This is the fifth in a series of articles about the enlisted men who served in the unit while it was overseas between January 14, 1943, and May 8, 1945. See Introduction to Enlisted Men of the 32nd Station Hospital for details pertaining to research and curatorial decisions in how I’m presenting them.
Herbert Lee Eaton, 39024421 (January 18, 1914 – February 13, 1983)
Eaton was born in St. Charles, Saginaw County, Michigan. The son of William and Edna Eaton, Eaton had two older brothers. The Eaton family had moved to Long Beach, California, by the time they were recorded on the census on January 12 or 13, 1920. Census and enlistment records indicate that he completed high school. He was recorded on the census on April 3, 1940, living with his parents in Long Beach and working as a landscaper.
When Eaton registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, he was working for Henry H. Clock in Long Beach. The registrar described him as standing about six feet, one inch tall and weighing 145 lbs., with blond hair and gray eyes.
According to his enlistment data card, Eaton was a sawmill worker when he was drafted. Eaton joined the U.S. Army on March 26, 1942, at Fort MacArthur, California. Private Eaton joined the 32nd Station Hospital in Tlemcen, Algeria, at 1400 hours on June 14, 1943, per Special Order No. 141, Headquarters, Fifth Army, transferring from the Medical Detachment, 804th Tank Destroyer Battalion.
I was not able to find a record of him leaving the unit. However, Eaton’s entry in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs B.I.R.L.S. Death File gives his dates of service as March 25, 1942—one day earlier than his enlistment data card—through July 9, 1944. Indeed, a digitized hospital admission card under his service number stated that he was hospitalized in May 1944 for a condition that existed prior to his military service, resulting in his discharge from the service in July 1944. Eaton married Elizabeth Ann Reule (Free, 1908–1985) by 1950.
Eaton’s obituary, published in the Five Cities Times-Press-Recorder (South San Luis Obispo County, California) on February 16, 1983, stated that Eaton moved from Long Beach to Arroyo Grande in 1947, adding that he “was a former member of the San Luis Symphony Orchestra.”
Eaton died in Arroyo Grande, aged 69.
Francis J. Egan, 31134730 (February 19, 1914 – March 15, 1985)
Egan was born and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, the son of Thomas (a laborer) and Annie Egan. His parents had immigrated from Ireland. According to an Ancestry.com family tree, he had seven sisters and five brothers; five siblings died during childhood. At the time of the census on April 15, 1940, Egan was recorded living with his family and working as a chauffer for the Express Company. The 1940 census stated that he completed four years of high school, while his enlistment data had three listed.
Egan was drafted. He joined the U.S. Army in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 17, 1942. Upon completing his training at Camp Pickett, Virginia, Private Egan was assigned to the 32nd Station Hospital on August 31, 1942, per Transfer List No. 955. Private Egan joined the unit at Camp Rucker, Alabama, on September 3, 1942. His M.O.S. was listed as 345 (truck driver, light) with 521 (basic) in parentheses. He was promoted to private 1st class on October 12, 1942. He moved with the unit to Fort Benning, Georgia, and Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, before going overseas on January 14, 1943.
While serving in Tlemcen, Algeria, Egan was promoted to technician 5th grade on May 12, 1943. He remained with the unit when operations moved to Caserta, Italy. In early October 1944, he went on detached service to the Peninsular Base Section Rest Camp, Sorrento. Not long after, he went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from October 15–19, 1944. After V-E Day, he went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Center in Rome on May 13, 1945, returning to duty on May 16. On June 30, 1945, he went to the U.S. Army Rest Center in Nice, France, returning July 13, 1945.
Technician 5th Grade Egan was one of a handful of enlisted men who served with the unit the entire time it was overseas. The 32nd Station Hospital shipped out from Italy on September 22, 1945. After the unit arrived at the Boston Port of Embarkation on October 8, 1945, Egan was transferred to the Reception Center at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. At the time of his departure from the unit, his M.O.S. was listed as 345 (truck driver, light). He was discharged from the U.S. Army soon afterward, on October 14, 1945.
Egan married Margaret Kelly, with whom he raised three sons and two daughters. He died in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Ernest Edward Egler (Ernst Egler), 35500563 (February 25, 1911 – July 16, 1965)
Egler was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. A birth index listed his first name as Ernst, but all other records appear under Ernest. He was the son of Martin (a streetcar conductor) and Catherine or Katherine Egler. According to census records, his parents were immigrants from Austria (Romania according to an Ancestry.com family tree); they were naturalized as U.S. citizens soon after Egler’s birth. He had two younger sisters and a younger brother. The Egler family was recorded on the census in January 1920 as living in Cleveland. The next census, on April 4, 1930, recorded Egler and his mother working as helpers at a bakery. He was listed as baker in a 1934 Cleveland directory. Egler and his mother were recorded as bakers at a retail bakery as of April 6, 1940. The 1940 census stated that Egler had completed two years of high school, while his enlistment data card stated that he had completed high school.
When he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, the registrar described Egler as standing approximately five feet, five inches tall and weighing 135 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes. His employer was listed as the Laub Bakery.
Egler was drafted shortly after the U.S. entry into World War II. He joined the U.S. Army at Camp Perry, Ohio, on March 27, 1942. According to hospital admission cards under his service number, Egler was a member of an antiaircraft unit when he hospitalized in February 1944 with an illness; he was discharged from the hospital the following month. He was hospitalized in August 1944 for another illness, returning to duty the same month.
Technician 4th Grade Egler was one of 61 men who joined the 32nd Station Hospital in Caserta, Italy, arriving from the 7th Replacement Depot at 1000 hours on November 12, 1944. The transfer document indicated he was from an antiaircraft unit with M.O.S. 017 (baker). He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from December 6–10, 1944. After the 32nd Station Hospital arrived at the Boston Port of Embarkation on October 8, 1945, he was transferred to the Reception Center at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. At the time of his departure from the unit, his M.O.S. was 060 (cook).
Egler married Malvina Trask (née Zambo, 1915–1959) in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, around 1953 or 1954. Egler was listed as a baker at Laub on the 1957 and 1959 Cleveland directories. According to a brief obituary, published in The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) on July 18, 1965, Egler had one daughter. He died in Cleveland, aged 54.
Sherman Lavell Elliott, 34333464 (August 19, 1920 – September 24, 1987)
Elliott was born in Clay County, Alabama. (Although his draft card did not specify whether it was the city named Clay, located in Jefferson County, or Clay County, his parents were recorded on the census living in Almond, Clay County, seven months before he was born.) He was the son of Homer (a farmer and later mail carrier) and Lena or Alena Elliott. His was recorded on the census on April 3, 1930, living with his mother, younger sister, and two uncles at his maternal grandparents’ house in Almond.
