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WWII photos and memories of Joe Hill Hammond
WWII photos and memories of Joe Hill Hammond
The initial primary purpose of this website was to post photos of my Dad, and his U.S. Army unit during their service in World War II.
Little did I know that there was more to it than just a few small photos in his old photo album!
I began this particular project in March 2012. He passed away the morning of March 21, 2015.
This actually began as an extension of my interest in ancestry, genealogy and family history. My Dad was then living with me. We were moving his "stuff" and then reviewing old photos. As with most families, our collection of old photos included many of the usual trips and visits to the beach, and those of cousins and Aunts and Uncles, etc. But it also included that "old photo album", from his time in the Army during WWII. And it had usually been tucked away in a closet. He just never really talked much about those days, when I was a kid, or at least I didn't remember it.
And as for records, the only other military record that I found was his discharge form from 1945: WD AGO 53-55. It showed that he was honorably discharged November 28, 1945 at Camp Cooke, California and his organization at separation was listed as the 3430th Ordnance Maintenance Company. That was the beginning of some confusion.
I had looked at this discharge form some time ago and had tried to learn more about the 3430th company, but without much luck. Also, it had my Dad's birthday as 9 Aug 1925, which was incorrect. Why was that? He was born 18 Oct 1926. I began to organize and scan all of our family photos in to my PC, including those in his military album. With my interest in ancestry, I attempted to always verify names, dates and relatives. I wanted hard evidence. It was then that I found another long-forgotten file of letters from someone in 2003 regarding a reunion for his military unit...the 841st Ordnance Depot Co. And even better, there was a copy of a company History and a Roster of the men....all in the 841st! Boy did I get excited!
All began to fall into place. He really was in the 841st from the beginning, and all throughout the war in Europe, and only in the 3430th just those last months in California! He and others had returned from Europe in May, had a leave to visit their homes, and had been sent west to prepare to join in the fight in the Pacific. But by August 15, 1945, the Japanese announced their surrender, and then September 2, 1945, the surrender document was signed, officially ending World War II. The name, V-J Day, was selected by the Allies after they named V-E Day for the victory in Europe.
So this is his personal story about him, and being a member of the 841st Ordnance Depot Company, in which he served from September 1943 until May 1945. And it is my version of a web narrative about the 841st company and all 200+ men, using my Dad's little album photos, the written history, the other company documents, and all the new photos, and personal details I continue to receive from any of the relatives of the men.
I have now posted a Company History, a Roster of men who were members of the 841st, my first attempt of a map of the operational locations, and many photos I found in my Dad's collection. Luckily, the Company kept a good record of their locations and movement, and copies were provided to the men by Sergeants James Sirman, Charles Marks, Michael Caffey, and Harry Perun. Any other documents or related material about the 841st will be posted, as I learn more.
In 2014, I was excited to receive a group photo of the entire company, from Oct 1944, in France. THis was provided by Thomas Plant's daughter, Barbara. Many thanks for that. It has been so helpful in identifying each of the men.
I have connected with many of the relatives of the men in the company, and just recently, (September 2023) excitingly heard from the daughter of one of the men, Frazier Phillips, who is now 98! She has shared a wealth of photos, and info. And another Thanks to Denise, granddaughter of Jerry Steenwyk, who has shared a copy of the above-mentioned group photo from 1944, with his list of last names of the men in the photo! These will be added soon to this website.
Please notice the Photo 12 page which has a 2015 photo of Col. Evans Reynolds, retired, then 98 years old, before passing in 2016. He's holding a framed copy of the group photo that his son (Evans Jr.) found here on this website. How great to have this!
I've now heard from several sons, grandsons, daughters, nephews, nieces, etc. who have found this website and connected with me. They've shared some of their photos and family histories, and they've helped me identify or correct names in some of the photos, which I then attempt to share with you.
This site is a way to honor their service, their stories, and their lives.
If anyone would like to share their own information, and certainly to help correct anything I've written, please contact me using the email address from the link at the bottom of the page.
