spoke of earlier. My family believes that my grandfather started as a mechanic in "A" company and then later was moved to "H&S" due to a shortage of mechanics and then may have moved back to "A" company later. I imagine that this photo was taken before deployment in the Fall/Winter of 1944, but cannot be sure whether it is "A" company or "H&S" company. Clearly, it has some issued having an old burn hole that destroyed the faces of two members along with some fold creases. My grandfather is fourth from the left in the back row. Maybe any and all can take a look to see if you see your relative and this would in turn allow us to determine which company this was for sure. This photo is relatively small compared to the original scan. Here is a link to 4x size version of the image so that you may better zoom into faces:

 

www.photozealots.com/tempalbums/19440000_292dCombatEngineers_large.jpg

 

Keep in mind that the file is quite large at 5.5 megabytes. I actually have a version that is 4.5x larger that this one, but at 57 megabytes figured it would be more than what folks needed.

 

Thanks to all for there time in posting here. We an and should band together so that this unit and these men do not fade into depths of history.

Great resolution on the photo. Thanks Gary !

I can say without a doubt that my father, Sylvester A. Stuiber is the first man on the left in the second row, the one with his eyes closed.

I cropped him out of the picture and attached it, he's the one in the center. He was probably 19 years old at the time.

 

Great resolution on the photo. Thanks Gary !

 

I can say without a doubt that my father, Sylvester A. Stuiber is the first man on the left in the second row, the one with his eyes closed.

I cropped him out of the picture and attached it, he's the one in the center. He was probably 19 years old at the time.

Kent,

Thanks, my friend! We all do what we can to further the cause of helping folks tell their relatives story and also to tell the story of this little known unit. I have something you can do if you would? We may have identified your Dad incorrectly on the unit photo and I now have another soldier from this photo for you to view. Can you tell me is this your father with his head down a bit shielding from the sun? I also attached a yearbook photo of him I found on Ancestry.

Thanks so much and please, take your shoes off and stay awhile.

Gary

Sure does look like him, doesn't it?

I agree Marion.

Kent,

 

Thanks, my friend! We all do what we can to further the cause of helping folks tell their relatives story and also to tell the story of this little known unit. I have something you can do if you would? We may have identified your Dad incorrectly on the unit photo and I now have another soldier from this photo for you to view. Can you tell me is this your father with his head down a bit shielding from the sun? I also attached a yearbook photo of him I found on Ancestry.

 

Thanks so much and please, take your shoes off and stay awhile.

 

Gary

Yup, that's him. I spotted it yesterday and was going to post about it today, but you beat me to it!

Also, thank you for posting the his yearbook page from Kaukauna. That's the first time I've ever seen that.

I remember my father mentioning Camp Butner once in a while and I've spotted him in the

May 19, 1944 Camp Butner photo. I'll post about that in a bit.

Kent

 

Yup, that's him. I spotted it yesterday and was going to post about it today, but you beat me to it!

Also, thank you for posting the his yearbook page from Kaukauna. That's the first time I've ever seen that.

 

I remember my father mentioning Camp Butner once in a while and I've spotted him in the

May 19, 1944 Camp Butner photo. I'll post about that in a bit.

 

Kent

That'd be really cool, Kent, seeing something from Butner. Here's the updated and corrected A Company photo and I also posted the whole page from the yearbook for you, my friend!

 

Great resolution on the photo. Thanks Gary !

 

I can say without a doubt that my father, Sylvester A. Stuiber is the first man on the left in the second row, the one with his eyes closed.

I cropped him out of the picture and attached it, he's the one in the center. He was probably 19 years old at the time.

Welcome, I can most assuredly say that the photo Gary gave you is of Company A since my grandfather was never in H&S. I am taking my copy to him in the near future so he can get a high resolution of the photo and then he can share it.

Welcome, I can most assuredly say that the photo Gary gave you is of Company A since my grandfather was never in H&S. I am taking my copy to him in the near future so he can get a high resolution of the photo and then he can share it.

Yes and Ken's copy has somewhat less wear and tear on it. It'll be both of our pleasures to share the undamaged platoon photo with all. Thanks, Ken, for the opportunity.

Gary

Welcome, I can most assuredly say that the photo Gary gave you is of Company A since my grandfather was never in H&S. I am taking my copy to him in the near future so he can get a high resolution of the photo and then he can share it.

Hello Ken,

I think I see what you're getting at. I'm just getting oriented to the photos here, but it looks like my father could be in the photos of company A and company C, if that's possible. I've attached the enlargement of part of the company C photo and I think he's in the first row, 4th from the right with the Sargent stripes. My eyes say %80-%85 that's him, my gut says %100. I would welcome any other opinions.

Also, does anyone have an idea when the company A photo was taken?

Kent

------------------------------------------------------

A little later .....

I've added some photos from the same time period for comparison.

Hello Ken,

 

I think I see what you're getting at. I'm just getting oriented to the photos here, but it looks like my father could be in the photos of company A and company C, if that's possible. I've attached the enlargement of part of the company C photo and I think he's in the first row, 4th from the right with the Sargent stripes. My eyes say %80-%85 that's him, my gut says %100. I would welcome any other opinions.

 

Also, does anyone have an idea when the company A photo was taken?

 

Kent

To be honest that would seem kind of odd, Kent, but anything is possible. We are working on getting a high res image of the C company photo and with this we can answer this question. We'll keep you in the loop. The A company photo was not dated unlike the C company one, but we surmise they must have happened right around the same time.

Gary

Hello ...

Well, I was digging through old photos this evening and I found a few Army photos of my father with other soldiers. None of them are labeled, nothing written on the back. I though I would post them here just in case someone may recognize a face or a place. Enjoy.

Kent

292 ECB Company C

Black and White panoramic

Hello everyone and apologies for the delay in reporting back on the Company C panoramic. The print shop did an excellent job, I am most pleased with the quality and I believe everyone else will be too. The only regret here is that I agreed to have them restore it to a true black and white, which gives it a different appearance next to the Company A panoramic. If I was to be granted a "do over" I would not have had that done, so the two pictures would probably have appeared very similar. Hindsight is always 20/20, but it's all good, at least we have it. Of course the image above is not the high resolution one, but it is better than the ones I had posted previously. I still have to post the high resolution image on a photo storage site. As soon as I have done this I will post the details on how to view the image and how you can get a printed copy if you would like one. I already have had a printed copy made and plan to donate this item to the new Camp Butner Museum. It would be nice to find the H&S and B Company pictures sometime in the future. Have a good one everybody!

Randy

Hello Ken,

 

I think I see what you're getting at. I'm just getting oriented to the photos here, but it looks like my father could be in the photos of company A and company C, if that's possible. I've attached the enlargement of part of the company C photo and I think he's in the first row, 4th from the right with the Sargent stripes. My eyes say %80-%85 that's him, my gut says %100. I would welcome any other opinions.

 

Also, does anyone have an idea when the company A photo was taken?

 

Kent

 

------------------------------------------------------

A little later .....

 

I've added some photos from the same time period for comparison.

Kent,

I am confident that the Company A photo would have been taken the same day, 19 May 1944, along with the rest of the battalion. They would have had the companies staged and ready so the photographer could snap each company photo one right after another. I think it is a bit odd that there is no writing on the Company A photo. Most every unit panoramic picture I have ever seen, including ones from the World War I era, have the unit number, date, and location. If it turns out your father appears in both photos, now that would be a real head scratcher! Have a good one!

Randy