I came across my grandpa's honorable discharge papers and would like to know more info about what some of the fields mean. His grade was PFC. The organization field says "Hq Company 2 Bn 515 Parachute Inf" It looks like maybe this is several different organizations from what I have gathered.
Occupational Specialty "Anti-Tank Gunner 7610"
Some other field that's covered by the text (I assume weapon specialty).
"IMG Expert Carbine SS" "Combat Infantryman Badge M-1 Rifle SS"
Battles and campaigns "Normandy Ardennes Rhineland Central Europe"
Decorations "Distinguished Server Medal Bronze Arrowhead EAME Theater Ribbon w/4 Bronze Stars Good Conduct Ribbon"
If anyone give any insight as do what some of this means, I would greatly appreciate it! He never talked about the war much (he didn't meet my grandma until after the war). My family mentioned that he was paratrooper and at some point someone in my family had his parachute that had several bullet holes in it. They also said he was in the battle of the bulge where he got very bad frostbite which supposedly lead to him losing both legs when he got older.
Are you sure he's was with the 515th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the end? The 515th was part of the 13th Airborne Division which didn't see combat in the European Theater.
Indeed your grandfather's combat record - Normandy, Ardennes, Rhineland, Central Europe - is instead indicative of him being in either the 101st or 82nd Airborne. Both of these units also got quite a few members from the 515th as replacements prior to the jump in Normandy.
As for his particular job, looks like he was a gunner for one of the Division's anti-tank guns - which were the rather puny but surprisingly effective 57mm guns. The Carbine specialty was on top of his anti-tank gunner role; as all gun crews used carbines as their backup small arms.
The medals he received also seems to indicate he performed quite well.
Your grandfather's Specification Serial Number would just be "610", not 7610. The "610" specialty (Antitank Gun Crewman) was used to denote the crews of towed or self-propelled antitank guns. The crews of light and medium tanks and antiaircraft guns also each had their own unique specialty sets.
Keep in mind that your grandfather's discharge paper possibly only lists the last unit he was assigned to, not all of them. The 515th PIR was being shipped from Europe to the Pacific after the war in Europe ended, with a stopover in the United States; your grandfather could have earned enough "points" and been transferred out of his unit to the 515th in order to get home quicker. I would do a bit more digging to try and find out a more concrete answer as to which (i.e. all) units he served with, and when. The combination of your grandfather's Specification Serial Number and battle-worn parachute makes this story interesting; see below.
US airborne forces received the 57 mm gun M1 that your grandfather might have crewed just before the Normandy landings. Each airborne division had a combined antitank/antiaircraft battalion assigned to it. The battalion had three antitank batteries each having eight 37 mm or 40 mm guns, and three antiaircraft batteries each having twelve .50 caliber machine guns.
For Normandy the twenty-four 37 mm and 40 mm guns in the antitank/antiaircraft battalion were replaced with 57 mm guns, and eighteen 57 mm guns went to the division's glider infantry regiment; nine in the regimental Antitank Company and three per battalion headquarters.
Here's where your grandfather's papers get a little wonky; parachute infantry regiments were never authorized organic antitank guns, as these were too easy to mishandle, and too awkward and heavy to be dropped by parachute.
Each 57 mm gun, whether assigned to a foot or glider infantry unit, was crewed by 10 men; a squad leader (staff sergeant) a gunner (corporal), four cannoneers (Jr. EM), three ammunition bearers (Jr. EM), and the driver (Jr. EM) of the 1 1/2 ton truck that drew it. The gun weighed roughly 2,500 pounds, depending on the variant.
The squad leader and driver had M1 rifles (the driver's rifle with an M7 grenade launcher) while the ammunition bearers had M1 carbines. The four cannoneers were equipped with M1911 .45 caliber pistols. In combat, crewmen often scavenged other kinds of weapons.
| Crew position | Rank | Weapon | SSN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squad leader | Staff Sergeant | M1 rifle | 610 (Antitank Gun Crewman) |
| Gunner | Corporal | M1 carbine | 610 (Antitank Gun Crewman) |
| Cannoneer (4) | Junior enlisted | Pistol | 610 (Antitank Gun Crewman) |
| Ammunition bearer (3) | Junior enlisted | M1 carbine | 610 (Antitank Gun Crewman) |
| Driver | Junior enlisted | M1 rifle with M7 grenade launcher | 345 (Driver, Truck, Light) |
Sources:
US Anti-tank Artillery 1941-1945, by Steven J. Zaloga
The US Army Airborne Division 1942 to 1945, Concept, Combat, and Evolution, by Timothy M. Clauss
US Airborne Division 1942-1944
US Glider Infantry Battalion 1942-1944
Reading and Understanding the WWII Discharge Document
TO&E 7-19 Infantry Antitank Company 57-MM Gun, dated 26 February 1944
IMG would, I think, be LMG - light machine gun, 1919A6 - and he would seem to have achieve an expert qualification with it, the highest (of three) possible. SS would be sharpshooter, the second-highest qualification, achieved with the M1 rifle and M1 carbine.
The campaigns are fairly explanatory - they indicate he fought in Normandy, in the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge), in the Rhineland, and in the final drive into Germany. If he was in the 101st, that makes sense.
The Distinguished Service Medal is awarded for "exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility in time of war or in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States." Basically, this is an award for people who've performed very well in a non-combat service. The Good Conduct Medal is for, well, good conduct, meaning he kept his nose clean and didn't get into any barfights or go AWOL or the like. The EAME Campaign Medal refers to the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater, awarded to soldiers who fought in those theaters; the four bronze stars attached to it are for his four previously mentioned campaigns. The arrowhead signifies participation in an amphibious (or in his case) airborne assault.
Hi, I'll let others address your specific questions, but in case you're interested in digging up information on his war records, there is some information on tracking those down for a few countries in our wiki on Military Records