By the time of the next census on April 2, 1940, Elliott was living with his parents in Delta, Alabama, along with two younger sisters and a younger brother. Elliott was listed as working for the Civilian Conservation Corps at that time. When he registered for the draft on February 16, 1942, Elliott was living in Heflin, Alabama and working for W.D. Suddeth at Standard Oil in nearby Oxford. At the time, the registrar described him as standing approximately five feet, 8¾ inches tall and weighing 138 lbs., with brown hair and blue eyes. The 1940 census stated that he had completed only 7th grade, while his enlistment data stated that he’d finished one year of high school.
Elliott was drafted. It appears that he originally joined the U.S. Army at Fort McClellan, Alabama, on July 6, 1942. (After he reenlisted postwar, Elliott’s original enlistment card was removed. However, other men in the same service number sequence joined the Army on that location and date.)
There are several digitized hospital admission cards under Elliott’s service number. The first, dated February 1944, stated that he was a Chemical Warfare Service enlisted man with two years of service wounded by artillery shell fragments in the upper lobe of his right lung. He returned to duty in July 1944, but another card from August 1944 stated that doctors performed a thoracotomy due to artillery shell fragments in his thorax. (It is entirely possible that the second hospitalization was due to the February 1944 wound.) He returned to duty that same month. He must have been assigned to a chemical mortar battalion (which, despite the name, was used in combat only to fire high explosive or white phosphorus shells, not poison gas). The 32nd Station Hospital’s 1945 report stated that Private 1st Class Elliott was decorated with the “Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star for action with Mortar Co [attached] to French Army.”
Private Elliott joined the 32nd Station Hospital in Caserta, Italy, at 1030 hours on September 26, 1944, via the 7th Replacement Depot. He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from November 20–24, 1944. On April 8, 1945, he was transferred to the 602nd Quartermaster Graves Registration Company. Another hospital admission card from that month stated that he was treated at a general hospital for penetrating trauma to the thorax. Again, the hospitalization may have been due to the original wound.
Elliott was apparently discharged after the war, but he reenlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces at the grade of private 1st class at Fort McPherson, Georgia, on October 26, 1945. His entry in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs B.I.R.L.S. Death File only mentioned his second stint in the service, October 26, 1945, to May 1, 1946. After the war, he married Kathleen McCord (1932–1970), with whom he had at least one son.
Anthony Errico, 32566072 (June 17, 1921 – November 15, 1994)
Errico was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was the son of Frank and Susie Errico, immigrants from Italy. He had a younger sister and a younger brother.
When Errico registered for the draft on February 16, 1942, he was a student. The registrar recorded him as standing about five feet, eight inches tall and weighing 156 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes. According to his enlistment data card, he completed three years of high school before he was drafted. However, a December 26, 1944, article in The Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey) stated that he was “a graduate of the A. Harry Moore School and of Snyder High School.”
After he was drafted, Errico joined the U.S. Army in Newark, New Jersey, on October 17, 1942. According to The Jersey Journal article, Errico began his training at Camp Rucker, Alabama, and shipped out for the Mediterranean Theater in April 1943, adding: “Landing in North Africa, Pvt. Errico later participated in the landing at Salerno and took part in the fighting at the Anzio beachhead.”
Errico was hospitalized several times in 1944. A digitized hospital admission card under his service number stated that he was an enlisted man in the Chemical Warfare Service who was hospitalized in April 1944 for a powder burn to his thumb. That was recorded as a non-battle injury. He returned to duty the same month. In September 1944, he was hospitalized again for shell fragment wounds to his abdomen. He returned to duty the following month. The Jersey Journal article stated that he “was wounded during the fighting at the Gothic Line in northern Italy” but “fully recovered from shrapnel wounds of the back[.]”
The power burn he received would tend to suggest he was serving with a chemical mortar unit, just like Private Sherman L. Elliott. Despite the name, during its use in World War II and the Korean War, the 4.2-inch chemical mortar was only used to deliver high explosive and white phosphorous shells, not poison gas.
Private Errico joined the 32nd Station Hospital in Caserta, Italy—transferring in from the 7th Replacement Depot—on March 25, 1945. He departed for the U.S. Army Rest Center, Rome, on August 16, 1945, and returned on August 20. After the 32nd Station Hospital arrived at the Boston Port of Embarkation on October 8, 1945, he was transferred to the Reception Center at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. At the time of his departure from the unit, his M.O.S. was 590 (duty soldier III). According to his entry in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs B.I.R.L.S. Death File—which erroneously lists his branch as Marine Corps rather than Army—Errico was discharged on October 18, 1945.
According to his obituary, printed in The North Jersey Herald & News on November 17, 1994, “Mr. Errico was an electrician for Lightollier Corp., Jersey City, 30 years, retiring in 1983. He was a World War II Army veteran and a Purple Heart recipient. Mr. Errico was a member of Italian Christian Church.”
After retiring, he moved to Paterson around 1986. In 1946, Errico married Clara Voza (1921–1984) in New Jersey. The couple raised two sons. After Clara’s death, he remarried to Mattie Phelan.
Victor W. Ethridge, 34189703 (April 2, 1915 – December 31, 1951)
Ethridge was born in Jackson County, Tennessee. He was the son of Ben (a farmer) and Lena Ethridge. Ethridge had at least nine siblings: an older sister, four younger sisters, and four younger brothers. Two siblings died as children. Ethridge’s name has some spelling variations. His middle name was listed as Wilbert on his draft card and Wilburt on his death certificate. His parents’ last name was listed as Etheridge on their headstone, but all records I found listed Victor’s last name as Ethridge. He was listed as Victor L. Ethridge on the 1920 census, which recorded the family living in Red Boiling Springs, in Macon County, Tennessee. The family was recorded on the next census on April 2, 1930, now living in Jackson County, Tennessee, where Ethridge was a farmhand on the family farm. He was recorded again on April 26, 1940, still living in Jackson County, but now working in the logging industry in a lumber mill.
When Ethridge registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, the registrar described him as standing about six feet, one inch tall and weighing 150 lbs., with brown hair and gray eyes. According to his enlistment data card, Ethridge was a farmhand with a grammar school education; the 1940 census stated that he completed 3rd grade.
After he was drafted, Ethridge entered the U.S. Army on February 21, 1942, at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Private Ethridge was transferred from the Detachment, Medical Department, 4th Service Command at Fort Benning, Georgia, to the 32nd Station Hospital per Special Order No. 292, Headquarters Fort Benning, dated November 28, 1942. His duty was listed as hospital orderly.
Ethridge accompanied the 32nd Station Hospital to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, and went overseas on January 14, 1943. While the unit was operating in Tlemcen, Algeria, Ethridge was promoted to private 1st class on April 9, 1943, and to technician 5th grade on May 12, 1943. He was promoted to technician 4th grade effective June 21, 1943. Ethridge remained with the unit through the move to Caserta, Italy. On June 18, 1944, he went on temporary duty “with the 36th Gen Hosp to attend the Agripoli Rest Camp” for seven days. After V-E Day, Technician 4th Grade Ethridge was one of 16 enlisted men transferred to the 52nd Station Hospital on June 30, 1945. He was honorably discharged on October 1, 1945, and resumed work as a farmer in Haydenburg, Tennessee.
