Help deciphering Grandfather's Army Record's serving in World War two/Sicily, Italy, North Africa ETC

Hello,

The 1262nd Service Command Unit (an administrative unit) was likely based in the NY, NJ or Delaware area (possibly Ft Jay, NY). My assumption is that this was the last unit that he was assigned to before discharge, but not the unit(s) he served with in the MTO/Italy. 

Have you seen any other units mentioned in his documents?

Dan

Hello Dan, I was going through photos and saw that he had a "II Corps" patch on his shoulder. This would line up with the battles listed on his discharge papers (Naples-Foggia, North Appennines, Po Valley, Rome-Arno, Sicily) 

Beyond that, I have not been able to find any more specifics but hoping someone might have a suggestion or a way to investigate further. Thank you everyone for your time and assistance. 

Hello,

That lines up with what I was thinking. Because of his campaigns/locations, I think you can rule out him having been assigned to a particular infantry division’s organic medical battalion; plus, very importantly, the patch suggests that he was assigned to a corps level medical unit, e.g. the 54th Medical Battalion (Separate) or possibly a field hospital, etc.Unfortunately, it seems like detailed information on many of these units is hard to find.

A more detailed explanation of his MOS, which seems it could have found him in a variety of medical unit types, can be found here:

https://www.med-dept.com/articles/ww2-medical-mos-definitions/

information on locations in the USA where he may have done his training found here:

www.med-dept.com/.../

I’ll see what else I can dig up.

Dan

Thank you so much Sir, 

I have been doing non stop digging and reading and actually the example you gave of the 54th Medical Battalion was something I jotted down. I have been reading about each battle that was listed on his papers, (Naples-Foggia, North Appennines, Po Valley, Rome-Arno, Sicily) and trying to find common denominator's among them just in case that leads to something. All my mom knew was and I quote "he would mention being under Patton" (she was a young when he passed) I have tried to find as much info as I could, from what troop ship may have taken him on April 3rd of 1943, and having my sons watch/read about these battles because the thought of this being forgotten made me upset. Can't imagine being 19 and leaving Brooklyn to invade Sicily, the place your parents immigrated from, come home, become a mailman. Really the greatest generation and reminds me to not be a cliché 90s baby and complain about trivial stuff. 

Anyway

This was in one of the 5th army files I was reading. 

I’m glad to help in any way I can.

I appreciate your words about your sons learning about your GF’s war, his Italian/Sicily roots and him going off to war at such a young age. I don’t think most Americans today understand just how many served, how many were casualties and how many families were affected by WWII.

Here are links to two sites that might help with your research. The one that covers medical support in the Mediterranean Theater may be especially useful.

http://tothosewhoserved.org/usa/ts/usatsm02/index.html

https://www.armydivs.com/mediterranean-theater

Good luck in your quest.

Respectfully,

Daniel McKone

Thank you again, 

As I mentioned, being a amateur history enthusiast, I tended to seek out the sides of the war that are often ignored which is why The Eastern Front has always fascinated me. In school, we weren't taught about The Soviet Unions massive sacrifice and how it consumed 80% of Germany's causalities. Because of that I guess I would seek out books on Stalingrad, Barbarossa etc for how much different the fighting there appears, compared to the fighting that took place in France (of course that doesn't diminish the events that took place) so I knew I had a lot to learn about the Western Front but it appears to me that the fighting in Italy is often overlooked, and covered much differently than fighting in France and Germany. Obviously there's many reasons and lots of context, and while I knew Sicily was very different than Normandy, I had no idea about Monte Casino. 

I am currently reading Rick Atkinson's book about the Invasion of Sicily/Italy. It is so good, very detailed and covers what was going on from Patton to 19 year old guys who were drafted. (It's the 2nd book in a 3 part series covering the entire Liberation starting in North Africa, I'm sure most on this site have read it but its new to me) 

Thank you again for your help, its amazing to see photos of my grandfather and now be able to map out what his general geographic placement looked like from 43-45. 

Thank you again, 

As I mentioned, being a amateur history enthusiast, I tended to seek out the sides of the war that are often ignored which is why The Eastern Front has always fascinated me. In school, we weren't taught about The Soviet Unions massive sacrifice and how it consumed 80% of Germany's causalities. Because of that I guess I would seek out books on Stalingrad, Barbarossa etc for how much different the fighting there appears, compared to the fighting that took place in France (of course that doesn't diminish the events that took place) so I knew I had a lot to learn about the Western Front but it appears to me that the fighting in Italy is often overlooked, and covered much differently than fighting in France and Germany. Obviously there's many reasons and lots of context, and while I knew Sicily was very different than Normandy, I had no idea about Monte Casino. 

I am currently reading Rick Atkinson's book about the Invasion of Sicily/Italy. It is so good, very detailed and covers what was going on from Patton to 19 year old guys who were drafted. (It's the 2nd book in a 3 part series covering the entire Liberation starting in North Africa, I'm sure most on this site have read it but its new to me) 

Thank you again for your help, its amazing to see photos of my grandfather and now be able to map out what his general geographic placement looked like from 43-45.