Thanks so much to Richard Stone for sending this ! He says "an article for your use that describes the operation of the 713th US Army Railroad Operating Battalion in Italy during the 1943 - 1944 period. The original article was printed in the 1944 edition of the USA magazine 'Railway Age’" 

 

Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949 - burial cards US Archives 

Name    Robert W Ciarlelli
Gender    Male
Rank    Private First Class
Residence Place    Missouri
Service Number    37729458
Military Unit    741st Railway Operating Battalion
Military Branch    U.S. Army
War    World War II
Death Date    19 Oct 1945
Cemetery Plot Number    D
Cemetery Row    20
Cemetery Section    Grave: 3
Cemetery    Netherlands
Burial Place    Margraten, Netherlands
Father    J C Ciarlelli

 

Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949- burial cards US Archives

Name:     David O Champagne Jr
Gender:     Male
Rank:     Technical Sergeant
Residence Place:     Connecticut
Service Number:     11104351
Military Unit:     729th Railway Operating Battalion
Military Branch:     U.S. Army
War:     World War II
Death Date:     18 Jul 1943
Cemetery Plot Number:     C
Cemetery Row:     4
Cemetery Section:     Grave: 31
Cemetery:     Cambridge
Burial Place:     Cambridge, England
Next of Kin:     Lavinia Champagne 

Les was a friend and great inspiration for this blog. RIP 

This is my favorite photo of Les at the ripe old age of 19 

Lester Anthony Jacoby May 7, 1928 - October 27, 2020 Columbia, South Carolina - Les Jacoby, 92, beloved father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend, and the last combat steam and diesel locomotive railroad engineer in the world, died on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina. He was born in Wabasha, Minnesota, the oldest of 11 children born to Nicholas and Marcella (Kennebeck) Jacoby, and lived on the family farm in southern Minnesota, with no running water or electricity, until he entered the U.S. Army in 1946. He proudly served his country first during WWII as an advisor to the Korean National Railroad, then with the 790th Transportation Railway Operating Battalion, where at the age of 19 he became the engineer of the last USATC S160 steam locomotive to be used in conflict. He operated the Gen. Pershing #101 in combat until he returned to the US at the end of his tour. The Gen. Pershing 101 is now a permanent exhibit at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI. read online here

Lester Anthony Jacoby obit by Nancy on Scribd

718th Railway Operating Battalion, Headquarters Company, Camp Claiborne, 1944

718th ROB Discussion on Flickr around the unit photo

718th ROB Discussion on Flickr Around the Unit Photo by Nancy on Scribd

718th ROB Clues Reveal Few Hints About Fate of Missing Soldier by Nancy on Scribd

Military Rail Service 1945 Calendar

Military Rail Service 1945 Calendar by Nancy on Scribd

734 Highball Newsletter June 1945 by Nancy on Scribd

772nd Military Rail Police - Korea 3rd TMRS, Korea during 53-54.

772 Military Rail Police Korea by Nancy on Scribd

More photos here

749th ROB unknown soldier Photos by Nancy on Scribd

Soldiers at Camp Shelby, Mississippi

746th Railway Operating Battalion snlf railroad Signal Poster 

France 1944

Sgt William J. Plichta, Co B. 714th Training-724th Railway Operating Battalion 

Fort Eustus to Pusan in Korea. Included are a service sector uniform Jacket size 34 and 2 garrison caps. A dress cap cover with name and unit listed . A ashtray with unit name from Fort Eustus. Also 9 Fm & Tm manuals including "Operation of railroads Locomotive Repair Shops" 1946 - Camouflage Basic principles 1944-Personal conduct 1949-Elementary map reading and photography 1944-Railway shop battalion 1944-First aid 1946-Army life 1946-Advanced Map and photographic reading(Loose front cover)-2 combination scorebooks M1-BAR-Military justice HQ 2nd army 1951-2 safety rules military railway service 1944-Personal conduct 1949

William-Plichta-Obituary 

North Olmsted, Ohio Jun 14, 1930 – Apr 8, 2020 

With heavy hearts, we announce the death of William J. Plichta (North Olmsted, Ohio), who passed away on April 8, 2020 at the age of 89. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. He was loved and cherished by many people including : his wife Arlene E. Plichta; and his daughters, Susan Conklin (Chuck) and Judy Plichta (Jerry Krankovich). In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in William's name are suggested to Habitat for Humanity, 2110 W 110th St., Cleveland, OH 44102. Suggested donation : Habitat for Humanity

His obit April 2010 Duluth MN
Edward J. "Ed" Pufall Sr., 93, of West Sixth St., passed away Sunday, April 11, 2010, in Bayshore Health Center with his family at his side. He was born on March 10, 1917, to Joseph and Mary (Stefinski) Pufall in Ashland. Ed was a graduate of DePadua High School in Ashland. He worked for a local meat market and then hired on with the railroad. He met his future wife in Ashland while she was employed as a registered nurse in Bayfield. He married Ardith L. Katon on Sept 30, 1942, in Clovis, N.M., where he had completed basic training. He was an Army veteran of World War II, serving as a sergeant with Company C, 713th Engineers in Africa, Central Europe, Italy, France and Germany. When he returned from the service in June 1945, he and Ardith moved to Duluth. He worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad, the Great Northern and finally the Burlington Northern Railroad, retiring as a yardmaster in 1978. He was a member of St. James Catholic Church, VFW Post 137, American Legion Post 71, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, the United Transportation Union and the Yardmasters Union. He and Ardith enjoyed fishing, gardening, Twins baseball and traveling around the country visiting their children.

Does anyone recognize these soldiers and what unit they belong to ?

Unknown unit Walter E Street Belgium and Austria by Nancy on Scribd

 Camp Jesse Turner 1943

748th ROB panorama by Nancy on Scribd

Great book of you know someone who served in this unit ..

Yardbird is how Ed Johansen referred to himself in some of the letters he sent home to the family from boot camp in 1942. At the time the definition fit him: yardbird. n. Slang. An untrained military recruit. This is a book of letters and photos that Ed sent home to his family and fiance. As I read them, I was enchanted with the world that my dad described...a world at war, his hopes of making it as an officer in the Army, his description of the training he went through: "...a section of land we have to crawl over with land mines exploding all around us and machine guns firing over us," his worries about his younger brother who is serving in the Air Force and his life in the 755th Railway Battalion. Illustrated with his own photographs of the country and the men he served with in war-torn Europe.

Buy one here https://amzn.to/3oZ7nZr  

 

America's Fighting Railroads: A World War II Pictorial History Paperback by Don DeNevi 

 

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