Ethridge died in Nashville, Tennessee, aged 36. His death certificate stated he was married, but I have been unable to learn the name of his spouse. Although Etheridge spent most of his career with the 32nd Station Hospital, the 52nd Station Hospital is listed on his headstone, probably because his last unit would have been listed on his discharge paperwork.
Raymond J. Farrell (almost certainly Raymond John Farrell), 11069951 (almost certainly May 30, 1921 – August 7, 2005)
Farrell was born in Rhode Island in 1921. He volunteered for the U.S. Army in Providence, Rhode Island, on June 11, 1942. Private Farrell was one of 44 men assigned to the 32nd Station Hospital on October 12, 1942, per Special Order No. 95, Headquarters 76th Infantry Division, Fort Meade, Maryland. He joined the 32nd Station Hospital at Camp Rucker, Alabama. He remained with the unit during moves to Fort Benning, Georgia, and Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, before going overseas on January 14, 1943.
On May 12, 1943, during operations in Tlemcen, Algeria, Farrell was promoted to private 1st class. He remained with the unit during operations that began the following year in Caserta, Italy. Following the conclusion of the 32nd Station Hospital Red Sox baseball season, he and other members of the team were rewarded by Colonel Goss with temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from September 29–October 3, 1944. After V-E Day, he was one of 16 enlisted men (all apparently members of the 32nd Station Hospital Red Sox) who went on temporary duty to Bari, Italy, on June 4, 1945, returning on June 7. He was promoted to corporal on July 3, 1945. He was transferred to the 24th General Hospital on July 25, 1945.
Farrell’s name appeared on a list compiled for the 1982 reunion of members of the hospital who had lost contact with the rest of the unit due to inaccurate or outdated addresses. The document stated that his last known address was 69 Brewster Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
I am not able to confirm the following match with absolute certainty, largely because of his common name—there was another Raymond J. Farrell from Pawtucket, a schoolteacher, who often showed up in searches—and the lack of an entry in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs B.I.R.L.S. Death File, which may have confirmed his service dates.
The most likely match was Raymond John Farrell, born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He was the son of Michael and Elizabeth Farrell. He had at least three older brothers and an older sister. Census records suggest that the family moved repeatedly but stayed in the Pawtucket area throughout his childhood. At the time of the census on April 10, 1940, he was living with three siblings at 182 West Avenue in Pawtucket and working as a braider in the wire industry. His education level was listed as grammar school.
When he registered for the draft on February 16, 1942, Farrell was unemployed and living at 93 Cleveland Street in Pawtucket. The registrar described him as standing approximately five feet, 11 inches tall and weighing 162 lbs., with brown hair and blue eyes. A June 17, 1942, article in the Providence Journal reported the recent enlistment of “Raymond J. Farrell, 21, 93 Chandler street[.]” Although it presumably refers to the 32nd Station Hospital’s Raymond J. Farrell, that address may be a typo, because an October 20, 1945, article in the same paper reported that “Cpl. Raymond J. Farrell, 93 Cleveland Stret. [sic] Pawtucket” was scheduled to arrive the following day in New York aboard the S.S. George Leonard. That is consistent with the history of the 24th General Hospital, which was dispatched back to the continental United States on October 11, 1945. An October 30, 1945, article in The Paterson Morning Call (Paterson, New Jersey) reported that 745 personnel from the 24th General Hospital had arrived in Newport News, Virginia from Livorno, Italy, aboard the George Leonard on October 29, 1945.
Farrell was listed in the 1946 Pawtucket city directory at the 93 Cleveland Street address without a specified occupation. The 1947 directory listed him as being in the U.S. Navy, but he disappeared from subsequent years’ directories. I was unable to learn anything else about him up until his death 58 years later, aged 84. A brief obituary that apparently pertains to him—at least, it has the correct age and date of death—was published in the Queens Ledger (New York, New York) on August 25, 2005, stating that he was survived by a daughter and two grandsons.
Walter Edward Fedorczak (Walter E. Fedonczak), 33461875 (May 31, 1922 – May 22, 1989)
Fedorczak was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Most available records (draft card, marriage license, Pennsylvania bonus paperwork, obituary, headstone, Social Security Death Index) give his name as Fedorczak, but some (high school yearbook, one entry in the Social Security Applications and Claims Index) spell it Fedonczak. He was the son of Charles and Nellie Fedorczak, who had immigrated from Poland. He had a younger sister and two younger brothers. He graduated from G.A.R. Memorial High School in 1940.
When he registered for the draft on June 30, 1942, Fedorczak was working for the American Store Company in Wilkes-Barre. The registrar described him as standing about five feet, ten inches tall and weighing 160 lbs., with brown hair and eyes.
A July 28, 1942, article in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader reported the Fedorczak was going to Philadelphia for a physical exam in the hopes of joining the U.S. Marine Corps. It appears that he was unsuccessful at enlisting in the Marines, but he was drafted into the U.S. Army the following year. Fedorczak was inducted in Wilkes-Barre on January 28, 1943, and went on active duty on February 4, 1943. A July 27, 1943, article in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader reporting Private Fedorczak’s engagement to Ann Marie Hodakoski (1923–1968) stated that he attended basic training at Fort McClelland, Alabama.
According to his Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Application for World War II Compensation, Fedorczak went overseas on July 14, 1943. His Pennsylvania Record of Burial Place of Veteran lists his unit as Company “H,” 135th Infantry Regiment, which was part of the 34th Infantry Division. If that was his first unit overseas, he presumably joined it in North Africa as a replacement following the Tunisian campaign and subsequently served in Italy. Indeed, a July 17, 1944, article in the Wilkes-Barre Record reported that “PFC Walter E. Fedorczak […] was promoted to corporal. He is an assistant squad leader with the 34th ‘Red Bull’ Division of the Fifth Army in Italy.”
A hospital admission card under Fedorczak’s service number stated that in June 1944, he suffered a fractured fibula (as well as a fractured or otherwise injured radius) when he was riding in a truck involved in a crash. He was discharged from the hospital in October 1944.
Corporal Fedorczak was one of 61 men who joined the 32nd Station Hospital in Caserta, Italy, transferring in from the 7th Replacement Depot at 1000 hours on November 12, 1944. These 61 men included many combat veterans, who Colonel Goss mentioned in his 1944 annual report as being “limited assignment men” whose wounds or injuries prevented further service in the field. The transfer document indicated he was Infantry Branch with M.O.S. 055 (clerk, general). He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from December 6–10, 1944. At the time he left the unit on April 22, 1945, Corporal Fedorczak’s M.O.S. was listed as 309 (telephone operator). He was transferred to the 3988th Signal Switchboard Operating Detachment (at least, I believe that’s the unit based on the morning report entry that mentioned the “3988 Sig Switchboard Optg Det”). He may have temporarily remained on the hospital grounds, since a morning report mentioned that the 3988th was attached for rations, quarters, and administration on April 22, 1945.
