Guestbook

Hi Tank Destroyer friends! We are very close to HALF way to the fundraising goal of $5000.00 necessary to allow creation of a plaque commemorating the 643rd TDB and all its men at the National Museum of the United States Army in Washington DC. Please reach out to your friends and family with memory of a relative who served with the 643rd and ask them to make a modest contribution. Even $20 multiplied a hundred times will get us to the finish line! Learn more here: https://armyhistory.causevox.com/643rdTDB#main

Someone contracted me recently about Howard Redfern. I deleted your email by mistake. Please write back. Tom Hyslop

Very interesting to come across a photo of my uncle Lt. John O. Sharp on this great site. He died in the waning months of the war, years before I was born. His younger brother Dan, my father, graduated from West Point in 1951 and had told me about John being in the 773rd. That number, his name, and a Google search led me to the photo.

My father was Thompson L. (Tom) Raney. His best friend during and after WWII was Joe Henry Bruton, Jr. of Houston, TX. They served in the 823rd Tank Destroyer Btn together. I have Bruton family photos I'd like to send to the Bruton family.

My father Henry O. Lucas was in Company C 636 tank destroyer. Really enjoyed this site. Would love to see more photos that anyone might have. Many years ago I actually had the pleasure of meeting one person my Dad served with, Clell King and saw many photos in his personal collection.

Hi!! My grandfather Joseph F. Martyn was in the 820th during WWii. He was a POW. I never got to meet him because he died when my mother was 3, in 1958. After my uncle (his son) passed away we found a foot locker of my grandpas things in his basement. We had to put a lot of the pieces together through research to find out anything about his time in the army since no one knew much about him. I wanted to say thank you for putting this website together as it has been very helpful!

Something was brought to my attention by my nephew when we discussed my fathers campaign. He suffered the concussion at the battle of the bulge. He actually woke up lying with dead bodies in a barn, bleeding from his eyes, ears, and nose. A black man was collecting dog tags. When he saw my father get up and start walking, he ran out of the barn screaming. Medics then came and helped him. After he came back to the states, he spent a lot of time recovering. Approximately a year later, he would just pass out while walking or talking. Doctors performed surgery on his back, and he went into a 6-9 month coma. They thought he would die, but he was one tough bad-ass! His life was lived with physical pain, mental scars, and the love of his wife and 7 children till the age of 91.

My beloved father Nicholas Waskul was a modest man. He was never one to brag or boast about his accomplishments. I only knew about his WWII experiences from when he would mention them from time to time. As a child I would crawl into bed to snuggle daddy and wonder why there was sand in his bed, not realizing it was shrapnel leaching from his body years after the war. On occasion, he would tell me a story, and they were branded into my brain. It is only now that I have been researching his war time experiences, as he passed in 2017, and they were not stories he savored. I used to joke with him, "you may be old for a man, but you are young for a mountain"! But he was a mountain, strong, proud, and loved his family with all his heart. Thank you so much for the wonderful display you created in his honor. I cried when I saw it, and will shed a tear for all men who sacrificed so much. Truly the greatest generation.

My dad Harold Bowling landed on Day 4 at Normandy, along with his brothers Arnold Bowling and William Bowling. News clippings from 1944-45 say they were in a tank destroyer unit, but it's not named. I have many pictures I'm willing to share, but for now looking for information. My family had five members included, two were killed, one buried at Henri Chappelle(Roy C. Webster), and three, including my dad, came home to Ohio. The fifth family member is named William Turner. All from Hamilton Ohio. I'm currently living in the Netherlands doing research.

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