WWII history | Entering the Pale

Diana’s husband Murray Scheshko, as I’ve discussed in previous posts, was in the Air Corps of the U.S. Army in WWII. There is a little question as to whether he was in the 353rd or 352nd Fighter Group or perhaps both.

We knew he had bronze stars and a purple heart, but wanted to order his full records from NARA (National Archives) in St. Louis, MO. Well, the gardener and I ordered them, but we received an unsettling response. Apparently, his records were lost in a fire.

According to NARA, the only hope we have for information is to send $25 for the “final pay voucher.” The idea is that there is information on that document that might be helpful. Why the original documents were not better taken care of, I do not know. Thank you VA for taking care of our vets in yet another way (sarcasm alert).

I’m going to order the final payment voucher. Wish me luck! Also, if you have had to do this, please let me know in what ways it helped your research.

I’ve written twice before about Murray Scheshko’s (Murray Castle) military career.

The other day I discovered some new documents that belonged to Murray. The gardener (my husband) didn’t realize we had these papers pertaining to his father’s military career.

I wrote earlier that Murray was in the 353rd fighter group: Murray’s Further Military History and Murray’s U.S. Military History.

One of the new documents I discovered is a discharge paper that states that he was in the 352nd fighter squadron.

So was he in the 353rd or 352nd? Apparently both squadrons worked together and were in England at the same time. Both also finished up their service in New Jersey, but not at Fort Dix as this discharge paper states–at Camp Kilmer instead. Both squadrons were highly celebrated.

In the stack of papers, I found Murray’s “transcript of military record.”

His bronze stars and other awards are mentioned, but not his purple heart. He not only earned a purple heart, but it meant that he received $67 per month for the duration of his life for the injury he sustained.

I found out that the gardener can order information about the bronze stars from NARA (National Archives) in St. Louis. I plan to help him do so this week.

These documents show that when Murray was discharged he was a sergeant. He had had a higher rank, but was in the brig for fighting, so he was demoted. There is a rumor he was AWOL for awhile, too, but none of this is mentioned on these official records.

On the transcript, I was particularly transfixed by the list of “battles and campaigns” he was involved with:

Air Offensive Europe
Central Europe
Normandy
Northern France
Rhineland
Ardennes-Alsace

We are guessing that his time in England would be covered under “Air Offensive Europe.”

According toU.S. ARMY CENTER
OF MILITARY HISTORY
EDUCATE-INSPIRE-PRESERVE, these are the dates Murray would have been in these areas:

Air Offensive Europe – 4 July 1942 – 5 June 1944
Central Europe – 22 March – 11 May 1945
Normandy – 6 June – 24 July 1944
Northern France – 25 July – 14 September 1944
Rhineland – 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945
Ardennes-Alsace – 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945

In general, we knew that he had been in England, and the gardener and I had both heard about his service in Israel after WWII, but neither of us had any idea he was involved in these other battles and campaigns.

The gardener and I were talking about how we wished we had thought to ask Murray questions and interview him about his wartime and other experiences. But, unfortunately, Murray died suddenly of a massive heart attack onboard a flight home from his job in Tupelo to Kalamazoo at the age of 62. We were young and had expected him to be around “forever.”