Corporal Fedorczak arrived back in the United States on December 6, 1945, and was discharged at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Pennsylvania six days later.
By May 7, 1946, Fedorczak had returned to Wilkes-Barre and was working as a laborer. He married Ann Marie Hodakoski (a factory worker) in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania on June 1, 1946. By January 20, 1950, when he applied for his Pennsylvania World War II service bonus, Fedorczak was living with his wife and daughter in Ashley, Pennsylvania. Years after his wife’s death in 1968, Fedorczak remarried to Theresa Hooper (née Waclawski, 1922–2009) on an unknown date following the death of her husband in 1979.
Fedorczak died in West Wyoming, Pennsylvania, shortly before his 67th birthday. His obituary, published in the Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) stated that Fedorczak “lived in West Wyoming the past 45 years. Mr. Fedorczak was a retired miner and the past 31 years was employed by the Santarelli Block Co., West Wyoming.”
Gideon Arthur Fetterolf, 13008320 (September 10 or 20, 1920 – November 27, 2014)
Fetterolf was born in Pennsylvania. According to his Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Application For World War II Compensation and his draft card, he was born in Pitman, Schuylkill County, while his obituary stated that he was born in Eldred (presumably the Eldred Township in Schuylkill County, since the family was recorded on the 1920 census living in Upper Mahantongo Township, Schuylkill County). He was the son of Charles and Bertha Fetterolf. His draft card and Pennsylvania bonus paperwork gave his date of birth as September 10, 1920, while his headstone, Ohio death record, and obituary listed September 20, 1920. Fetterolf had at least seven siblings: three older brothers, two older sisters, and two younger brothers.
The Fetterolf family was recorded on the census on April 8, 1930, living in Butler Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Fetterolf was working as a farmhand in Butler Township when recorded on the census on April 10, 1940. His enlistment data stated that he completed two years of high school.
Fetterolf volunteered for the U.S. Army, enlisting in Philadelphia on November 13, 1940. As a volunteer, he selected Cavalry branch. A September 22, 1941, article in the Pottsville Republican stated that Private 1st Class Fetterolf “began a three months’ course in horseshoeing at the nation’s only Cavalry School at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.” With the obsolescence of the horse cavalry in modern warfare, most of the U.S. Army’s cavalry units were reorganized or disbanded in the early 1940s. As of December 22, 1941, when he was mentioned again in the Mount Carmel Item, Fetterolf was still stationed at Fort Oglethorpe.
Fetterolf married Kathryn Osborne or Osburn (both names were listed on the marriage record, 1922–2007) on September 25, 1942, in Robertson County, Tennessee.
Private 1st Class Fetterrolf joined the 32nd Station Hospital from the Detachment, Medical Department, 4th Service Command at Fort Benning, Georgia, on December 17, 1942. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Camp Kilmer with the rest of the unit and went overseas on January 14, 1943. Fetterolf served with the unit during the first half of operations in Tlemcen, Algeria, in 1943. His first child, a son, was born in May 1943 while he was overseas.
A June 28, 1943 morning report entry stated that Private 1st Class Fetterolf was transferred to the 1st Replacement Depot, but the following day’s entry amended his transfer destination to the 261st Amphibious Medical Battalion. It is unclear how long he served with that unit, which participated in the invasion of Sicily and operated briefly in Italy before moving to the United Kingdom to participate in the invasion of Normandy. The battalion landed on Utah Beach and was disbanded on January 28, 1945.
Two of Fetterolf’s brothers, Clair and Russell, were infantrymen. A May 18, 1945, article in the Pottsville Republican about Russell mentioned that
Another brother, Pvt. Gideon Fetterolf is still overseas and is in France with a Medical Detachment. He is also a veteran of 29 months of service in North Africa and Europe and is also eligible for discharge under the new point system.
Private 1st Class Fetterolf arrived back in the United States on July 18, 1945, and was honorably discharged from the Army at the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Pennsylvania on July 24, 1945. When he registered for the draft three days later, he was described as standing five feet, nine inches tall and weighing 160 lbs., with brown hair and eyes. After the war, he and his wife moved to Ohio. By January 26, 1950, the family was living in Windham, and they later settled in Newton Falls. The Fetterolfs raised five sons.
His obituary, printed in the Tribune Chronicle on December 7, 2014, and reproduced on his Find a Grave page, states that “He was employed by Rockwell International as a die setter, retiring from his duties in 1976.” He died in Warren, Ohio, aged 94.
James Arthur Fisher, 33550375 (January 28, 1923 – October 18, 2003)
Fisher was born in Ridgeley, Maryland. He was the son of James (a carpenter) and Eva Fisher. He had at least three brothers and two sisters. His was recorded on the 1930 and 1940 censuses living in Chestertown, Maryland. As of April 25, 1940, he was working as a janitor and had completed one year of high school.
Fisher was drafted and apparently was inducted into the Army of the United States in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 14, 1943. (His original enlistment data card was removed when he reenlisted after the war, but other men with service numbers sequentially before and after him were inducted on that date and location.) His enlistment data card recorded him as a high school graduate.
A June 16, 1945, morning report entry stated he was “entitled to Bronze Service Star for North [Apennines] Campaign” for service prior to joining the 32nd Station Hospital. Private Fisher was one of 61 men who joined the 32nd Station Hospital in Caserta, Italy, transferring from the 7th Replacement Depot at 1000 hours on November 12, 1944. The transfer document indicated he was from a Signal Corps unit with M.O.S. 522 (duty soldier I). He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Center in Rome on April 22, 1945, returning on April 26. The last mention I was able to find of him in the unit’s records was July 6, 1945. I was not able to find a record of him leaving the unit. It may have occurred sometime between September 1–12, 1945, during which unit records appear to be missing.
Private 1st Class Fisher reenlisted into the Regular Army on November 5, 1945. He apparently remained in a Medical Department unit. His entry in the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs B.I.R.L.S. Death File listed his birthdate as January 28, 1922. The record didn’t have his World War II service, only his second enlistment: November 5, 1945–July 23, 1946.
His obituary, printed in the Times-Record (Denton, Maryland) on October 22, 2003, stated:
He was a veteran of WW II where he was stationed in Italy as a member of the signal corps. He worked as a line worker for Kent Manufacturing, Vita Food and Campbell’s Soup in Chestertown, and then as a cook in Philadelphia. He had moved back to Delmarva in the early 1990s.
The obituary stated he was a resident of Denton prior to his death, and had 10 stepchildren by his wife, Margaret. He died in Easton, Maryland, aged 80.
