Army Engineers - 835th Aviation Battalion

3/29/08

Happy 90th Birthday to BOB JONES on April 10! We Love You!

REUNION!!!!!

If any of you are out there from the WWII 835th Aviation Battalion, Army Corps of Engineers, Bob Jones and Joe Ray, and any others who wish to come will be getting together in Joe Ray's hometown, St. Louis, MO, May 1-5, 2005.  To get on board, please email yrenfrew@renfrewlaw.com or comffycozzy@hotmail.com . 

Progress At Last!

Through the kindness of numerous people, we have finally located the Mother Lode of all 835th Aviation Battalion lore and information, namely, the Ray family [Joe, his wife Ruth, and their daughter Beverly].  It turns out that unbeknownst to us, the Rays have held numerous reunions for the 835th throughout the years, and have a huge store of photographs and other memorabilia both from the war years and thereafter.  We hope to have some exciting news for all of you 835th men and families in the early part of this year.

ROSTER IN PROGRESS

Thanks to the hard work of Jack Gibson, grandson of the late Edward Mzyk of the 835th Aviation Battalion of the Army Corps of Engineers, we are developing a Roster of last known addresses and telephone numbers of men in the 835th. You can look at this work-in-progress by clicking here.

Clicking above will open a document in Adobe Acrobat format which you can read or print out. If you don't have the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer [although almost everybody does], you can get it FREE at www.adobe.com.

If you can fill in any of the gaps in our information, or give us information about others [even if only names], please do! You can send an e-mail by clicking here.

Thank you!

Robert Rightsell

We recently heard from Bob Rightsell who informed us of the unfortuante death of his father Robert D. Rightsell, of the 835th Aviation Battalion, on November 13, 1959, in Alamosa, Colorado.

Bob Rightsell is attempting to trace his ancestry. If you know anything which might help, you can reach Bob by e-mailing him [click here].

More Detail re Robert E. Jones

POSTED ON BEHALF OF ROBERT E. JONES:

Following cross-examination by experts [his wife and daughter], the following slightly greater detail has been elicited about Robert E. Jones' service:

I was drafted December 4, 1941.

My Basic Training was at Ft. Leonardwood, I think around three months in length.

I then went to Belvoir for OCS, three months.

It was on completion of OCS that I was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers, 835th Aviation Battallion, Company C.

I then went to Camp Young, in the California desert, for around six months.

We shipped overseas from Camp Stoneman, which is not far from San Francisco.

We first went to Libya, North Africa, for perhaps eighteen months, and then went to Italy and was there when the European peace treaty was signed.

After that, I was sent on my way aboard a ship with the Company's heavy equipment accompanied by two enlisted men.

While enroute to Okinawa, the Japanese peace treaty was signed, so the ship was diverted to Boston.

I was sent to Fort MacArthur In San Pedro, California for discharge.

I would love to hear from anyone with whom I served, even before assignment to the 835th. [Any of my OCS or Basic Training mates out there?]

Again, you can call my daughter at 888-752-7752 or email me c/o my wife: Click HERE.

More Detailed Unit History

835th ENGINEER AVIATION BATTALION Pending receipt of a Lineage and Honors Statement. The 835th Engineer Aviation Battalion was activated at Langley Field, Virginia 16 April 1942. Departed the San Francisco Port of Embarkation on 16 February 1943 and arrived at Egypt, Africa 29 March 1943. Transferred to Libya 1 July 1943 then Algeria 15 October 1943. Committed to combat in Italy on 8 December 1943. The unit was at Termoli, Italy less Co A at Ramistelli, Co B at Pomigliano, and Co C at Lesina, Italy. Returned to the United States via the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation 9 September 1945 and inactivated at Geiger Field, Washington 7 November 1945. This unit is known to have been active at Wolters Air Force Base, Texas on 8 January 1953. CAMPAIGN PARTICIPATION CREDIT Naples-Foggia (Ground) Rome-Arno DECORAIONS: None. BLAZONRY SHIELD: Argent, a cross couped gules a horse's head erased in the first quarter sable, and a fleur-de-lis florencee in the fourth quarter of the second. CREST: That for the regiments and separate battalions of the Army Reserve: On a wreath of the colors (argent and gules) the statue of the Minute Man proper. The statue of the Minute Man, Captain John Parker (H. H. Kitson, sculptor) stands on the Common at Lexington, Massachusetts. MOTTO: Work to Win. DESCRIPTION The shield is in the colors of the Corps of Engineers. The red cross is taken from both the arms of Italy and the province of Apulia. The black Horse's head is taken from the provincial arms of Campenia. These provices were the scene of trhe organization's Naples-Foggia campaign. The red fleur-de-lis florencee is the well known device of the tuscan city of Florence, located on the Arno River, whch marked the end of the Rome-Arno campaign. The distinctive insignia for the 835th Engineer Aviatioin Battalion consist of the shield and motto of the coat of arms (Ltr, dtd 8 January 1953). Assistance is requested on the basic history and combat experiences of this unit. Please contact 1SG Charles W. Aresta, 1813 Sereno St., Honolulu, Hawaii 96817-2318 or e-mail: ra1sgt@aol.com

Credit to: http://www.military.com/HomePage/UnitPageFullText/1,13476,714062,00.html
And again, thanks to Tutuzdad-ga of Google Answers.

