My grandfather passed away in 2001, and left no military records. He was drafted into the Army in 1942, and was sent to fight in Europe. Being a veteran myself, I am very interested to learn of his personal exploits and his unit's involvements. He did not speak about his involvements in WWII with the exception of when he received a Bronze Star with V device and a purple heart during the Battle of the Bulge. According to my father, the records building containing my grandfathers records burned down many years ago. It is also possible that this is not a US Army crest. My father has a box of Nazi memorabilia my grandfather brought back. Link to the crest:
Any information about what unit this is from / any information would be immensely appreciated. I have tried the brute force approach of scrolling through thousands of historical military society archives, but to no avail (yet).
That's the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the 80th Infantry Division. The actual "crest" (known as a Distinctive Unit Insignia) of the 80th Division looks like this.
The 80th Infantry Division, during World War I, was made up of draftees from New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, mostly from the latter three states; this is how the division earned its nickname "Blue Ridge". After the war, in 1921, the division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve, maintained in an essentially inactive state with all of its officers but few enlisted men. The 80th Infantry Division was formally reactivated for service on July 15, 1942 and draftees like your grandfather streamed in from all over the country to fill its ranks.
I touch on what your grandfather might have gone through as a draftee here.
The 80th Division Association (which I've linked above) has an unusually complete (for a veterans' association) archive of division documents from WWII; you may be able to find out more about your grandfather's Bronze Star and Purple Heart by scanning through the General Orders. This could take some time, however, as they were issued every day!
The 80th Infantry Division landed on Utah Beach, 3 August 1944, assembled near St. Jores by 7 August, and on 8 August was ordered to stop the German attack at Avranches. Arriving too late to take part in smashing the German drive, it turned east to seize Evron and Ste. Suzanne, 10 August. The Division then attacked Argentan, taking it, 20 August, and creating the Falaise Pocket. After mopping up in the area, the 80th took part in the Third Army dash across France, cutting through St. Mihiel, Chalons, and Commercy in pursuit of the retreating Germans until stopped by the lack of gasoline and other supplies at the Seille River. From 25 September to 7 November, the Division maintained an aggressive defense of positions west of the Seille, and prepared for the Third Army sweep into the industrially vital Saar Basin. The attack jumped off on 8 November, the 80th advancing through Delme Ridge, Faulquemont, and St. Avold to within 5 miles of Saarbrucken, when it was relieved by the 6th Armored Division, 7 December 1944. After 10 days' rest, the Division returned to combat, moving southeast to take part in an attack on the Siegfried Line at Zweibrucken when the Germans launched their winter offensive in the Ardennes. The 80th was moved northward to Luxembourg and was hurled against the German salient, fighting at Luxembourg and Bastogne, driving the enemy across the Sure [Sauer] to Dahl and Goesdorf, 7 January 1945, and across the Clerf and Wiltz Rivers by 23 January. On 7 February 1945, the Division stormed across the Our and Sauer Rivers at Wallendorf, broke through the Siegfried Line, pursued the fleeing enemy to Kaiserlautern, 20 March, and crossed the Rhine, 27-28 March, near Mainz. Pursuit continued in April, the Division driving rapidly to Erfurt on the 12th, and Weimar, Jena, and Gera on the 14th. Relieved, 21 April, it moved to Nurnberg for occupation duty and on 28 April, to Regensburg, then to the Enns River, when the war in Europe ended.
Awards: (as of October 1948)
Distinguished Unit Citations: 6
| MOH | DSC | DSM | SSM | LM | DFC | SM | BSM | AM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 34 | 1 | 771 | 12 | 5 | 35 | 3,869 | 23 |
Battle Casualties:
| Total battle casualties | Deaths among battle casualties | KIA | DOW | MIA and declared dead | Died while POW | WIA | MIA | POW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17,087 | 3,500 | 3,038 | 442 | 12 | 8 | 12,484 | 488 (476 returned to duty or discharged) | 1,077 (1,069 returned to duty or discharged) |
Sources: