So, although my grandfather had died in the late 80's, and i never met him, I have been told enchanting stories about the man. I'd like to learn more about the type of fighting he might have seen. He never wanted to talk about details to my father so he doesn't know much either. Just found this sub not too long ago, and hope to find something out about it. I've wondered this my entire life!

Between my first post in the middle of the night about this here, I've unearthed a lot about my grandfather, which has led me to repost this with all of the things I didn't have then. Here is the cover of my grandpa's m10a1 'modified' (as he called it) General Sherman tank manual he left us, with a half page about what he did and where he was from his biography. Halfway down the page, he tells about how he hit 81 of 80 targets in target practice! A great commander I presume. Also, theres a bonus photo of the manual open with an illustration of a shot. He said he apparently missed the Battle of the Bulge (thank god), but also says he was the first tank across the bridge at Remagen. My parents dug up his autobiography, which gave me many answers but even more questions. He says, "I was assigned to a new outfit named the 656th tank destroyer battalion, a branch of the 9th armoured division. Our primary training was to seek and destroy Enemy Tanks and other armour, our secondary training since we were equipped with heavy guns {1st 75mm cannon mounted on halftrack vehicles} was artillery". That's from the page out of his autobiography. I've searched online many times, and was surprised to not find anything about his exact outfit.

Basically All I am asking is this: Can anyone find anything about the 656th battalion? What is a good way to learn more about the battles that my grandfather fought in? How big of a role did 9th armor play in the war? And finally, would I ever be able to find out if he was really the first tank across? I like to think so.

I'm just a grandson who likes genealogy and his ancestors. Hope I posted in the right place this time!

And thank you all in advance for anything!

edit: I'm on the lookout for typos

Edit 2!!!: I've gotten all of my answers from /u/RowdyInDC, who has researched and uncovered things that my family had never known about my grandfather. I found out exactly where he has traveled, (even though I am still finding out when he was shipped out) the dates to go with where they were day to day, how and who he was fighting with, and much more. Even the details about what kind of tank he was commanding! His name is Harold (Harry, which is what the photo says) Braun, and you can see him here with his signature under the photo, and the full website this .pdf is from here. The site goes into details about a million different pages of quality after action reports from the fighting that I am currently (and happily!) wading through, and also found out which platoon my grandfather was in, which was the second platoon. I can't believe how much of an amazing person it takes goes out of their way to help a random person out on the internet, but it puts a huge smile on my face that I can actually do something like that. Reach out, and be touched by someone from across the country to help me out. Will update with more information as it comes along, from either me or this amazing user /u/RowdyInDC.

My family's hearts go out to you.

Thank you!