Motto and Short History of the 835th Aviation Battalion

The unit’s motto was “WORK TO WIN”.

HISTORY:

“835th ENGINEER AVIATION BATTALION Pending receipt of a Lineage and
Honors Statement:

The 835th Engineer Aviation Battalion was activated at Langley Field,
Virginia 16 April 1942. Departed the San Francisco Port of Embarkation
on 16 February 1943 and arrived at Egypt, Africa 29 March 1943.
Transferred to Libya 1 July 1943 then Algeria 15 October 1943.
Committed to combat in Italy on 8 December 1943. The unit was at
Termoli, Italy less Co A at Ramistelli, Co B at Pomigliano, and Co C
at Lesina, Italy. Returned to the United States via the Hampton Roads
Port of Embarkation 9 September 1945 and inactivated at Geiger Field,
Washington 7 November 1945.

[Thanks to "tutuzdad-ga", a Google Answers researcher of great dedication and ingenuity.]

Crest of the 835th Aviation Battalion

Men of 835th Aviation Battalion - You can call us

Posted on behalf of Robert E. Jones:

If you were with the 835th Aviation Battalion of the Army Corps of Engineers [and especially C Company], or if you have information about anyone who was, you may contact us through my daughter at 888-752-7752.

I hope to hear from you!

Some of the Men of the 835th Aviation Battalion

Posted on behalf of Robert E. Jones:

Although my memory is not what it once was [even last week], I can remember the names of at least some of the folks I am looking for. They are:

Staunton Brown (deceased)

Raleigh Burnett (deceased)

Frank Chamberlain

[First Name?] Deshner [first Lt., Company C of 835th Aviation Battalion]

Todd Hendershodt [First Lt., Supply Officer, attached to Headquarters Co.] (deceased)

[First Name?] Kingsley [Doctor assigned to 835th Aviation Battalion]

Keith Little [Adjutant to the 835th - Headquarters Co.]

Robert Rightsell (deceased)

Charles Spero

Cpt. Sunderland [Commander Headquarters]

Harry Taylor [First Lt., Company C of 835th Aviation Battalion]

[First Name?] Ward [First Sergeant, Company C of 835th Aviation Battalion]

If you're out there, please report in. If you know the whereabouts of any of these men, please let us know.
Add a comment to this post, email me here, or call my daughter at 888-752-7752.

Thank you.

Welcome to the BLOG for the Army Corps of Engineers 835th Aviation Battalion

Posted on behalf of Robert E. Jones:

I have conned my daughter into setting up this meeting place for the 835th Aviation Battalion of the Army Corps of Engineers in the hope I can make contact with some of the guys from my unit. Because I am about as computer-phobic as it is possible to be in the 21st Century, you will see posts stating they are "by" my daughter Yvonne or my wife Margaret, but they are posting on my behalf. Any errors you see are theirs. Any wit, wisdom, and insight are my own.

I did my basic training at Camp Young in California in 1942, went to OCS at Fort Belvoir in Virginia emerging as a "90 Day Wonder", then off to sunny North Africa with Company C of the 835th Aviation Battalion where we built airfields and the like until they sent us off to Southern Italy.

I got separated from my unit when I was sent by Liberty Ship with two others to accompany heavy equipment to Okinawa, while the rest of the unit shipped out separately. Japan surrendered while we were still en route. My ship returned to Boston, while the ship with the rest of my unit returned to Newport News.

All this is by way of saying that to my long-time regret, I was not with the rest of my unit when it was disbanded, and so had no chance to get all of your phone numbers and addresses in the States.

If you guys are out there, I think of you often and would be very grateful if you would get in touch by sending an email to Bob Jones.

Better yet, post your contact information and email address here so all who are interested can find you. After that, please post anything you are willing to share, including your current activities, family news, vacation plans, or anything else of interest.

After a long post-retirement stint in Grass Valley, California, we moved several years ago to Sun City, Arizona. If you live in the area, please let me know, but I want to hear from all of you, wherever you are!

Hurry, before I get old!

[For the techies among you, my daughter is setting up this blog with an RSS feed [yes, it's Greek to me too]. What that means, apparently, is that if you have a program called a "news aggregator", you can get new posts to this site sent to you automatically without having to actually visit the site to see what's new and exciting.]