Tag: legacy

WWII Veteran’s Voice Returns to Family After KIA

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An LP, mistaken as a disco record, survives a house fire and lost for 73 years returns to family in California

 

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, December 3, 2018— On March 30, 1945, Sgt. Earl W. Garrison was with the 99th Bombardment Squadron, 9th Bomb Group en route to Japan when his crew experienced mechanical trouble. The B-29 jettisoned their mines and made it back to Tinian Island but crashed on the shore. Garrison was one of eleven crew members who were killed that day, with only one survivor. For Sgt. Garrison, his time during WWII with the Second Air Force ended terribly leaving a mother, father, brothers, sisters, and wife Irene, distraught

However, Sgt. Garrison did leave something behind, his voice.

While deployed to the staging field at Herington Army Airfield in Herington, Kansas, Sgt. Garrison waited with his crew members for their departure on overseas assignments. During one of these waiting periods and prior to taking off for the Pacific Theater, Garrison encountered a mobile recording studio on base who recorded messages to loved ones from soldiers. He sat down and spoke into the microphone to record side “A” which opens with a greeting, “From Herington Army Airfield, we have the voice of Earl Garrison…” and then continues with a message from Earl to his mother and father. Garrison assures them he is fine and will see them soon. The flip side of the record “B” is to Irene, his wife. He tells her she has made him “the happiest man in the world” and will be home soon.

Unfortunately, Sgt. Garrison did not make it home.

Fast forward to the year 2010 when a “disco” record was given to Jerry and Jill Adlon (St. Louis, Missouri) in a box of other records from his mother. The story went that his mother had received the record from her mother. Jill listened to the record in 2013 and realized it wasn’t a disco record and made a an effort to try to find Garrison’s family with little success. Then in 2014, their house was destroyed by fire. Several items were saved, including the antique hifi, and stored until they rebuilt in 2016. When the hifi was moved into their new home, Jill realized that the record with Garrison’s voice was still on the turntable, undamaged by the fire.

Then in May 2018, Sara Collins, a friend of the family and a member of Footsteps Researchers, was at the Adlon’s home and listened to the record. At the first sounds of Garrison’s voice, she said her jaw dropped and knew that her team of WWII researchers should find his family. Through the nonprofit arm of the research group named LEGACY: Lost and Found, Sara found the family of Garrison in San Francisco.

What was the connection with Earl W. Garrison and how did the record end up in the Midwest? Further research by the group found that Irene Garrison moved to St. Louis after her husband’s untimely death. She remarried and worked as a nurse. It is still a mystery how the Adlon’s relatives ended up with the record in the first place.

The voice of Earl W. Garrison returns to his family 73 years later.

Two members of Footsteps Researchers, Myra Miller and Sara Collins, are flying from Missouri to present the record to Earl W. Garrison’s family on Wednesday, December 5th, at 6:30 pm in Petaluma, California at a private residence. Nieces and nephews will be present to receive the record and information about Sgt. Earl W. Garrison’s WWII service. The family has secured a record player so as to play the recording immediately upon return. The media is welcome to interview the family members and researchers after the presentation. Media must contact Myra Miller in order to acquire directions to the address.   

Above: Jill Adlon with Myra Miller, Earl W. Garrison military photo

Footsteps Researchers LLC:

Myra Miller, PhD, (St. Louis, Missouri) and Sara Collins (Berryton, Kansas) are two members of the research group who worked on the return of the record. The group is typically paid to find records and reports from the National Records and Personnel Center in St. Louis in addition to creating Footsteps Research Packages and leading WWII Battlefield Tours in Europe. However, they do provide a nonprofit service called LEGACY: Lost and Found. They offer their expertise for free to help those who might have a relic from WWII with a name or initials scratched on it and try to help return the item to the rightful owners. More information can be found at www.footstepsresearchers.com.

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Main Contact:
Myra Miller, PhD
Footsteps Researchers LLC
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
+1-417-849-0155
myra@footstepsresearchers.com
www.footstepsresearchers.com

MEET Footsteps Researcher – Loïc Jankowiak!

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My name is Loïc Jankowiak, I am 25 years old and a graphic designer living in Bandol, France. Please see my website at ljankowiak.fr.  I think I became a designer, so that I could blend my passion for history with creation to have the ‘power’ (insert laugh) to share to the media as I want.

I am not like others who say they became interested in history since they were very young. I started to be fascinated and discover the major event of WWII when I was 12-years-old.  I have always been a very curious kid and now as an adult, this interest leads me to continue my quest for WWII knowledge.

Since the first commemorations of the landing of Provence in 2009, in which I participated as a reenactor, I really began to take an interest in what was called “Airborne in Provence”. This also led me to study the liberation of the area by the American troops. Since I lived in Provence, I quickly tightened the vice on what I should be interested in as a WWII specialty. I concentrated on the short existence of the First Airborne Task Force (the provisional airborne division for Operation Dragoon) and this has been the center of my research for a few years now.

With the existence of the 1st Airborne Task Force being a relatively short time, I also became interested in the long history of the units which constituted the 1st Airborne from their beginning to the end. To make a long story short, I am especially interested by the US Airborne, Special Forces, Independent units which fought in the Mediterranean Theater of Operation, and beyond. My area of specialty involves the war regions of Southern France, Italy, and Northern Africa.

My curiosity led me to interest in little or unknown units of WWII. These units have limited essential information. So, for me, every single word and document is important so that I know more! It is hard to explain… I am interested in all the possible stories of each of these units.  I search constantly for details, components, functions, staff, and most importantly, the men themselves.

