re: Help me find information on my grandfathers WWII campaigns

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His obituary says that he was in the army 77th but everything I’ve found on them is in the Pacific so I’m not sure that’s correct.

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Yeah, this is likely incorrect, although we can't rule out definitively that he was assigned briefly to a unit with this designation either early in his service (perhaps a training unit designation) or while he was mustering out (this was a long process for many as the war wound down).

So, as you and others have pointed out - the 77th Division (a unit that still exists as the 77th Sustainment Brigade) was primarily involved in the Western Pacific. Your grandfather did not participate in combat with this unit at D-Day or in France/Belgium/Germany in 1944 or 1945.

The 77th Regiment (actually an Armor regiment) was involved in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, so, again, definitely not at D-Day, but was involved in the Battle of the Bulge (perhaps he was reassigned in the Fall of 1944?).

Omaha Beach itself was assaulted by V Corps, which was primarily the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions and supported by elements of U.S. Army Rangers.

Now, neither of those divisions was involved in the encirclement of the German offensive, but regiments and RCTs were constantly being shifted around, so that isn't dispositive. And "participated" just means he was on the line during that time. Could have been relief, defensive positions stopping the Germans outside the pocket, what have you.

And certainly units on the line during that time started to liberate the Westernmost concentration camps during that time, so that all is consistent with Army experience in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany in 1944 and 1945.

Good luck with the search.

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Do you have a copy of his discharge papers? Did he ever file anything with the VA?

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Does the VA allow the public to view those docs? Seems like they would fall under HIPPA provisions...

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account. I found his enlistment card as well as his fathers WWI draft card

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I found my grandfather's WWI draft card somewhere on Ancestry.com. What a time to be alive...

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Because of the Pennsylvania connection, I would be remiss if I did not mention the 28th Infantry Division - still a unit of the Army National Guard (it is the major command/combat unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard), a historic unit that traces its lineage back to Benjamin Franklin (the 111th Infantry Regiment is almost 300 years old) - this unit was federalized during WWII.

Now, it did not come to France in June, but rather July 1944 (D+ 7 weeks) and definitely participated in the breakout and was heavily involved in the Ardennes.

Is it possible your grandfather was in this national guard unit before the outbreak of hostilities?

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No I don't think he was ever in the National Guard, at least not that I know of. And I am pretty distinctly certain he was on a ship on Normandy beach for D-Day so +7 weeks seems too long. My mom says he was on the ship for the first day, and on the beach the 2nd day (which is when he was handed a gun). Now her timeline could be off but I doubt it is 7 weeks off...

There is also a story of him filling out a false enlistment card at the age of 16 (lying to say he was 18), but this would have been in 1939, he was born in 1923. So I guess it is possible he joined up with the 28th in 1939 and then a different unit later on???

Being that his grandfather was in an engineer battalion, there’s a chance he wasn’t part of any field division. He could have been at a corps or even army level battalion.

TIGER,

Do not pay any money to get any of this info.Go to your US House Rep or Senator's office and fill out a privacy release and provide any and all details on your grandfather. Simply state on the form you are requesting a copy of his DD214 and all obtainable military records, medals, commendations etc. They will obtain all of this for you free of charge. They should have a case worker that handles specifically veterans affairs.

Not to horn in on your thread, but I've been interested in finding some info on my grandfather's service as well. He died when I was 10, so I don't know much. We have a picture of him during this time and it just says, "somewhere in France." His gravestone says Company A 2nd Signal Battalion.

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Something like 75% of US Army personnel records for people who served in the first half of the 20th century were destroyed in a fire back in the 70s.

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This is where I dead ended when researching my grandfather’s ww2 history.