Sepia Saturday 102 809th Tank Destroyer and Uncle Carl (Click Here to Sepia Site)

Uncle Carl center with rifle and pipe and some men of the
809th Battalion, US Army, 1942 Ft Hood TX

Continuing from last week, with more about Uncle Carl and his World War  II 809th Tank Destroyer Battalion.  This week  the focus is Fort. Hood Texas, which is still a massive  US Army station today.  You likely heard about it in the tragedy of November 2008 when the Muslim Army Major killed 13 soldiers and wounded 31 in his jihadist act of terrorism.  But to Uncle Carl and the men of the  809th it was one of their first stops in training in 1942.   In the photo above, sent to his parents, he wrote to his father, "here I am with some men training as snipers.  I look like I just got back from hunting, Pap, so I have a pipe for you."  Carl looks like such the old man here, all of 23 years of age; but he grew up hunting with his father and was an excellent shot which served him well through the war.   When I scanned that  photo I noticed "ELKO" around the corners,  wonder what's that?

Flash forward to 1990 when the 809th  had their annual reunion at Ft. Hood Texas.  I believe that was the last reunion Carl attended, for there are no more reunion photos among his  collection.  Below is  the postcard he'd saved from the trip, a very different looking Ft. Hood from today and  very different from what they saw in 1942. 

1990 Postcard of Ft. Hood,  Killeen Texas

Because we are international on Sepia,  the back of the postcard is worth sharing, along with the description, notice the card was printed in Ireland! 

Well the reunion in 1990 shows the men gathered in front of their memorial which I understand remains on the base.  I do wish Uncle Carl had named these men.  He is the  man  standing, 2nd from the left wearing the yellow cap.  I wonder if any of these men were in the 1942 photo.  

1990 Ft Hood TX  809th reunion

Today the website about this Army post is  http://www.hood.army.mil/newcomers.hood.aspx   As I researched , I learned  a lot about it's history;  the following is taken from Wikipedia:.... Fort Hood, a United States military post located outside of Killeen, Texas was named after Confederate General John Bell Hood who was the commander of Hood”s Texas Brigade. It is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about 60 miles (97 km) from each. Its origin was the need for wide-open space to test and train with World War II tank destroyers. The War Department announced the location in January 1942, and the initial completion was set for that August. As originally constructed, Fort Hood had an area of 158,706 acres, with billeting for 6,007 officers and 82,610 enlisted personnel.


World War II, tank destroyers were developed to counter German mobile armored units. These were mobile anti-tank guns on armored halftracks or specially developed tanks. Wide-open space was needed for the tank destroyer testing and training, which Texas had in abundance. Andrew Davis (A.D.) Bruce was assigned to organize a new Tank Destroyer Tactical and Firing Center, and he chose Killeen, Texas for the new camp. About 300 families had to move from their homes to make room for the camp area. Whole communities were uprooted. To lessen the pain of moving, the Army agreed to allow land to be used for grazing for a nominal grazing fee. This grazing arrangement still continues today.

In January 1943, an additional 16,000 acres (65 km²) in Bell County and 34,943 acres (141 km²) in Coryell County near Gatesville, Texas were purchased. The site near Gatesville was known as the sub-camp and later as North Fort Hood. During the war years, North Fort Hood housed nearly 40,000 troops and 4,000 prisoners of war, and was the site for the southern branch of the United States Disciplinary Barracks.

At the end of 1942 there were about 45,000 troops living and training at Camp Hood which reached its peak population of almost 95,000 troops in late June 1943. In 1944 the number of tank destroyer battalions in training at Camp Hood declined rapidly replaced by field artillery battalions and the Infantry Replacement Training Center in March 1944. The total camp population on the last day of 1944 was 50,228.

The last year of World War II saw a major shift of emphasis in Camp Hood's mission and a drastic reduction in population. As the war came to an end, the training of troops slowed and equipment reclamation and demobilization planning became the priorities. A separation center was established in September 1945, and as the year ended, post strength had fallen to 1,807 prisoners and about 11,000 troops.

This is my Sepia Post for this week.  Click on the title to this to go to the host site and check what others are sharing this week.  

