Thanks Marion, good to know.

It's very confusing to so many, including yours truly, in the beginning. You see all these designations and think, wow, did HE get transferred or...

Trust me, the "boys" hated this and even after the changes, most refused to refer to their NEW designation, and still to this day, refer to their original names. They still say, 1st Bn, or 2nd Bn, etc.

So on his paperwork states he entered in April of 42, army air corps basic training for 3 months. Continental service for 3 years, 9 months, and 23 days. Then ETO starting April 1945 to December 1945. Why would they keep him stateside for so long? He was discharged in January 1946 as a Sergeant.

Also I have a newspaper clipping with my Grandpa's picture stating he was on leave from ETO overseas 10 months. He was on the victory ship SS Lincoln Victory. So his official discharge paperwork does not match with this. Something does not make sense here.

No it doesn't. Don't be surprised to see or hear that many of the discharged veterans were rushed through the process and consequently, many of the forms were botched. This would not be the first time I have seen this, nor will it be the last.

Ya, if he was on leave for 10 months, then his service record is totally wrong. This doesn't add up, does it?

What's the date on the newspaper clipping? Do you know?

Wait, wait, read that wrong, that should be he was overseas for 10 month. That makes sense!

I am having a tough time believing that he was stateside for close to 3 years before being sent overseas. That just does not make sense. But stranger things have happened. The clipping does not have a date unfortunately. It states he was home after being deployed for 10 months which if you read his discharge paperwork he was overseas for 8 months. Also the clipping says 36th Combat Engineers and his paperwork states 2756th Company A. The timing somewhat matches in regards to him coming home after Christmas. So unless the newspaper had the months wrong and his paperwork is right but I am not sure.

Hey do you know what newspaper that was in? If so, you can actually go through their archives. That's always a possibility. Might not hurt to contact them, if so.

Sorry you have to mess with all this confusion! Yikes! It's difficult enough to put all the pieces back together, and then when you throw in some possible erroneous data...

At this point I would strongly suggest getting hold of the archived unit records from NARA in Maryland. This may shed new light on the subject.

So I received a reply back from the archives. They have the unit history for the 2756th. The history starts on October of 1944. I am trying to determine what I want as far as the paperwork goes from the archives. I believe I will ask for the unit history from Oct 44 to June of 45, and general orders from 1945 to 1946. And if the unit was re-designated, why would they not state that on any of his paperwork? As far as the paperwork goes, nothing from before 1944 is here.

Oh as far as re-assignment, the archives only search for exactly what you call for. They are not acting as historians, but rather as librarians, and searching on the stated criteria.

So in order to get EVERYTHING you desire, you would have to tell them what dates for exact units. Then they would let you know what they have in its entirety.

The archives sent me the paperwork. It gives a personnel list, however my Grandfather's name is not anywhere to be found. The gentleman I have spoken to from Georgia is listed, but for some reason, not my Grandfather. And on my Grandpa's paperwork it states the 2756th Engineers Company A. Would he not be listed if he was stateside for the first 3 years maybe? I am just not sure. I have the unit's history from Oct 44 to June of 1945. Or could he have been reassigned at the last minute to this unit? I am stumped.

Oh dear, sounds like could have been discharged with the 2756th (reassigned for passage home) but NOT with that group during his service in the ETO. That's what makes the discharge papers so confusing and frustrating. If the Army did it correctly, they would always list his "service" unit, then his discharge unit, not just the one. I have seen this over and over again on this forum.

When was the personnel file recorded? Can you tell?

I've scanned it now that I got back to Okinawa!

(In reference to the good conduct medal)

Good thing comes to those who wait!