Seeking information on the 159th Engineer Combat Battalion that served in Europe and inparticular the Battle of the Budge.

Question

Two of my uncles served in WW-II during the Battle of the Buldg. One uncle was in radio contact with his brother PFC Neil Elmeier when the radio went silent due to Neil&rsquo;s company being captured by the Germans. Neil and fellow POWs were executed by the Germans when they retreated east due to the approaching Allies. Neil is buried at the American Cemetery at Luxembourg. Neal is a Purple Heart recipient. I have been trying to locate his Army service record informatiom. However, the Army Historical Record Center in St Louis, MO indicates no record exists due to most likely being destroyed in a fire at that sight in the mid 1970. Neil served in 159th Engineer Combat Battalion. His service number 33689155. 
 I am see,ing any information available to reconstruct his Army service. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 Louis Kobet 
 Commander, US Navy Retired

Kevin · Answer

I was aware of your uncle as he was listed in the 159th book. As I mentioned, I have an experienced historian working the National Archives for any and all documents related to the 159th. As soon as I can get more information, I will pass it along. We will definitely be stopping at the American Cemetery to pay tribute to those who are interred there. 
 I would be honored to share a photo of the grave site if you do not already have it along with any 80th anniversary events.

Jo Shipley · Answer

The 159th Engineer Combat Battalion written by William W. Baltz and published in 1945 and reissued in 1989, is an 84-page book about the unit. Unfortunately, WorldCat shows only 4 copies available in the US. If you are not near any of the libraries listed below, you may try the interlibrary loan service at your local library. 
 Allen County Public Library 900 Library Plaza, Fort Wayne, IN, 46802, United States 
 US Army War College 651 WRIGHT AVENUE, Carlisle, PA, 17013, United States 
 New York Public Library Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10018-2788, United States 
 United States Military Academy USMA Library Jefferson Hall, 758 Cullum Road, West Point, NY, 10996-1711, United States 
 You may request PFC Elmeier's Individual Deceased Personnel File from: 
 National Archives & Records Administration ATTN: Archival Programs P.O. Box 38757 St. Louis, MO 63138 
 Stl.archives@nara.gov 
 Provide as much of the following information as possible: 
 
 Full name of service member 
 Service number 
 Dates of service 
 Date and place of death 
 
 Below is an interesting newspaper story regarding your uncle:

Textual Reference Branch, Archives II · Answer

Louk 
 Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! 
 
 As a community member has helpfully noted, Individual Deceased Personnel Files (IDPF) may have additional information about the circumstances of Neil Elmeier&rsquo;s death and burial. These files were NOT affected by the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). IDPFs from 1940-1976 for U.S. Army personnel with surnames that begin with A-L are in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis (RRPO). For more information about these records, please contact RRPO via email at stl.archives@nara.gov . 
 
 If you have not done so already, we also suggest that you request a copy of his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) , which should be in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. In many cases where personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire , proof of service can be provided from other records such as morning reports, payrolls, and military orders, and a certificate of military service will be issued. Please complete a GSA Standard Form 180 and mail it to NARA's National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. Veterans and next of kin of deceased veterans also may use eVetRecs to request records. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. If there is any information requested by the form that you do not know, you may omit it or provide estimates (such as for dates), but the more information you provide, the easier it will be to locate the correct file if it survived the fire. For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests . 
 
 For a complete copy of a personnel file, in Section II, on the line for "Other" (Specify), write "Complete copy of every page of personnel file - not an extract." 
 
 Archival IDPFs and OMPFs may also be requested by visiting the Archival Research Room at the National Archives at St. Louis . Please see the linked web pages for more information. Please email stlarr.archives@nara.gov for further assistance prior to making an appointment. 
 
 We also searched the National Archives (NARA) Access to Archival Databases (AAD) and located the World War II Army Enlistment Records database that includes one file related to Elmeier, Neil (33689155) . You may use the information in this file when requesting a copy of his OMPF. 
 
 The Hospital Admission Card Files in the Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army) (Record Group 112) have been digitized and are available online via Ancestry.com, which can be accessed free of charge from any National Archives research facility . We located two entries for Neil Elmeier among these cards and have included the information below for you. 
 
 In addition, we located an entry for Neil Elmeier (see image 1590) in the series Headstone Inscription and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942&ndash;1949 in the Records of the American Battle Monuments Commission that has been digitized and may be viewed online at the link provided. 
 
 Next, the Textual Reference Branch at the National Archives in College Park, MD (Archives II) has custody of U.S. Army unit records for World War II in series like the World War II Operations Reports, 1940-1948 (entry NM-3 427) in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office (Record Group 407) and the Unit Histories, 1943-1967 (entry UD 37042) in the Records of U.S. Army Operational, Tactical, and Support Organizations (World War II and Thereafter) (Record Group 338). Please note that these records generally do not include details about individual soldiers; rather, they contain information related to the activities and engagements of the unit as a whole. These records have not been digitized. Please contact the Textual Reference Branch via email at archives2reference@nara.gov for more information about records related to the 159th Engineer Combat Battalion. 
 
 Plus, we located the Muster Rolls and Rosters, 11/1/1912 - 12/31/1943 and Morning Reports, ca. 1912 - 1946 for Army units that may include rosters and morning reports of the __. For more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at St. Louis (RRPO) at stl.archives@nara.gov . Please note that rosters for units serving in World War II from 1944-1946 were destroyed in accordance with Army disposition authorities. For more information, please see Access to Morning Reports and Unit Rosters | National Archives . 
 
 We invite you to continue the conversation with community members on History Hub, but should you have follow up questions for the staff at Archives II, please email us at archives2reference@nara.gov so that we can assist you further. 
 
 We hope this is helpful for your research! 
 
 Sincerely, 
 
 Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR) 
 [RR2RR 24-16021-RS] 
 
 HOSPITAL ADMISSION CARD 1 of 2:

Name

Neil Elmeier

Race

White, includes Mexican (White)

Rank

Enlisted Man

Admission Age

20

Birth Date

abt 1924

Admission Date

Oct 1944

Discharge Date

Oct 1944

Military Branch

Engineers, General or Unspecified

Diagnosis

FirstLocation: Tibia, lower extremity; CausativeAgent: Vehicle Accident, Unspecified

Type of Injury

Injury, non-battle

Medical Treatment

Suture, of wound, disruption complete

Injured in Line of Duty

In line of duty

Type of Discharge

Duty

Length of Service

1 Year(s), 5 Month(s)

Service Number

33689155

HOSPITAL ADMISSION CARD 2 of 2