Sepia Saturday 101 809th Tank Destroyer (Click Here to Sepia Site)

Patch with 809th Emblem

I have been busy  reviewing Uncle Carl's WWII and reunion records to help  a nephew of a man who was in the 809th; the nephew contacted me by facebook.  Since I relate absolutely to the frustrations of folks who are researching family members I was eager to help the man, but so far  nothing in particular about his uncle has shown up.  Uncle Carl was active in  setting up annual reunions of the 809th until his later years when he could no longer travel and today very few of these WWII vets remain amongst us.  This has had my wheels spinning and when I saw the theme for the week, I knew I had something in orange and  a reference to Oldsmobile (no longer exists)  of General Motors. 

 I have written before about Uncle Carl who passed at 93 in May.  As a reminder, here is Carl,  January 1944, a young soldier training on desert techniques in California prior to departure for Europe.  They were uncertain where they would be sent so the tank destroyers were prepared for all terrains and climates.  

Once I asked him how he ended up in the tank destroyers unit and he would not tell me much, but said he was training men to shoot.  He was a sniper and a great shot, a skill developed from boyhood hunting with his father.  His skills landed him in the headquarters unit.  He never talked to me too much about his war years.  There is a story that when he returned he had something from the 809th with the emblem and when I saw it, I started to cry and  fuss, the image upset me, well it does look vicious, but it was a bad time on earth.  My grandmother would have none of that upsetting me so that emblem was removed from my sight and to be truthful I never remember seeing it, but I remember the story.  Later when I was a teenager, Uncle Carl told me he had a necklace set aside for me someday.  I forgot all about it but  found it stashed with his WWII memorabilia after he passed, a small gold medallion  with that 809th logo, marked, "for Patty when she gets older."  But, this is about the tank destroyers.  I shuffled through the suitcase of documents and photos and memorabilia I have yet to sort, looking for the information. 

Wikipedia says that ..  "The 809th Tank Destroyer Battalion was a  battalion of the United States Army active during the Second World War. The battalion was activated on 18 March 1942, and remained in the United States until November 1944, when it was moved to the United Kingdom. It arrived in France on 20 January 1945, equipped with M18 Hellcat tank destroyers. It was attached to the 8th Armored Division on 9 February, and fought in the crossing of the Roer. On 20 March, it was attached to the 79th Infantry Division, crossing the Rhine on the 27th, and was then attached to the 95th Infantry Division for the fighting around the Ruhr Pocket in April before being returned to the 8th Armoured on 13 April. During this month, it converted to M36 Jackson tank destroyers. In late April it saw action in the Harz Mountains, finishing the war in central Germany."  This coincides with many photos from Carl and with  a card he once sent his mother from  the "Thundering Herd" which was the 8th Armored Division. 

Below is a poster that measures 9 inches by 14 inches about the tank destroyers.  It is not readable in the photo so I scanned the  poster in two parts to share here. 

The top part of this poster is:

The bottom of the poster, notice the reference to Oldsmobile, General Motors:

Again  courtesy of Wikipedia..."Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory. When it was phased out in 2004, Oldsmobile was the oldest surviving American automobile marque, and one of the oldest in the world, after Daimler and Peugeot. The closing of the Oldsmobile division presaged a larger consolidation of GM brands and discontinuation of models during the company's 2009 bankruptcy reorganization."

1934 Oldsmobile from  GM Archives

It was interesting to be reminded how industry catered to the war effort as did  the entire country.  But this post is about the tank destroyer battalion.  I have a large narrow , 11 inch by 24 inch framed photo from 1942 of the men in the 809th headquarters battalion but I cannot figure how to get it posted other than photographing it in parts.  Perhaps the man's uncle is in this photo.  The glass is cracked and so this is something I will be having reframed at sometime to hang in the patriotic room.  Meantime, my Sepia blog pals may be able to provide some advice, guidance as to how I can  capture the photograph to share with the nephew searching  for his uncle's story. Evidently his uncle died in 1956 in an accident and was not in touch with the men of the 809th who had their first reunion in 1960 in Chicago; I was not able to find his name on any of the rosters in Carl's files. 

809th Headquarters Battalion, March 1944, Camp Robinson, Arkansas

 The 809th traveled all through Europe.  I remember Uncle Carl telling me that they were everywhere which is why he had no desire to ever return.  The last item identifies the places where my Uncle went with his battalion; I have his canteen onto which he meticulously and carefully engraved the name of each place beginning with his initial training.  

Stations of the 809th Headquarters Battalion

 More about this next week or so...... as usual visit the Sepia Saturday Host Site by clicking on the title to this post above.   See what others in the international community are sharing this week to coincide or not with Alan's suggested theme.