97th ENGINEER BATTALION (Construction)
DYNAMIC YEARLY E–NEWSLETTER, 2016
Updated: 28 September 2016
LIST OF ARTICLES: (click to go direct)
MAJ JAMES (JIMMIE) D. MORTON, DECEASED:
A man who had a long and productive marriage and military career is also an American whose story is now available, thanks to his son, Michael J. Morton. I have not yet figured out how to transfer and post all the hard work Michael accomplished in honor of his father, but here is a link to the compelling story that began with James’ enlistment on 29 January 1941. From that day forward, James "Jimmy" Morton progressed through the enlisted ranks to be come a warrant officer and then a commissioned officer. He was assigned to the 97th Engineer Regiment, Camp Blanding, Florida in June 1941. In October 1941 he served with the Regiment in Alaska until November 1944, and, then, shortly thereafter, he was reassigned to serve with the 29th QM Group during the campaign in New Guinea. He concluded his WWII service during the Luzon Campaign in the Phillipines.
There is much to discover and work to do to share Major Morton’s story with you in the coming months. This will be a project we will tackle in due time, but here is the link to tell much of the story as submitted my Michael Morton:
My father, the late Major James “Jimmie” D. Morton, U. S. Army, Retired, born 1924; died 2005, enlisted on 29 January 1941 and served until January 1968. Herved in Alaska with the 97th Engineer Regiment (Colored) as Staff Sergeant and Chief of the Regiments Messaging Center. I have copied the URL for his Ancestry.com Military Page herein below:
More than 10,000 soldiers from the Army Corp of Engineers were assigned to the project, including four regiments of African American Engineers from the 93rd Engineer General Service Regiment, the 95th Engineer General Service Regiment, the 97th Engineer General Service Regiment, and the 388th Engineer Battalion, which was assigned to the oil pipeline that was needed to supply gasoline to planes, military vehicles and construction equipment.
Sincerely yours,
Michael James Morton
PHOTO: 520TH LIGHT TRUCK COMPANY, FRANCE 1956:
EDITOR: This report originaled through the efforts of Daniel Klinck, 97th EBC, Vassincourt:
“In reply to some of your questions:
The company photo was taken by a Frenchman from Bar le Duc. John and me hired him directly, so it was not an official photo. The photo was taken in Vassincourt in January or February 1956. We thought it would be a good memento of the unit.
I don’t have a roster copy. At the time I knew everyone by name and face. Now, 60 years later, I remember some and won’t guess the others. As of the photo date, John Rung was a First Lieutenant and I was a Second Lieutenant, a few months short of being promoted to First Lieutenant. Unfortunately my orders were tossed about eight years ago. Rung might still have his. Also, a few photos I had of the post no longer exist. I reported for duty at the 520th on or about April 1955. John had been there a few months prior. Captain Ralph Makepeace was the Commanding Officer, basically a decent guy. He rotated out sometime during August—October of 1955 (best guess). He was succeeded by Captain Henry “Moe” Martin, who was a very good officer to work with and to boot was a very good Archer. Moe was reassigned in January 1956. Rung was acting commanding officer for 3–4 months.
I took over as commanding officer for about 2 months. Next arrived Captain Shaw, whose first name escapes me. I rotated back to the States about 12/12/56. Other officers in the company were First Lieutenant Brennan who rotated out mid 1955. Brennan and Rung went through the ROTC program at Fordham University. Lieutenant Frank Stringer came on board in May 1956. Stringer and Dow went through the ROTC program at John Carroll University.
As to the photo, First Sergeant Aid is standing next to Lieutenant Rung. Sergeant Bias is in the front row left. In the 2nd row, 2nd from the left, is Sergeant Wiggins/chief cook. The second man to the right of Wiggins is Private First Class Willis Garceau, the best driver in the company and always well–groomed. Sergeant Gonzales is a in the row behind Rung and me—between us.
Richard T. Dow”
FRENCH NEWSPAPER ARTICLE SHOWS AN AERIAL VIEW OF VASSINCOURT HOSPITAL:
From Daniel Rechul (son of Wladyslaw Rechul, deceased, 4506th Labor Service Company) comes a newspaper article about Vassincourt hospitlal. In a photo within the article is a visible extension in the work showing an area that most who served there before 1965 would not recognize. The original entrance is to the left center of the photo, while the site plant building (and beyound, the old mess hall) can be seen at the top end of this photo. New construction is at the bottom:
Also from Daniel are several photographs from a recent display of American Forces memorabilia, which will appear here shortly:
LOCAL FORCES EXPO AT VASSINCOURT, FRANCE, 2016:
Each photograph shown below is the camera work of Daniel Rechul, and he has higher resolution versions of the photo copies presented here. Someone very special, or certainly a dedicated group of people, put this display and ceremony together in an excellent manner. We are amazed that so many photos came from the 97th Engineer web site. We offer to the French people involved our compliments for making this event possible and our sincere appreciation for the accuracy and thoroughness of the displays. Thank you, Daniel, for the extra effort you put forth to share the results with our unit and anyone who might visit the web site:
Chaque photographie ci-dessous est le travail de la caméra de Daniel Rechul, et il a des versions de haute résolution de la photo copies présentées ici. Quelqu'un de très spécial, ou en tout cas un groupe de personnes dévouées, mettre cet affichage et la cérémonie ainsi que d'une manière excellente. Nous sommes étonnés que tant de photos sont venus sur le site web d'ingénieur 97e. Nous offrons au peuple français impliqués nos compliments pour faire de cet événement possible et notre sincère reconnaissance pour l'exactitude et l'exhaustivité de l'affichage. Merci, Daniel, pour l'effort supplémentaire que vous mettez en avant de partager les résultats avec notre unité et tous ceux qui pourraient visiter le site web:
