I'm not sure. I don't know the background, but if he was sent to the States because of a wound, and was unfit for military service even after it had healed, he would be discharged- that means he could have been in the States for sometime before discharge papers were issued. Or he was here for wounds or other reasons and the war ended and he had enough points to be discharged. What is the date? That would likely help.

He WAS wounded, but I don't know how badly. That is one of the big reasons why I wanted to pull his records. I know he was hit by shrapnel but where on his body, how badly, etc is anyones guess. I spoke to a very kind man who served alongside him and knew him (found him by accident while performing another search for work and oddly the computer froze then pulled up search results for a previous search for grandpas unit and there was an interview with this man and he is still living and sent me a whole mess of information... I think i have a ghost) and he told me that everyone in their unit received a Purple Heart. They were in the battle for the twin villages- krinkelt and rocherath... anyway the discharge date was November 8th 1945... thanks for responding. I really hope this was some sort of an error from when they recreated the file in 1974 or he was home before he was discharged

Glad you have gotten in touch with someone from his unit. Why don't you ask him of he remembers your dad being hit? They would not offer a discharge overseas. He has to be Stateside. I don't know what the exact answer is, and we likely won't know. Many people with low points were forced to stay in to fight the Japs. As you well know, that didn't come true. So they were later sent back and discharged. Others stayed for occupation duty. Ask the veteran if anyone stayed for occupation duty. That would help.

The 8 Nov 1945 discharge makes sense for for one reason. Most enlistments were for " The Duration of the War plus 6 months". The War in Europe ended 8 May 1945, 8 Nov is 6 months after the war & Japan had surrenderd by then.

Lauren, see my post in the research section on Locating & Obtaining a discharge, it has info on getting records from the VA.

Hi!

I just had a chance to look at site - so happy to have a few minutes.

I know with the 4th Division they came home and had a month leave. They were to report back to the Division Headqtrs, I think at that time in NC, and they knew when they did they were all going to Japan.

But for them while on their month leave, the bombing of Japan occurred, and they then knew they would not have to go overseas anymore. So they stayed Stateside - one gentleman for instance who was a Medic and Dentist did dental work on German prisoners and I can't recall what else. Eventually he had enough points to get discharged here Stateside.

American POW's it is my understanding, assuming they were healthy enough, would not be sent overseas again. But they too had to have enough points to get out. My Dad, a POW, worked as an MP on trains guarding German prisoners here in the States - after his arrival home May 9th, 1945.

Jean J

What Jean said is absolutely correct. I will add just cause I can.

I had a little extra time and looked at some records. A good friend of mine had been discharged 8 NOV 1945 as well. He had enough points and came home right away. The men with enough points stayed for a little bit after the war ended, but those who had enough points wanted to be here- and fast! Based off my friend, I'd say he came home as fast as he could!

I will look at how to pull VA records. I really need to know if the date is correct, if its perhaps an error due to records being destroyed. I am looking at him to have been home about 4 months prior to his discharge date... home home, not on base in Texas which was where he trained. Maybe he was home, didn't have enough points and was discharged because the war was over... anyway I am going to have to find out and hopefully the VA will have the answers. I think the gentleman who sent me the pile of stuff would know when the unit disbanded. I am going to contact him. I know he stayed in Paris in an apartment for a year after they disbanded. I guess it would be a likely conclusion that they disbanded and he was sent home then, whenever it was. I need a shovel for all this digging.

Maybe he had an assignment in Paris under a different group. They needed lots of personnel everywhere.

I am anxious to hear what turns up.

Jean J

The discharge papers are kept in more than one place. You do not have to rely on NARA in St Louis. Use this website to obtain the papers from the VA -

http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/vetcenter_flsh.asp

BTW, my dad was discharged in November of 1945.

OK, So I have some information from the gentleman who was in granddad Burke's unit... I can post the entire timeline in another area showing exactly where they were and when, but I see here at the end of it, they were in Konigsberg Germany on 18th May 1945. There is nothing after this. A conversation I had with him, he said after the war was over, the men were allowed to come home. So I will get the discharge papers from the VA to be sure that grandpa came straight home since the gentleman who provided this information from the same unit stayed on in Paris for a year. He said that they went thru Camp Lucky Strike in France and were processed to come home. Perhaps grandad didn't have enough points to be discharged until end of war +6months? Anyway this is huge for now.

Yes, not everyone in the same unit were discharged at the same time. Very, very common, since it depended upon points.

Based on everything, I'd say he came home immediately. Just took a while for prosessing.

I am still hanging out there on this issue. I have 2 letters out to the VA-- one to the local office and one to records. Hoping for a bite. I did some digging to try to figure out how many points he had and from what I KNOW he had at least 52. There may have been some other things that I don't know about that gave him more points... I think the book said they needed 85.

I plan on going to College Park in January to pull the morning reports, the field orders and general orders to check it out and see what I can find.

I found a GREAT book that has been SO helpful (bc I am not a seasoned pro at this)-- called Finding Your Father's War: A Practical Guide to Researching and Understanding Service in the WWII US Army by Jonathan Gawne. Its been a good source of information, sources and a refresher from HS history class!