My Dad, Joe Hill Hammond, was born October 18, 1926. He died March 21, 2015.
As I mentioned earlier, I created and began posting this back in about 2012. He was a good guy, and it turns out that he had many memories of his "war" years, but had just not talked a lot about them when I was growing up. Perhaps I should have asked more questions, but I was an only child, and probably more interested in some comic book. Now as I began quizzing him, it was also another way to keep his mind active. Some stories seemed to be quite accurate, and some had gotten a little fuzzy. After all, he was now in his 80's as I decided to gather and verify details. One recurring story was always about how they had to cut his boots off during those bitter cold days and nights of Dec 1944-Jan 1945 and being in the hospital in Luxembourg. This was during the time of the "Battle of the Bulge". His more current version of the "boot story" was he never got his boots replaced! I think maybe that was his way of adding a new twist to his story.
After my Mom passed away in 2005, he moved in with me. I re-discovered the photo album that covered those early years of their marriage and his Army service. My Mom had created the album. I remember finding it when I was about 10, tucked away up on a shelf in our den closet. My Mom allowed me to look at it then, but only carefully, because of the photos. They were arranged and held on each album page with those little black (and some white) mounting corners that had to be glued in place. Now many were unglued and corners falling! It was one of those albums typical of that time, about 11" x 14" in size, with a thick red embossed front and back cover with heavy black paper pages, and all tied on the binding side with a long cord. Most of these photos were very small, only about 1" x 2". I'm not sure what kind of camera was used, but probably a small Kodak. My Dad told me that there was someone in the outfit that took photos all the time. Thanks to whoever he was. When I scanned them in to my PC and enlarged them, it's amazing how some are very clear. I've posted almost all, here on this site, even some that were a bit fuzzy.
According to his Discharge Form WD AGO 53-55:
Date of Induction: September 7, 1943
Date of Entry into Active Service: September 28, 1943 at Ft. McPherson, Georgia.
Total Length of Service: 9 months, 23 days of Continental Service, and 1 year, 3 months and 16 days of Foreign Service
He was honorably discharged November 28, 1945 at Camp Cooke, California and his organization at separation was listed as the 3430th Ordnance Maintenance Company.
I have now heard from several of the relatives, families and friends of the men in the 841st. Some are the children, others are the grandchildren. Most have shared photos from their own collections. With their permission I have included and posted these here in the pages of Photos. I am grateful to all the help and information they have shared. Since we have the official 841st Roster with all their names and the general home addresses for them when they joined, I continue to research and attempt to identify faces and link them to each name. See my "on-going" project in the following pages. I also continue to create a Map of Operations based on the Chronological List of Locations found in the pages of the company History. This list begins with their landing on Utah Beachhead, 31 July 1944 (D-Plus-56) and ending with being in Regen, Germany on V-E Day, 8 May 1945.
I now understand that the last official 841st Reunion was held at Fort Knox, KY, in 2004. See the photos for that reunion in the Photos section.
One highly valued Military Historian and a great source of helpful information, (Richard V. Horrell) tells me that the 841st Ordnance Depot Company was activated by the US Military during WW 2. It was commanded by a Captain Lenard G. Fuller. And the unit's Order of Battle was:
841st Ordnance Depot Company
314th Ordnance Battalion
69th Ordnance Group
Third Army
During those three years that I had with him, quizzing him and hoping to spark some forgotten memory or story, I would often ask him about a name for a face of a man that he couldn't remember. And then the next day I would try again, hoping that it would come to him. Usually with no luck. But one day, he remembered even more! And that triggered another little story and another name. I've now scanned in to my computer, all of those little photos and even have names for some of the guys. I've tried to scan and get a higher resolution and have done some cleaning for each one. Many were not great originals, but some surprised me as I zoomed in.
So my plan here is to post the photos of him and his unit. Since most of the men are now gone, if I can connect with any of the families, then perhaps a more accurate website about the 841st can be created.
If anyone finds this site and knows anything about the unit, or was a part of it, or has relatives who were, please contact me below.
Dan Hammond
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