A Bit About My Grandfather's World War II Service

This is an excerpt from a paper I have been working on for the past year and a half about my grandfather's World War II service. He served with L Company 406th Infantry Regiment 102nd Infantry Division.

Growing up, I didn’t realize my grandfather served in World War II. My Uncle Jimmie Griffin started doing our family genealogy between 1970 and 1980. In the early 1990’s he passed his research onto me. At that time, I had no idea what I was doing but he had put together family group sheets for most of the family and gathered quite a bit of information. During this time of my life I was interested is discovering if I had any Civil War veterans in my family tree. I was able to confirm that my 3xgreat grandfather on my maternal side did serve in the Civil War. When I shared this information with my Uncle Jimmie, he then informed me about my grandfather’s World War II Service. 

Uncle Jimmie stated he didn’t know much about Grandpa’s time in World War II because Grandpa said it was confidential and he could not talk about it. My Uncle Richard remembers playing with Grandpa’s army patches as a kid. He has no idea if Grandpa came home with any memorabilia or what happened to his uniform.  My mother’s seventh birthday was days after Grandpa returned and she did not have any memories of his return.

As a kid I remember my cousins, siblings and I were always with our Grandparents. We were very close to our Grandparents and have many, many, fond memories we talk about even today.  I decided one day to delicately approach the World War II subject with my Grandfather. As one of his grandchildren I felt I would be able to get “some” information from him, after all, we could do nothing wrong as my Grandparent’s Grandchildren. 

I was in my early 30s and visiting my Grandparents. We were sitting around their kitchen table after dinner and I decided the time was right. I asked Grandpa where he fought overseas during World War II. Just as I thought, he did not brush me off but told me he fought in Europe and mentioned the Battle of the Bulge. He talked about how he was never shot, he saw General Patton riding in a Jeep as they were marching along a road and how he volunteered to stay for a few months after the war was over to help “round up Germans” that were hiding in towns. He also mentioned his discharge papers listed a different company than he was attached to in Europe. I remember telling him I would try to get his service records and he did tell me I would not be able to because the records were confidential, but, he did not stop talking.  

He went to their bedroom and returned with a few photos. I remember one of the photos in particular. It was a barn with a stack of dead bodies in a pile in the barn doorway. I stared at that photo in amazement! I asked him if he was there and where was the photo taken. He said yes and it was near a German town, but he couldn’t remember where. I could tell he was a bit upset and heard my grandmother from the living room telling him it was enough and to put the pictures away. Needless to say, I was somewhat stunned and surprised by the photos. After my Grandparents passed away these photos could not be found. My Uncles believe my grandmother burned or threw the photos away since they upset my Grandfather. 

According to my uncles, Grandpa most likely suffered from what is referred to today as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). He took medication for this, but I don’t know when he started. When I asked my Mom (Wanda Lue Griffin) about it, she confirmed the same thing. She said it was never mentioned growing up because it might upset my grandfather. 

It is widely known that PTSD was not officially named until 1980. Numerous books and articles use other terms known during World War II; shell shock, combat fatigue, neuropsychiatric disorder, traumatic war neurosis.  Much of this is covered in the article, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Military Veteran. See end notes for link. 

After finding out all the above-mentioned information, in 1992 I did request a copy of my Grandfather’s service records from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Unfortunately, about a month later I received the notice that his file was burned in the 1973 fire. The majority of the army files were lost in that fire. At that time, I thought finding anything out about my Grandfather’s service history was a lost cause. I do have his draft registration cards and Honorable Discharge papers. 

Right before the Covid 19 pandemic last year I was able to obtain the Morning Reports for his company. I also have newspaper articles of when he left for Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I'm in the process of putting all that information down and creating a timeline. Hopefully when NARA opens back up I will be able to get copies of the unit records. Wish me luck. 

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