Gerald Francis Fitzgerald, 33190958 (August 17, 1905 – September 5, 1953)
Fitzgerald was born in Washington, D.C. I was unable to find any record of him until he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940. At that time, he was working for the Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) at the Washington Navy Yard. The registrar described him as standing approximately five feet, 9½ inches tall and weighing 175 lbs. The registrar added that he was semi-bald, with reddish-brown hair and brown eyes.
After he was drafted, Fitzgerald joined the U.S. Army on June 3, 1942, at Fort Myer, Virginia. His enlistment data card recorded his occupation as a “Semiskilled painters, construction and maintenance,” with a grammar school education.
Private Fitzgerald was assigned to the 32nd Station Hospital on September 4, 1942, per Transfer List No. 978 from Camp Pickett, Virginia. He joined the hospital on September 10, 1942, at Camp Rucker, Alabama. Fitzgerald went overseas with the unit on January 14, 1943. Shortly after arriving in Algeria, he was promoted to private 1st class on February 2, 1943. Several months later, during operations in Tlemcen, Algeria, Fitzgerald was promoted to technician 5th grade on May 12, 1943.
Technician 5th Grade Fitzgerald remained with the unit during operations in Caserta, Italy, which began in January 1944. On June 18, 1944, he went on temporary duty “with the 36th Gen Hosp to attend the Agripoli Rest Camp” for seven days. He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from December 2–6, 1944. On December 8, 1944, he was transferred to the 7th Replacement Depot for rotation to the United States. At the time, his M.O.S. was listed as 861 (surgical technician) and civilian occupation as 144 (painter, general). Technician 5th Grade Fitzgerald was honorably discharged on September 3, 1945. After his death in 1953, aged 48, Fitzgerald was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The interment control form listed his unit (presumably his last) as the 1231st Service Command Unit Station Hospital.
Edward Phillip Fitzpatrick, 33280054 (August 29, 1919 – July 13, 1971)
Fitzpatrick was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Walter (a clerk) and Helen Fitzpatrick. He had three brothers and a sister. Fitzpatrick was only 10 years old when his mother died in 1930. Fitzpatrick was recorded on the census—oddly enough, with the middle initial L.—on April 8, 1940, working as a repairman in the optical industry. His enlistment data card stated that he had completed three years of high school, while the 1940 census described him as a high school graduate. When he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, the registrar described Fitzpatrick as standing five feet, 10 inches tall, and weighing 145 lbs., with blond hair and blue eyes.
After he was drafted, Fitzpatrick joined the U.S. Army in Pittsburgh on June 15, 1942. His enlistment data card listed his occupation as optometrist. Private 1st Class Fitzpatrick was assigned to the 32nd Station Hospital on October 12, 1942, per Special Order No. 95, Headquarters 76th Infantry Division, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. He joined the unit at Camp Rucker, Alabama, and remained with it during subsequent moves to Fort Benning, Georgia, and Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, before going overseas on January 14, 1943. On June 21, 1943, during operations in Tlemcen, Algeria, Fitzpatrick was promoted to corporal.
At the end of 1943, Corporal Fitzpatrick moved to Italy with the rest of the unit, where operations resumed in Caserta in January 1944. He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from September 25–29, 1944, and again from December 18–22, 1944. He was one of 16 enlisted men (all apparently members of the 32nd Station Hospital Red Sox) who went on temporary duty to Bari, Italy, on June 4, 1945, returning on June 7.
Corporal Fitzpatrick was one of a handful of enlisted men who served with the unit the entire time it was overseas. After the 32nd Station Hospital arrived at the Boston Port of Embarkation on October 8, 1945, he was transferred to the Reception Center at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. At the time of his departure from the unit, his M.O.S. was 055 (clerk, general). Fitzpatrick was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Pennsylvania, on October 21, 1945. I have been unable to learn anything about his postwar life, beyond the fact that he was buried in Jefferson Memorial Park after his death in 1971, aged 51.
Stephen John Flak (Steve Flock), 33146636 (April 19, 1914 – November 18, 1972)
Flak was born in Continental, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, the son of Steve and Mary Flak (Flock). The younger Flak appeared as Steve Flock in some records, although there is no indication either used a suffix. His parents were Slovakian (then part of Austria-Hungary). According to census records, Flak’s parents emigrated to the United States in 1907, shortly after their first child was born. Flak grew up in Luzerne Township in Fayette County. He had at least five sisters and two brothers. In 1918, when Flak was four, his father died in a mining accident, a “fall of slate” at Thompson Mine No. 2. Census records indicate that Flak dropped out of school after completing 7th grade. By the time of the 1940 census, he was working as a laborer in a coal mine.
When he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, Flak was living in Republic, Pennsylvania, and working for the Pittsburgh Steel Company in nearby Tower Hill. The registrar described him as standing approximately five feet, seven inches tall and weighing 130 lbs., with brown hair and blue eyes. His enlistment data card described his occupation as “Semiskilled miners, and mining-machine operators.”
After he was drafted, Flak entered the U.S. Army in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, on January 29, 1942. An article printed in The Evening Standard (Uniontown, Pennsylvania) on February 20, 1942, reported that Flak had recently moved to Camp Wheeler, Georgia. Private Flak joined the 32nd Station Hospital from the Detachment, Medical Department, 4th Service Command at Fort Benning, Georgia, on December 17, 1942. He went overseas with the hospital on January 14, 1943. During operations in Tlemcen, Algeria, Flak was promoted to private 1st class on May 12, 1943.
Flak remained with the unit when operations moved to Italy. While serving in Caserta, he was promoted to technician 5th grade on February 19, 1944. He attended a daytime training program at the 64th General Hospital from May 1, 1944, through May 28, 1944, then again May 30, 1944, through May 31. He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from October 7–11, 1944. As of February 7, 1945, his M.O.S. was listed as 409 (medical technician). He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Center in Rome on May 13, 1945, returning May 16. Technician 5th Grade Flak was one of a handful of enlisted men who served with the unit the entire time it was overseas.
After the 32nd Station Hospital arrived at the Boston Port of Embarkation on October 8, 1945, he was transferred to the Reception Center at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. At the time of his departure from the unit, his M.O.S. was 409 (medical technician). He was discharged from the U.S. Army at Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, on October 20, 1945. He returned to working in a coal mine. He married Elizabeth Kremposky (1924–1988) in Republic on May 14, 1949. The couple did not have children. Flak died in Republic, aged 58.
Roger Dean Fleming, 20151949 (July 27, 1915 – June 7, 1965)
Fleming was born in Hyde Park or North Hyde Park, Vermont. He was the fourth child of Frank (a laborer) and Margaret (Maggie) Fleming. Fleming had four sisters and a brother. His enlistment data card described him as a cook with one year of high school. According to a September 14, 1944, article in The Barre Daily Times (Barre, Vermont), “Before entering military service he was a short order cook employed by Charles Barton, Bradford.”
