Fourth Recruit Battalion, Training Regiment, Recruit Depot, Mcb, San Diego, Calif
3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion (3rd AABn) is one of two active duty assault amphibian battalions in the United States Marine Corps. The battalion's primary weapon system is the Amphibious Assault Vehicle or AAV. The AAV is a 27.5-ton armored vehicle that carries up to 21 combat-loaded Marines and is armed with the UGWS (UpGunned Weapons Station), which mounts a .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2HB machine gun and a Mk-19 40 mm grenade launcher. The battalion is also equipped with the Amphibious Combat Vehicle or ACV, a rather new variant to the USMC’s amphibious armament which will replace the AAV in years to come. The AAV ACV are the only armored vehicles in the U.S. inventory that are fully capable of operations both on land and in the ocean. The battalion is part of the 1st Marine Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The unit is based in Camp Pendleton, California.
The first wave of U.S. Marines in LVTs during the invasion of Peleliu on 15 September 1944
Marines waiting in their fighting holes
LVT-Amphibious-Assault-Vehicle
J
oseph Barham Hargis "Jodie" was born July 11, 1925 in Martinsville, Nacogdoches County, Texas, USA.. The son of Thaddeus Adelbert Hargis (1885–1973) and Annie M Kendrick (1889–1949). Jodie attended Nacogdoches High School. He married Eva Louise Perry (1925–2000). Jodie entered the Marines in October of 1943. He trained in Camp Elliote in San Diego California. He was assigned to the 1st. Division 3D Assault Amphibian Battalion. US Marines of the 1st Marine Division and then soldiers of the US Army's 81st Infantry Division fought to capture an airfield on the small coral island of Peleliu. The battle was part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager, which ran from June to November 1944 in the Pacific Theater. Jodie was killed in action on Peleliu on October 16, 1944. On 27 November the island of Peleliu was declared secure, ending the 73-day-long battle. The reduction of the Japanese pocket around Umurbrogol mountain has been called the most difficult fight that the U.S. military encountered in the entire war. the 1st Marine Division suffered over 6,500 casualties during its month on Peleliu, over one third of the entire division. The battle was controversial in the United States because the island lacked strategic value and yet cost so many American lives. The defenders lacked the means to interfere with potential US operations in the Philippines, and the airfield captured on Peleliu did not play a key role in subsequent operations. Instead, the Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands was used as a staging base for the invasion of Okinawa. The high casualty rate exceeded all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War. Jodie was brought back to Nacogdoches County, and buried at Black Jack Cemetery. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart, a Presidential Unit Ciatation, and a Asian Pacific of Operations Ribbon.
The 94th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War II, and of the United States Army Reserve from 1956 until 1963. It continued in the Army Reserve as the 94th Command
W
illie Daulton Griffen was born August 16, 1925 in Poyner, Henderson County, Texas. The son of Willie Spivey Griffen (1890-1960) and Mary Elizabeth Congleton (1891-1982). His family moved to Douglas, Texas in 1930 when he was five years old where his father worked as a Post Man. Daulton entered the Army in 1943, trained at Camp Fanin, Breckinridge Ky., Camp McCain, Mississippi. He was assigned to the 301 Infantry Regiment, 94th. Infantry Division. Following a brief stay in England the 94th. landed on Utah Beach France on the 8th. of September 1944 and moved into Brittiany, The 94th. was known as "Patton's Gold Nuggets" moving east, the division relieved the 90th. Infantry Division on 7 January 1945 taking positions in the Saar-Moselle Triangle south of Wasserbillig, facing the Sigfried Line. On January 14 they seized Tettingen and Butzdorf. On January 15, they took Nenning-Berg-Weis. Several counter offensives followed. It was at Nennig that the Germans gave the 94th. the nick name "Roosevelts Butchers" for refusing quarter as they did not have the resources to take prisioners. Berg and most of Nennig changed hands several times before being taken by the Americans on 20 Jan 1945. an unsuccessful battalion attack against Orscholz, eastern terminus of the switch position, resulted in loss of most of two companies. In early February, the division took Campholz Woods and seized Sinz. On 19 February 1945, supported by heavy artillery and air support, the division launched a full-scale attack with all three regiments, storming the heights of Munzigen Ridge, to breach the Siegfried Line defenses and clear the Berg-Munzingen Highway. At Ayl, General Patton ordered troops to cross the Saar immediately, against the advice of many of his officers. Under command of Lieutenant Colonel William A. McNulty, the 94th's 3rd Battalion, 301st Infantry Regiment crossed the icy and swollen Saar on 23 February 1945. Despite Lt. Col. McNulty's own preparatory reconnaissance in absence of other adequate intelligence and undertaken at considerable personal risk, many men and materiel were lost during the very ill-prepared Saar crossing. Two of the three crossings sites were eventually abandoned due to heavy and pinpoint German artillery and machinegun fire. Daulton was killed in action February 28, 1945 near Trier Germany. He was buried at The Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial in Hamm, Canton de Luxembourg. Block H Row 1 Grave 25. (Biography researched and written by CJ McLaughlin for https://nacogdochestexas.blogspot.com/)
Medics remove a wounded infantrymen of the 94th Division from a jeep at an aid station near Trier, Germany, in the U.S. Third Army sector. 28 February, 1945.