At the beginning of my research, I wanted to contact veterans through the internet and by mail. At first, I received no answer, but this did not discourage me. A few years later I received a reply from Mike Reuter and John Devanie, both 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Since then, I have probably interviewed over seventy veterans through internet and by phone who told me “their war.” Some veterans who remained in the shadows for over 65 years were surprised to finally get recognition.

The internet has appeared to me as a rich interface to learn, transmit, and share. That is why I had the idea in 2013 to create a website to share what I learned in the fighting areas and books, but above all, to pay tribute to paratrooper veterans of the “Forgotten D-Day.” It was from that year that I started to put online the first pages of the site. It was in March 2013 that the site ‘First Airborne Task Force: the Forgotten Paratroopers’ was launched. www.1stabtf.com.

I found Myra Miller on Facebook and through a twist of fate… I ran into her in Auxais, France when my WWII reenactment group was on march ending at the Church d’Auxais. We recognized each other and had our photograph made. Then, she searched for me in the fields of our WWII reenactment group’s bivouac area in order to personally hand me a copy of Soldiers’ Stories: A Collection of WWII Memoirs.

Earlier this year, she contacted and invited me to join the Footsteps Researchers team as a researcher and tour guide. I have been assigned to assist on Footsteps Researchers Packages and write Day-by-Day narratives in addition to developing Google Maps footsteps using the Morning Reports she images from the archives in St. Louis. I have never seen anything as remarkable as these footsteps maps and I am honored to be part of this unique team helping descendants find their veteran’s exact steps across Europe.

I was also asked to help develop the logo for LEGACY: Lost & Found, the non-profit arm of Footsteps Researchers. We help return WWII relics to the families of the men who lost them. It is quite an experience to be part of this operation!

Our Footsteps Researchers team is made up of many outstanding people from around the world with skills and talents. I am proud to work with Joey van Meesen, Florent Plana, Bob Konings, and Benjamin Mack-Jackson as a younger generation of people interested in preserving the history of WWII.  www.footstepsresearchers.com/our-team.

Loic Jankowiak, Researcher and Tour Guide
Footsteps Researchers, loic@footstepsresearchers.com

LEGACY: Lost & Found the Voice of Earl W. Garrison

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BINGO!!!!! The family spent all day checking us out to make sure we were legit! YAY! We are now in touch with a relative of Earl W. Garrison, his great niece from California. He was KIA on March 30, 1945 in the Solomon Islands. The family has heard stories about him and informed us that they have photos. So, hearing his voice on this record will be fabulous! This is so much fun! Good job Sara!

This is our latest quest! We have a record from WWII with the voice of Earl W. Garrison from North Dakota. On the record, he mentions his siblings names. Our Special Projects Researcher (and guru), Sara Collins, has identified the family and we are now trying to make contact with them.

However, in the age of social media and scammers… we sometimes get deleted when we are making contact. We are posting this here in the hope that they will check out our website and see that we are real and that we want to return this valuable item to the family at no cost to them.

We are keeping our fingers crossed that the family responds to us via Facebook.

Myra and Sara

Prentice W. Ball’s knife has arrived in the USA!

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Myra is now in possession of Prentice W. Ball’s knife after it traveled from Alpen, Germany where it was hidden for 73 years in a foxhole. It was quite amazing to touch it and hold in my hand. Sara Collins and I are so excited to deliver the knife to the family on May 20th at 2:00 pm in the library at West Point High School, Cullman, Alabama.

WWII knife to be returned to family!

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LEGACY: Lost & Found, UPDATE:

We have 100% confirmation that the pocket knife etched with Prentice W. Ball’s name (found in Germany last week) belongs to his daughters living in Alabama. It will be an honor to return the knife to them and his family in mid-May.

PRESENTATION:

Sunday, May 20, 2018

2:00 pm

West Point High School
4314 County Road 1141
Cullman AL 35057

Stay tuned as this fabulous story unfolds with even more details… his WWII footsteps will be shared upon return of the knife. Prentice W. Ball served in Company A, 117th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division.

 

LEGACY: Lost & Found

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Imagine finding or having a WWII canteen, knife, jacket, mug, plate, etc… that is a mystery to you. You might have been metal detecting, purchased on eBay, or been rummaging through a flea market and come across this relic of the past.

But this one is unique…. it clearly has a name or number etched/scratched/stamped on it.

Who dropped it?  Who lost it?  Why did they leave it behind? Where were they from?

At no cost to the person in possession of the WWII item or the veteran’s family, Footsteps Researchers will attempt to find the rightful owner. However, the person in possession must be willing to give up the relic and let us return it to the family of the veteran free and clear once our search is 100% confirmed.

UPDATE:  We have a 100% confirmation with family in Alabama and will be returning the knife to them on Sunday, May 20th. Place and time still to be determined!

(We are currently busting at the seams to share the news with a family in Alabama that we have an item with their veteran’s name on it (found by a friend in Germany while metal detecting).  The veteran’s family has been located by an incredible quick search of our team member and Special Projects Assistant, Sara Collins. However, it is our policy to wait for a 100% confirmation before releasing the news.)

* The attached photo is a canteen we are currently researching. It has the name “Gilbert” scratched in it. We know where it was found, so we know the possible time and unit. We don’t know if Gilbert is first or last name. Looking forward to reuniting this personal item with the family of the veteran who lost it.