When he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, Fleming was living and working in Montpelier, Vermont. The registrar described him as standing about five feet, four inches tall and weighing 120 lbs., with brown hair and blue eyes. (When he re-registered on November 13, 1945, he was described as five feet, 5½ inches tall and 128 lbs.)
Private Fleming was a member of Headquarters Company, 172nd Infantry Regiment—a Vermont National Guard unit—when he entered federal service in Northfield, Vermont, on February 24, 1941. He was with the unit when it departed for Camp Blanding, Florida, on March 12, 1941. He presumably transferred out of the unit while it was stationed there, sometime prior to February 14, 1942.
Private Fleming was assigned to the 32nd Station Hospital on November 30, 1942, transferring from Camp Blanding per Special Order No. 290. He joined the hospital unit on December 2, 1942. The transfer document stated he was qualified for the duty of medical technician at the rank of private 1st class.
Fleming went overseas with the rest of the unit on January 14, 1943. He served in the 32nd Station Hospital during operations in Algeria and Italy. While serving in Caserta, Fleming was promoted to technician 5th grade on August 15, 1944. He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from October 15–19, 1944, and again from January 15–19, 1945. His M.O.S. was listed as 657 (medical aidman or hospital orderly) as of February 2, 1945. However, his M.O.S. was 409 (medical technician) by June 6, 1945, when it switched to 072 (physical therapy technician). He transferred to the 26th General Hospital on July 30, 1945, departing on August 1, 1945. Based on his headstone application, it appears that was his final unit before he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army on November 11, 1945. After the war, Fleming settled in Windsor, Vermont.
According to his obituary, printed in the Rutland Daily Herald on June 8, 1965, Fleming “was employed by the William Fitzgerald Electrical Co. in Wineskill, N. Y., as an electrician.” He died in Troy, New York, aged 49.
Johnny T. Flournoy, 7005049 (July 30, 1917 – November 25, 1992)
Flournoy was born in Meriwether County, Georgia, the son of Eddy Walker Flournoy (a farmer) and Annie Katherine Flournoy. He was recorded on the census on January 17, 1920, living in Meriwether County. By the time of the next census was taken on April 11, 1930, the family had moved to Troup County, Georgia, where Flournoy’s parents were working in a cotton mill.
According to his Find a Grave entry, Flournoy was in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s and worked at Pine Mountain, Georgia.
Flournoy volunteered for the Regular Army at Fort McPherson, Georgia, on January 17, 1940. Private Flournoy was recorded on the census on April 12, 1940, living in barracks at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was listed as a member of the 4th Anti-Tank Battalion. The 4th Anti-Tank Battalion had been activated at Fort Benning on January 1, 1940. It was originally equipped with .50 machine guns and, after a few months, towed 37 mm anti-tank guns. On June 1, 1940, the unit was redesignated as the 94th Anti-Tank Battalion, and as the 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion on December 15, 1941. As of December 25, 1941, Private 1st Class Flournoy was a member of Company “C,” 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion.
At some point—probably by July 3, 1942, since he did not appear in a company photo—Flournoy transferred out of the unit, eventually joining the 1st Tank Destroyer Group by the summer of 1943. The 1st Tank Destroyer Group was activated on March 30, 1942, at Camp Bowie, Texas. Several T.D. battalions (including the 894th from 1942 until February 10, 1943) were attached to the group for administrative reasons; the 1st Tank Destroyer Group did not have any combat capacity of its own. The unit shipped out to England on August 18, 1942, arriving in England on August 31, 1942. The group arrived in Algeria in mid-January 1943.
Technician 5th Grade Flournoy was serving with the 1st Tank Destroyer Group at the Fifth Army Tank Destroyer Training Center in Sebdou, Algeria, when he was transferred to the 32nd Station Hospital in nearby Tlemcen on August 8, 1943, per Special Order No 17, Headquarters 7th Army. After arriving at the 32nd Station Hospital, word arrived that he had been “Erroneously carried as Tech 5th Gr Reduced to gr of Pvt 7/26/43” per Special Order No. 53, Headquarters 1st Tank Destroyer Group. The reason for the demotion was unclear, but apparently administrative.
About a month into 32nd Station Hospital operations in Caserta, Italy, Flournoy was promoted back to technician 5th grade on February 19, 1944. He was “reduced, without prejudice” to the rank of private on March 5, 1944. 32nd Station Hospital C.O. Harold Goss gave Stephen J. Sitar, another man demoted without prejudice on the same date, a letter which stated in part that Sitar was to be “returned to the Zone of Interior on the rotation list. Conforming to orders of higher headquarters T/4 Stephen J. Sitar was reduced to Private in order to conform with travel orders.” Goss recommended that Sitar be promoted back to his previous grade. It is unclear why the men couldn’t be transferred in grade. On March 9, 1944, Flournoy was transferred to Personnel Center 1 per Special Order No. 67, Headquarters Peninsular Base Section.
According to his Find a Grave entry, after returning from Italy, Flournoy “was then stationed in Topeka, KS at Winter General Hospital where his supervisor was May Brown. There he met her daughter Maella.” Apparently, he was discharged from the U.S. Army in November 1944.
After leaving the military, he made his home in LaGrange, Georgia, and worked as a cook. He married Maella Marie Brown (1926–2016) in Phenix City, Alabama, on February 28, 1945. The couple raised three daughters and two sons. The Flournoys returned to his Maella’s hometown of Topeka where Johnny was a painter and contractor. In 1960, the family moved back to Georgia and settled in Columbus.
According to his Find a Grave page,
He loved hunting and fishing and playing cards. He coached Babe Ruth baseball. In later years he planted gardens of vegetables. He was a member of the American Legion Post 35 and was the oldest living member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 665.
He died in Muscogee County, Georgia, aged 75.
Maurice James Foffel, 37424078 (October 23, 1918 – August 12, 1984)
Foffel was born in Dundee, Iowa, the son of James and Blanche Foffel. He had an older sister. The Foffel family was recorded on the census on January 8, 1920, living in Richland Township in Delaware County, Iowa, where James Foffel was farming. The family was recorded on the census on April 9, 1930, living in Iowa City. As of May 1940, he was recorded on the census living with his mother in Iowa City and working as a waiter while going to college. When he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, he was described as standing five feet, 11 inches tall and weighing 138 lbs., with brown hair and eyes. According to an April 20, 1947, article in the Waterloo Sunday Courier, Foffel was “a graduate of pharmacy of Iowa State college, Ames, in 1942[.]”
After graduation, Foffel began working as a pharmacist. He married Helen Esther Heywood (1918–1985) in Aurora, Iowa, on May 24, 1942. He was drafted soon after.
