Small 36th Infantry Grouping

[Luftwaffe 1941]

About a year ago I was contacted by one of my neighbors concerning some military related items that she found. The items belonged to her late step father who passed away in 1994. Her mother 'The vet's widow' inherited the items, and when the widow passed recently the items went to her daughter who is a neighbor of mine. My neighbor told me she doesn't have any attachment to these items, and she knew of my passion for these types of pieces, so she simply gave them to me free of charge. Just today she gave me even more items connected to this vet that she recently found. I'm extremely appreciative of her doing all of this for me.

The veteran these items belonged to is 'James W Hodges' and his ASN is 33588111. He served with the 141st infantry regiment of the 36th infantry division. The group mostly consists of documents and photos. The only pieces of physical militaria that came with this is the vet's dog tag and good conduct medal. I was told by my neighbor that James once spoke of a tragic story from his time in the war, but she has yet to share it with me. Hopefully soon she'll be willing to share it with me, and if she does I'll be sure to post it here.

I have a copy of the vet's discharge papers and it certainly shows he was a combat hardened solider. The combat infantry badge and purple heart mentioned in his discharge papers make this obvious. I plan on making a small display using his dog tag, good conduct medal, and army photo fairly soon. I only wish I had this man's Ike jacket! It would be amazing to have it alongside his dog tag. Nevertheless, I think these items on their own are pretty amazing.

P.S.- I also received a bolo tie with this grouping. It belonged to the vet, and my neighbor recalled him wearing it on a regular basis.

[Luftwaffe 1941]

I almost forgot to show this other discharge paper

[RustyRelics]

Another amazing grouping! You sure can put together a nice collection of Americas bravest!

[Luftwaffe 1941]

My neighbor told me the tragic story last night. I'm going to quote her directly here.

"Jim's military group had captured several German prisoners of war. But one of the guys got fed up with having to guard them so he went down the line of prisoners and shot each one in the head. In order to not get the group in trouble it was reported the Germans had died in battle. The solider who murdered them received an award for valor in battle for all the Germans he killed. Jim only told this story once, and he despised the guy who did it."

If this is in fact true, it appears this vet witnessed a rather gruesome war crime. I thought it was worth sharing this story here as it gives us more of a background as to what this man witnessed during the war.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Jarret, very nice group.

I have heard similar stories direct from Veterans mouths.

Cheers, Ade.

[helmet2id]

Me too. My Uncle told me about an incident in Normandy. Two replacements were sent out to fetch water one night during the fighting near Berigny. They were captured, tortured and murdered by the Germans. My Uncle said that they were incensed and were looking for payback. A few days later about a dozen Germans were captured. The third replacement that had come up with the 2 that were murdered and had been friends with them took my Uncle's BAR and shot them all. No one said a word about it. That soldier died in the fighting in Brittany. My Uncle said that it was not uncommon for prisoners to be shot by both sides. He would put on his sunglasses the few times he confessed that to me in his later years and I always saw tears.

[Luftwaffe 1941]

Me too. My Uncle told me about an incident in Normandy. Two replacements were sent out to fetch water one night during the fighting near Berigny. They were captured, tortured and murdered by the Germans. My Uncle said that they were incensed and were looking for payback. A few days later about a dozen Germans were captured. The third replacement that had come up with the 2 that were murdered and had been friends with them took my Uncle's BAR and shot them all. No one said a word about it. That soldier died in the fighting in Brittany. My Uncle said that it was not uncommon for prisoners to be shot by both sides. He would put on his sunglasses the few times he confessed that to me in his later years and I always saw tears.

My god.. I can't say I'm surprised you saw him shed tears when he recounted that story. Thank you so much for taking the time to share that history with us.

We get so caught up in this hobby that we sometimes forget just how brutal the war really was.