730th Railway Operating Battalion

• Costa, Jack H. — Company A, 730th Railway Operating Battalion
• Broadle, John Joseph — Headquarters Company, 730th Railway Operating Battalion

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732nd Railway Operating Battalion

• Duran, Roberto — 732nd Railway Operating Battalion
• Hodge, Arnold — Company A, 732nd Railway Operating Battalion
• Sutliff, Nelson Harvey — Headquarters Company, 732nd Railway Operating Battalion
• Walker, Harold — Company B, 732nd Railway Operating Battalion

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733rd Railway Operating Battalion

• Coops, Samuel — Company C, 733rd Railway Operating Battalion
• Coker, Young Dempsey — Company C, 733rd Railway Shop Battalion
• Healy, Ross Edward — Company C, 733rd Railway Operating Battalion
• Kirby, Charles Alfred — 733rd Railway Operating Battalion (Attached Unassigned Detachment Patients, Station Hospital)
• Walding, Orville J. — Company A, 733rd Railway Operating Battalion

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734th Railway Operating Battalion

• Batchelder, Bertice H. — Headquarters Company, 734th Railway Operating Battalion
• Bing, Howard — Company C, 734th Railway Operating Battalion
• Dutra, Joseph Thomas — 734th Railway Operating Battalion
• Black, James D. — Company B, 734th Railway Shop Battalion
  • (Form corrected in red annotation to Company B, 734th Railway Shop Battalion)

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735th Railway Operating Battalion

• Gross, Orville C. — Engineers, 735th Railway Operating Battalion

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737th Railway Operating Battalion

• Hargis, Leo Porter — Company A, 737th Railway Operating Battalion

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740th Railway Operating Battalion

• Burkett, George R. — 740th Railway Operating Battalion
• Johnson, Walter Alfred — Company A, 740th Railway Operating Battalion
• Petersen, Orville Chris — Company B, 740th Railway Operating Battalion

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Railway Shop Battalions

733rd Railway Shop Battalion

• Coker, Young Dempsey — Company C, 733rd Railway Shop Battalion

734th Railway Shop Battalion

• Black, James D. — Company B, 734th Railway Shop Battalion 

See the application cards for this group here  

 

 

*Thanks to Bernard's grandson Scott Byers for this obit.

Bernard Clayton Byers
August 24, 1925 – November 29, 2020
Obituary of Bernard Clayton Byers
IN THE CARE OF
Whitten Monelison Chapel

Bernard Clayton “Eddie” Byers lived a life of service and commitment to his country and family. He was born in Naola, Va., about 15 miles southwest of Lynchburg, on August 24, 1925, and died of late stage Parkinson’s at his home in Falls Church, Va., on November 29, 2020.

Bernard grew up during the Great Depression when 25 million people were out of work and struggling to make ends meet. His family fell upon hard times as well and, as a child, Bernard, along with his siblings helped by working on local farms.

World War II began in November 1940, and upon turning 18, Bernard was called up by the Selective Service. He entered the U.S. Army on November 15, 1943. He received training at various military camps, including Ft. Meade, Md.; Camp Claiborne, La.; Camp Beale, Calif.; Ft. Warren, Wyo.; and Camp Robinson, Ark. Bernard served primarily in the Pacific Theatre, having shipped out to Manila, The Philippines—a 39-day trip, 20 without seeing land, making port at Finch Haven in New Guinea. The Japanese had taken over the Islands. His battalion was sent to the front lines at Alacon to fight the Japanese in the mountains where there were no caves or tunnels for them to hide. As part of the 737th military railway battalion, Bernard arrived in Luzon in March 1945 and, for seven months, the battalion operated over 7,000 trains with more than 48,000 cars, shipping military freight, shop machines, and track material. After Alacon, his battalion was sent to South Korea where they supervised a railway station from October 1945 to February 1946. Married men were the first to be sent home from South Korea as the War was coming to an end, and his battalion shipped out to the Aleutian Islands from Yokahama, Japan, returning to the States. He was soon to be discharged at Ft. Bragg, N.C., concluding his military service.

After World War II, Bernard worked briefly at the Paper Mill and Shoe Factory in Lynchburg until he landed a position with John P. Hughes Desoto Plymouth in 1946 at its Peak Motor Dealership in Bedford. Three years later, he learned that Olmstead Motor Company up north in Arlington, VA was hiring. It was there he worked honorably as an auto mechanic for 50 years, receiving various awards and certificates and ultimately a “Doctor of Motors” designation in August 1968. When Olmstead’s closed its shop in 1990, Bernard retired as well.

Upon arriving in Arlington, Bernard lived modestly in a rooming house for nearly four years. In June 1953, he and his growing family moved to Pimmit Hills, a housing development designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and known as war housing for returning soldiers from World War II. He and his wife, Lillie, proudly raised their six children in Pimmit Hills, and he was comforted to reside in his home until his death.

Bernard is survived by his six children, Leonard of Manassas, Va., Edward of Warrenton, Va., Carol of Fredericksburg, Va., Shirley of Sacramento, Calif., Lee and Richard, both of Meridian, Miss., as well as nine grandchildren, three step grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his father, Marshall Dillon Byers; mother, Annie Ruth Noel Byers; brothers, Hilton, Frank, Hubert, Billy, and Wesley; sisters, Pearl, Lorene, and Geneva; as well as his loving wife, Lillie Montgomery Byers, who died on February 25, 2011.

A viewing will be held at Whitten Funeral Home in Madison Heights, Va., on Saturday, December 5, 2020, at 1 p.m. followed by services at 2 p.m. Interment will be at El Bethel Cemetery in Allwood, Va.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> 

 

Veteran of the Week: Private George Walker Farr

The Veteran of the Week is sponsored by the National Veterans Shrine and Register of Honor at the American Village — honoring America’s veterans and telling the stories of their service and sacrifice for the cause of liberty.

“The American Village is pleased to join the Shelby County Reporter in recognizing Private George Walker Farr as Veteran of the Week,” American Village founder and CEO Tom Walker said. “He is representative of the hundreds of thousands of Alabamians who have risked it all for the sake of our country and its freedom. To all veterans we owe a debt we can never fully repay.”

Visit the website, Veteransregisterofhonor.com, today and add your loved ones to the Register of Honor. Help us honor, recognize, respect and remember our country’s veterans. Here are highlights about this week’s Veteran of the Week: George Walker Farr was born in Birmingham in 1919. He entered the service as a U.S. Army Private in May of 1944 at Fort McPearson in Georgia. He served during World War II in the Philippines with the 737th Railway Operating Battalion, and was honorably discharged in November of 1945 in Seoul Korea. Farr immediately reenlisted and served two more years with a Military Police Detachment, receiving his second honorable discharge at Camp Stoneman, California in July of 1947. He died in 2007 and is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.
https://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/2020/06/09/veteran-of-the-week-private-george-walker-farr/ 

737th Railway Operating Battalion unit photo by Nancy on Scribd

737.pdf by Nancy

thanks tim

3rd 737th Various Documents by Nancy

Various documents from 3rd Military Railway Service and 737th Railway Operating Battalion documents Philippines

3rd MRS Phillipines railway orders.pdf by cunningb

American Battle Monuments Commission 

Nicholas Romanchak