Foffel was inducted into the U.S. Army on July 11, 1942. According to his Application to State of Iowa for World War II Service Compensation, he went on active duty at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, on July 25, 1942. He was transferred to the 32nd Station Hospital from the Medical Replacement Training Center at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, on September 23, 1942, and joined the unit at Camp Rucker, Alabama on October 1, 1942. He served in the unit pharmacy.
Foffel was promoted to private 1st class on December 3, 1942. He went overseas with the rest of the unit on January 14, 1943. While serving in Tlemcen, Algeria, he was promoted to technician 5th grade effective May 12, 1943. The following month, on June 21, 1943, he was promoted to technician 4th grade. Foffel remained with the unit during its service in Italy. He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from September 25–29, 1944. He went again from December 10–14, 1944. Technician 4th Grade Foffel was one of a handful of enlisted men who served with the unit the entire time it was overseas. After the 32nd Station Hospital arrived at the Boston Port of Embarkation on October 8, 1945, he was transferred to the Reception Center at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. At the time of his departure from the unit, his M.O.S. was 149 (pharmacist). He was discharged from the U.S. Army on October 13, 1945.
A November 8, 1945, article in The Oelwein Daily Register (Oelwein, Iowa) entitled “Foffel Gets Army Release,” stated that “Sgt. Maurice Foffel received his honorable discharge from the army at Jefferson Barracks, Mo.” The article also stated “he is employed as pharmacist with Schlegel Drugs, Inc.” in Davenport. An April 20, 1947, article in the Waterloo Sunday Courier reported that Foffel and his wife “have purchased the Ray V. Green drug store” in Winthrop.
Foffel was listed on a 1957 Peoria, Illinois, directory as the branch manager for the Sutliff & Case Company, which seems to have been a drug company or pharmacy chain. At the time of the 1982 reunion, Foffel was still living in Peoria. He retired the following year and died in 1984, aged 65.
Mariano Fontanilla, 33233322 (December 23, 1904 – April 7, 1964)
Fontanilla was born in Agoo, La Union, Philippine Islands, then a U.S. territory. He was the son of Gregorio and Margarita Fontanilla. He had at least one sister. Curiously, his funeral home record stated that he enlisted in the military on February 23, 1923. A June 26, 1942, article in the Lancaster New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) may provide an explanation, noting that Fontanilla “served six years with the Philippine Scouts on Corregidor.” On March 16, 1929, he sailed from Manila aboard the S.S. President McKinley, arriving in Seattle, Washington, on April 8, 1929. The arrival document stated that he would be living in San Francisco, California.
He is likely the Mariano Fontanilla who was living in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana and self-employed as a fisherman when he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940. (The date of birth matches, as does the fact that the draft card recorded him as born in the Philippine Islands.) The registrar described him as standing five feet, three inches tall and weighing 122 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes. An annotation stated that he moved to Miami Beach, Florida on an unknown date. The draft card didn’t mention another move, though by 1942, the 32nd Station Hospital’s Fontanilla was living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
After he was drafted, Fontanilla joined the U.S. Army in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on June 12, 1942. The June 26, 1942, article in the Lancaster New Era stated that
Private Mariano Fontanilla, 37, Lancaster R5, will be the quizz [sic] master on an all-Army show to be broadcast from the New Cumberland Reception Center at 7:30 o’clock this evening. He was formerly employed as a cook in the family of Howard J. Eshelman, Eden.
Private Fontanilla was transferred to the Medical Replacement Training Center at Camp Pickett, Virginia, around July 24, 1942, when the news was reported in the Lancaster New Era. He was one of 26 men from Camp Pickett who was assigned to the 32nd Station Hospital on August 31, 1942, per Transfer List No. 955. His M.O.S. was listed as 060 (cook). Fontanilla joined the unit at Camp Rucker, Alabama, on September 3, 1942. He was promoted to private 1st class on December 3, 1942.
Shortly after arriving in Algeria, he was promoted to technician 5th grade on February 2, 1943. Later that year, he was promoted to sergeant on April 8, 1943. He went on detached service to the 1st Replacement Depot on May 24, 1943, returning on June 7, 1943. He was transferred to the 1st Replacement Depot on October 5, 1943.
According to his Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Application for World War II Compensation, Fontanilla arrived back in the United States on October 28, 1943, and was discharged from the U.S. Army at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, on December 4, 1943. He reenlisted in the Medical Department in New York City on May 13, 1946. A news item in the February 18, 1950, Guam News reported that Sergeant Fontanilla was assigned to the Marbo General Dispensary mess when it was awarded “two plaques for having the best mess hall at Marbo.”
A March 10, 1953, article in the Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), stated that “Sgt. Mariano Fontanilla, whose wife, Tamiko, lives at 1626 Linden Ave., recently was assigned to the 43rd Infantry Division in Germany. A cook in the 102nd Infantry Regiment, Sgt. Fontanilla has been in the Army since June, 1942.”
A February 16, 1956, article in the Lancaster New Era reported that Sergeant 1st Class Fontanilla was departing for a rotation in Germany.
His headstone at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in California stated that he was a veteran of World War II and Korea. His service number, 33233322, was at some point modified to ER-33233322, indicating he became a reservist. His headstone stated he reached the grade of sergeant 1st class. His record at Godeau Funeral Home stated that his organization was Company B, 3rd Battle Group, 1st Brigade at the training center at Fort Ord, California. That document stated that he retired from the military on June 30, 1959, at Fort Ord, but then spent two more years as a civilian cook there. Fontanilla died in Letterman General Hospital at the Presidio in San Francisco in 1964.
Howard Froehlich, 32269383 (almost certainly July 8, 1920 – June 5, 1972)
Froehlich was born in Pennsylvania and was living in Camden County, New Jersey, when he was drafted. Froehlich joined the U.S. Army on June 10, 1942, at Ford Dix, New Jersey. His enlistment data card described him as working in “Packing, filling, labeling, marking, bottling, and related occupations” and his education as one year of high school. Private 1st Class Froehlich was assigned to the 32nd Station Hospital on October 12, 1942, per Special Order No. 95, Headquarters 76th Infantry Division, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. He joined the unit at Camp Rucker, Alabama, and remained with it through moves in the United States and overseas to Algeria and later Italy.
Froehlich went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from September 29–October 3, 1944. He was transferred to 1st Replacement Depot on December 10 or 11, 1944. In the transfer document, his M.O.S. was 522 (duty soldier I) and M.C.O. 373 (sales clerk).
Froehlich’s name appeared on a list of members of the unit who had lost contact by 1982 due to outdated or inaccurate addresses, with a last known address of Maple Avenue in Lindenwold, New Jersey.
A probable match is the Howard Froehlich who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Robert and Louise Froelich. He had two brothers and a sister. The family was recorded on the 1930 census living in Clementon Borough, Camden County, New Jersey. By the 1940 census, the family was living in Laurel Springs, also located in Camden County. Froehlich was described as having completed two years of high school. When he registered for the draft on February 16, 1942, he was living in Laurel Springs and working in Philadelphia. He was described as standing five feet, two inches tall and weighing 120 lbs. with blond hair and brown eyes.
