Amazing ID'd 84th Inf. Div. Ike
Article about: This jacket is a nice one, and it's an added bonus that it's ID'd as well. No matter how hard I tried, I could not photograph the name and serial number the way I could see it with my naked
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That's a fantastic Ike Rusty!
It's not often you're able to find a photograph of the vet like that. Most of the research I've done on my jackets only produced basic enlistment info. So in my opinion you hit the jackpot in terms of research!
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Rusty,
Very nice uniform. Not a very common division to find. The rail splitters aka "The Lincoln Division" were in combat for 152 days total. They landed at Omaha beach in November 1944 and had three campaign credits (Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe)..
Smitty
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So I did some more diving, and found some pretty neat info on Mr. Stegman.
Here he is in a 1949 Yearbook.
What's even better, is I found out a LOT about his military service, when I accidentally stumbled onto this holy grail article!!
World War II vet remembers the good times | Local News | newspressnow.com
"Sitting in a room with other veterans, he began to listen as Wes Keil, a Battle of the Bulge veteran, started talking.
Mr. Keil told about being part of Company B, dug in on the edge of a small town. The rifle company woke up one morning to the sound of two Tiger tanks, the German Army’s heavy armored vehicle that mounted an 88-mm cannon. Mr. Keil told how his unit was outclassed as the two tanks began firing machine gun bullets and shells.
“He said they were about to experience a lot of casualties when a young soldier, about 50 yards out in front, stood up in his foxhole with a bazooka and shot the tread off the lead tank,” Mr. Stegman said, with a shy smile and a gleam in his eye. At the reunion, Mr. Stegman rose and addressed Mr. Keil.
“I said, ‘Was that the 19th day of November in Prumeren, Germany?’”
Mr. Keil gave an affirmative response and asked how Mr. Stegman knew.
“I said, ‘I was the kid with the bazooka.’”
He remembered that battle for another reason; he received a Bronze Star for his actions on that day.
He was wounded in the head from a German shell blast, became a prisoner of war and escaped twice, got frostbite three times, and was a part of General Eisenhower's headquarters.
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Jackpot Rusty,
Well done on the research. You're becoming quite a detective. Sometimes the not so obvious places to look reveal the most interesting information.
Smitty
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