Euell Alvin Forbis was born October 11, 1919 in Shelby County, Texas. The son of Joel Henderson Forbes (1880-1969) and Eula California Watson (1886-1953). He was reared on his parents farm in Nacogdoches County. He enlisted in the U.S. Army January 31, 1941. He was assigned to the 143 Infantry, 36th. Texas Division based at Camp Bowie in San Antonio, Texas. The division commanded by Major General Claude V. Birkhead, moved to Brownwood, Texas, on 1 June 1941, where it participated in the VIII Corps Brownwood Maneuvers until 13 June 1941. The division then returned to Camp Bowie. The division then moved to Mansfield, Louisiana, and took part in both the August and September 1941 Louisiana Maneuvers. The division, now commanded by Brigadier General Fred L. Walker, a Regular Army officer from Ohio and a distinguished veteran of World War I, then returned to Camp Bowie on 2 October 1941, where it was reorganized from a square division into a triangular division on 1 February 1942 and redesignated the 36th Infantry Division, just weeks after the American entry into World War II, as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which was followed four days later by the German declaration of war against the United States. As a result of this reorganization, the 144th Infantry, plus numerous supporting units, were transferred out of the division. The division then moved to Camp Blanding, Florida, on 19 February 1942, and participated in the Carolina Maneuvers between 9 July 1942, and 15 August 1942. The division then was staged at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts, on 17 August 1942, for its port call to the European Theater Of Operations (ETO). During its time at Camp Edwards, the division conducted mock assaults of Martha's Vineyard Island in preparation for future amphibious operations. The division departed the New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE) on 2 April 1943, for service in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO). The 36th Division landed in French North Africa on 13 April 1943, and trained at Arzew and Rabat. However, the training was hampered by the need to supply guards for some 25,000 Axis prisoners of war (POWs) who had surrendered at the conclusion of the Tunisian campaign in May. It was assigned to Major General Ernest J. Dawley's VI Corps, part of the Fifth Army, but attached to the Services of Supply, North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), for supply. The 36th Division was originally intended to take part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, but Lieutenant General George S. Patton the Seventh Army commander, preferred to use experienced troops instead and the 36th Division remained in North Africa. The Fifth Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, who knew the 36th Division well from his time as chief of staff to Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, commander of Army Ground Forces, and specifically chose the 36th Division, rather than the more experienced 34th Infantry Division, together with the British 46th and 56th Infantry Divisions, to spearhead the Allied assault landings at Salerno, Italy, which was given the codename of Operation Avalanche. Having missed out on the fighting in Sicily, the division first saw action in the Italian campaign, landing at Salerno on 9 September 1943. It was the first U.S. combat unit to fight on the European continent when it landed by sea at Paestum and fought in the Battle of Salerno against intense German opposition. The Germans launched numerous fierce counterattacks on 12–14 September, but the 36th, which at one stage during the battle was holding a 35-mile sector of the front (six times more than a full-strength infantry division was able to hold), repulsed them with the aid of air support and naval gunfire, and, with the help of paratroopers of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (part of the 82nd Airborne Division), advanced slowly, securing the area from Agropoli to Altavilla. After sustaining over 4,000 casualties in its first major action, the division spent the next few weeks behind the lines, where it remained in the Fifth Army reserve, absorbing replacements and training for future combat operations. Despite the heavy losses, the 36th Division was considered to have fought well, and four men were awarded the Medal of Honor. Euell was killed in Action September 24, 1943 His remains were returned to his parents in Nacogdoches, and he was interred at Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Nacogdoches Texas.
US, WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954
Full Name -Orbis, Euell A
Gender -Male
Race - White/Mexican
Birth Place-USA
Admission Age - 20
Admission Date - Sep 1943
Admission Place - Italy
Military Service Number - 38051653
Rank - Enlisted Man
Branch - Infantry (or possibly Quartermaster)
Length of Service - -
Injured in Line of Duty
- In line of duty (Battle Casualty)
Medical Diagnosis Diagnosis: Killed in action, details not known; CausativeAgent: Shell fragment; shell explosion; Diagnosis: Killed in action; CausativeAgent: Artillery Shell, Other or Unspec to Blast, Fragments, Debris - Diagnosis: Killed in action, details not known; CausativeAgent: Shell fragment; shell explosion