At some point after the war, he moved back to Philadelphia, according to his obituary in the Courier-Post (Camden, New Jersey).
Joe Milburn Frye, 34497734 (May 14, 1913 – June 13, 1953)
Frye was born and raised in Greene County, Tennessee. The son of Joseph E. (a farmer) and Roberta Frye, he had five brothers and three sisters. In 1931, Frye graduated from Jearoldstown High School.
When he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, Frye was living with his wife Pansy Marie Frye in Kingsport, Tennessee, and working for the Tennessee Eastman Corporation there. The couple subsequently divorced. The registrar described him as standing approximately five feet, eight inches tall and weighing 140 lbs., with brown hair and blue eyes, and “Figures of woman tattooed on each forearm[.]”
After he was drafted, Frye joined the U.S. Army at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, on December 3, 1942. His enlistment data card described him as married, a high school graduate, and a textile worker. He attended basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas, per a January 31, 1943, Kingsport Times news item.
A January 31, 1945, article in the Kingsport Times indicated that Private Frye went overseas around April 1943, served in North Africa and Italy, and had earned the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Private Frye was one of 61 men who joined the 32nd Station Hospital in Caserta, Italy, transferring from the 7th Replacement Depot at 1000 hours on November 12, 1944. The transfer document indicated he was Infantry Branch with M.O.S. 522 (duty soldier I). As of March 15, 1945, his M.O.S. was 014 (automotive mechanic). That day, he was transferred to the 313th Military Police Escort Guard Detachment. He was promoted to private 1st class during his service with that unit. A handwritten note on his headstone application stated that he earned the Bronze Star Medal during World War II (which may have been due to earning the Combat Infantryman Badge, under a postwar regulation that awarded the B.S.M. to men who received the C.I.B.). He was honorably discharged on October 10, 1945.
After the war, he returned to Kingsport, where he worked as a carpenter. He remarried to Beulah June Wilson in Kingsport on December 28, 1945. The couple had one daughter, but subsequently divorced. Frye died in a house fire on June 13, 1953, aged 40.
Robert Albert Furlani, 33494642 (August 10, 1917 – February 15, 1996)
Furlani was born in Mount Carmel Township, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Candido (Condy) Furlani and Anna (Annie) Furlani. His father, a coal miner, had been born in either Austria (according to the 1920 census) or Italy (per the 1930 census), though both records recorded Italian as his mother tongue. He had an older brother and an older sister. The family was living in Mount Carmel borough at the time of the 1920 census and in Atlas, a village in Mount Carmel Township, by the 1930 census. Furlani’s father died on February 18, 1938, when he was 10 years old. Census records and his enlistment data card state that he had completed one year of college.
When he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, Furlani was unemployed and living in Atlas. The registrar described him as standing five feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 160 lbs., with brown hair and hazel eyes.
After he was drafted, Furlani was inducted into the U.S. Army in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on December 16, 1942. He went on active duty one week later in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. His enlistment data card described him as a semiskilled machine shop worker. According to his Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Application for World War II Compensation, he went overseas on June 10, 1943.
Technician 5th Grade Furlani joined the 32nd Station Hospital in Caserta, Italy, transferring from the 183rd Signal Service Warning Platoon on March 13, 1945. The 183rd, like the 32nd Station Hospital, served in Algeria and Italy. His M.O.S. appears to have been listed as 510 (information center operator), though he would have been issued a new one at the hospital. He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Center in Rome on May 24, 1945, returning on May 28. I was not able to find a record of him leaving the unit. It may have occurred sometime between September 1–12, 1945; the morning reports for that date are apparently missing.
Technician 5th Grade Furlani arrived back in the United States around November 26, 1945, and was honorably discharged at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Pennsylvania, on December 5, 1945.
Furlani married Patricia Allen (1909–1990) in Cecil County, Maryland, in July 1948. As of 1950, the couple was living in Newark, New Jersey. Furlani apparently returned to Pennsylvania after her death, and died in Harrisburg, aged 78. His obituary, printed in the York Sunday News on February 18, 1996, stated that he “was a retired employee of American Can Co., New Brunswick, N.J.” The article added that he was survived by two daughters.
Daniel George Furman, 34208031 (August 31, 1919 – May 25, 1974)
Furman was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of Louis (a clothing manufacturer who owned stores in Brooklyn and later Daytona Beach, Florida) and Dora Furman. His father had immigrated from Russia in 1895 according to census records. He had an older brother, an older sister, and a younger brother. Furman was Jewish. The family was recorded living in Brooklyn on the 1920 and 1930 censuses. Sometime between April 1, 1935, and April 1, 1940, Furman moved to Florida. He was recorded in May 1940 living with his parents and younger brother in Daytona Beach, where he was working as manager of his father’s men’s clothing store. The 1940 census described him as having completed two years of college, while his enlistment data card described him as having finished one year.
When he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, Furman was still living in Daytona Beach and working for his father. The registrar described him as standing five feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 226 lbs., with gray eyes. An annotation to the draft card dated December 27, 1941, stated that Furman had moved to Miami Beach. By November 9, 1941, he was running a store, Furmly’s, at 239 23rd Street in Miami Beach.
After he was drafted, Furman joined the U.S. Army on June 25, 1942, at Camp Blanding, Florida. His enlistment data card gave his occupation as salesman. V-mails in his family’s collection establish that Private Furman was overseas as a member of Company “A,” 636th Tank Destroyer Battalion in Italy by November 1, 1943, and was still a member of that unit by January 24, 1944. The battalion had arrived in Algeria in April 1943 but did not see combat until September 1943 during the invasion of Italy.
Private Furman joined the 32nd Station Hospital in Caserta, Italy, at 1400 hours on March 3, 1944, per the orders of Headquarters 5th Army. He went on temporary duty to the U.S. Army Rest Camp, Rome, from October 7–11, 1944. He went again from December 26–30, 1944. He was promoted to private 1st class on February 15, 1945. He was one of 35 enlisted men transferred to the 35th Field Hospital effective September 11, 1945. His B.I.R.L.S. Death File entry gives his discharge date as December 2, 1945.
According to state records, on June 15, 1947, Furman married Evelyn Cohen (1923–2014) in Pinellas County, Florida. The couple raised a daughter and a son. By 1969, Furman and his wife were living in North Miami Beach. He was killed in a car accident in 1974. His obituary, published in The Miami Herald on May 28, 1974, stated that Furman “Was a member of the Process Club of Miami, Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce and Co-owner of Furmlys Men’s Wear on Miracle Mile.”
More articles in the series Enlisted Men of the 32nd Station Hospital:
Last updated June 1, 2022
32nd Station Hospital 