Post by EXO on Jul 24, 2007 13:45:23 GMT 8
I have been working through the graves registration details of the 503d PRCT, and have found a number of 503d PIR Troopers' names which are not on the Abbott/Calhoun/Lindgren "THE FALLEN" list which is featured on the website at:
www.corregidor.org/taps/control/kia_full_listing.htm
For the moment, I have marked these "possibles" in yellow. They are:
ANDE, Leroy E - DOD 11 November 1942 - Buried at Arlington
BROKINS, Ira L - DOD 8 November 1942 - Buried at Arlington
BONFIELD, Russell M - DOD 26 September 1943 - Buried at Honolulu
KELLIS, Dale C - DOD 25 June 1945 - Buried at Manila
KUNKLE, Dave C - DOD 8 November 1942 - Buried at Arlington
MAGEE, William J - DOD 26 April 1945 - Buried at Manila
MCCANN, Thomas F - DOD 20 July 1944 - Buried at Manila
WINSLOW, John R - DOD 4 November 1942 - Buried in California.
At first I thought these must be "lost" troopers. But then, I consdered that the Abbott/Calhoun/Lindgren list was never intended to include the "ETO 503d." There was a 503d which fought in the ETO? (The question which one normally hears is the one asked, more in surprise than curiousity, namely "Was there a Paratroop unit fightng the Japanese? You mean, in the Pacific?")
The 2d Bn 503d PIR which departed for England under Lt. Col. Edson D. Raff, officially was the first US Paratroop unit to be shipped overseas during WWII, but did not keep that designation. They were in England between 10 June 1942 (Gouroch, Scotland actually, and then Hungerford England) and departed for La Siena, Algeria on 7 November, 1942. At a point still subject to debate, but was in all likelihood prior to their jump in Algeria) the 2d Bn 503 were redesignated as the second battalon of the 509th, even though the men who conducted that operation remained of the belief that they were the second battalion of the 503d.
So, presumably their deaths from that mission were contemporaneously recorded by Graves Registration as being members of the 503d PIR.
When the 503d reached Australia, for the purposes of its reports to higher headquarters, it still carried 4 Battalions - one of which was in the ETO. This situation continued for a period of 4-6 mths.
In all likelihood, then, that leaves:
BONFIELD, Russell M - DOD 26 September 1943 - Buried at Honolulu
KELLIS, Dale C - DOD 25 June 1945 - Buried at Manila
MAGEE, William J - DOD 26 April 1945 - Buried at Manila
MCCANN, Thomas F - DOD 20 July 1944 - Buried at Manila
So, the question remains - are these four men valid additions to the Abbott/Calhoun/Lindgren 503d PRCT Casualties List?
www.corregidor.org/taps/control/kia_full_listing.htm
For the moment, I have marked these "possibles" in yellow. They are:
ANDE, Leroy E - DOD 11 November 1942 - Buried at Arlington
BROKINS, Ira L - DOD 8 November 1942 - Buried at Arlington
BONFIELD, Russell M - DOD 26 September 1943 - Buried at Honolulu
KELLIS, Dale C - DOD 25 June 1945 - Buried at Manila
KUNKLE, Dave C - DOD 8 November 1942 - Buried at Arlington
MAGEE, William J - DOD 26 April 1945 - Buried at Manila
MCCANN, Thomas F - DOD 20 July 1944 - Buried at Manila
WINSLOW, John R - DOD 4 November 1942 - Buried in California.
At first I thought these must be "lost" troopers. But then, I consdered that the Abbott/Calhoun/Lindgren list was never intended to include the "ETO 503d." There was a 503d which fought in the ETO? (The question which one normally hears is the one asked, more in surprise than curiousity, namely "Was there a Paratroop unit fightng the Japanese? You mean, in the Pacific?")
The 2d Bn 503d PIR which departed for England under Lt. Col. Edson D. Raff, officially was the first US Paratroop unit to be shipped overseas during WWII, but did not keep that designation. They were in England between 10 June 1942 (Gouroch, Scotland actually, and then Hungerford England) and departed for La Siena, Algeria on 7 November, 1942. At a point still subject to debate, but was in all likelihood prior to their jump in Algeria) the 2d Bn 503 were redesignated as the second battalon of the 509th, even though the men who conducted that operation remained of the belief that they were the second battalion of the 503d.
So, presumably their deaths from that mission were contemporaneously recorded by Graves Registration as being members of the 503d PIR.
When the 503d reached Australia, for the purposes of its reports to higher headquarters, it still carried 4 Battalions - one of which was in the ETO. This situation continued for a period of 4-6 mths.
In all likelihood, then, that leaves:
BONFIELD, Russell M - DOD 26 September 1943 - Buried at Honolulu
KELLIS, Dale C - DOD 25 June 1945 - Buried at Manila
MAGEE, William J - DOD 26 April 1945 - Buried at Manila
MCCANN, Thomas F - DOD 20 July 1944 - Buried at Manila
So, the question remains - are these four men valid additions to the Abbott/Calhoun/Lindgren 503d PRCT Casualties List?