Message from Thomas E. Price: As host of this site, and on behalf of the National Association of the 6th Infantry Division, Inc., I wish to make visitors aware of The National Association of the Sixth Infantry Division, Inc. is the Non-Profit Organization, which is still in existence and which is the force behind this website. It has held annual reunions since 1936. Membership is open to all persons interested in supporting our mission which is public education and historic preservation. We are organized as a non-profit corporation in Oregon. Individual . The National Association now publishes its newsletter electronically, which conserves our limited funds but helps to inform members and the public about new stories about the history of the 6th Infantry Division and how to preserve and contribute to its history. Our aim is to uphold the tradition of preserving our history in line with the great work of our last Historian, Milton Galke, who had an excellent sense of humor and who worked hard over many years to preserve the history of the Association and the Division.
Membership inquiries should be directed to Thomas E. Price, at the following email address. Mr. Price is the Website Historian and Board Member of the organization taking over for for the outstanding work of Mr. Robert Beutlich (formerly of Company L., 63rd Infantry Regiment).
We now have 501(c)(3) non-profit status with the IRS.
National Assn. of the 6th Infantry Division
c/o Thomas E. Price
admin@6thinfantry.com
My name is Geoff Gentilini and I am a military historian living near St. Louis, MO.I wanted to share some avenues of researching veterans that many folks might not be aware of. Many times finding out about a veteran/relative’s service in the war can be frustrating due to the confusing bureaucratic nature of the archives and the lengthy wait for information. Many WWI and WWII records were lost in the National Personnel Records Center ’73 fire. Even when you are lucky enough to receive a somewhat complete personnel file, or have records that have been preserved by the family they simply won’t tell you everything you want to know about the veteran’s service. When did a veteran join a particular unit? What battles did he take part in? Where and when was he MIA, KIA, or WIA? How exactly did he sustain his injuries? How long was he absent from his unit for treatment if he was wounded in the line of duty? Was he a rifleman or did he perform a different function in his unit?
If folks know what unit their veteran was in, it is entirely possible to find the answers to some, if not all of these questions(and possibly more), through a detailed review of the morning reports which are on microfilm in St. Louis. The morning reports allow us to answer questions about a veteran’s service that you cannot find anywhere else. I essentially offer to preform an exhaustive research of veterans by pulling together all of the information that the National Personnel Records Center holds on a particular serviceman, including a detailed review of the daily unit morning reports. Here is my web page that explains this process and the kinds of information that can be gleaned from this research:
http://www.goldenarrowresearch.com/historical-research.php
I believe that this service might be very useful to some folks who are looking for a greater depth of information on relatives who served in the division. I would be very appreciative if you could let folks know that it is possible to find out a great deal of information about veterans’ service even with many records being destroyed in the ’73 fire and perhaps consider sending them my way.
Thanks so much,
Geoff
I would like to learn whether my father’s unit — 1st Inf. Regiment 6th Inf. Division — was charged with guarding one of the roads (a Rizal Road?) on the night of Jan 30, 1945 when the Alamo Scouts and various Philippine soldiers liberated Cabanatuan.
None of the 1st Inf. Regimental histories address this. If so, it would be published in the history, right?
My father told a story to us as children about rudimentarily “searching” for his nephew, a POW in that camp the night it was liberated. He said he questioned soldiers returning from the camp with their prisoners as to the disposition of his nephew.
No one knew of the nephew. No one knew he was already dead.
I was able to get the nephew’s Individual Deceased Profile from the Army Air Force. I was not able to apply for the military or medical records from the Army Air Force –as I am not a next of kin. He was at Cabanatuan and died shortly after his arrival.
Thank you!
SmartBuffy
Does anyone know?
I just learned that my dad was a member of the 6th Infantry during World War II. I am interested in learning more about the Sixth and the men of the division. Thank you.
smartbuffy,
I personally have not read on it. Did you look in the Alamo Scouts web page?
You’ll find the link here;
https://6thinfantry.com/links/
Scroll down to Other Fine World War II Sites.
I hope this helps.
Danny
Dear 6th Infantry Division veterans, and their families,
When our fathers returned from WWII they brought back souvenirs such as rifles, helmets and bayonets…but they also returned home with personal items such as letters, diaries and good-luck prayer flags.
OBON 2015 is a non-profit humanitarian movement that provides a point of contact between Americans and Japanese families. OBON 2015 receives personal items that were taken as battlefield souvenirs and returns them to their families in Japan.
Some veterans and their families want these personal items returned to the widows, siblings and children of the Japanese soldiers but have no way to return them. This is our speciality. We receive these items and with a team of scholars in Japan and the assistance of various Japanese governmental agencies, we trace this items back to their place of origin.
There is no fee for this service.
The personal items we return are the things the veterans no longer want to keep. OBON 2015 does not want any soldier to give up souvenirs that retain powerful memories of their service and sacrifice. If the family wants to keep some item….they should do that. We are talking about these things stored in attics and closets that have lost their importance.
With the 70th anniversary of the end of the war coming next year, OBON 2015 is making an effort to return to the families as many items as possible.
For more information you can visit our web site; OBON2015.com (click on the ENGLISH heading). Or, you can email us at “contact @obon2015.com”
We look forward to working with you to return these items back to their families and working with you towards peace and reconciliation.
Thank you for your interest.
Sincerely,
Rex Ziak
OBON 2015
I am building a database of names of war veterans for my website. Currently it has just over 1 million names. I am looking for other sources of names of veterans, so am asking if you have, or can direct me to, any lists/rosters of names of people who have served in wars in your Division or any of its units.
Thanks
Ed Jones
Does this include WWI veterans? My Grand Father was in France in WWI and while much of the information is lost, his discharge paperwork says he was in the ^th division at the time of his discharge in 1919.
My father fought in the battle of Munoz with the 80 th Field Artillery. . He advised that motion picture cameras captured part of the battle and the aftermath the next day. I have seen a few clips but only just seconds long. Is there any way for me to view all the film footage.?
Mr. Sanders:
Thank you for your contact. It may be that the only film or photos available today are in the limited portion of the news real that we have linked or the photos on our website. The National Archives might have more. Also, some services that specialize in historic military films might also have more. Unfortunately, I learned from Bob Beutlich of Company L of the 63rd Infantry Regiment that the plane, carrying the majority of the 6th Infantry’s Signal Corps films footage, jettisoned the films while in route to Korea. Apparently, the plane had mechanical difficulties and wound up jettisoning pretty much everything to stay in the air. Sadly, Bob is no longer with us. He died a number of years ago. I hope this is of some help in your search.
Sir
I am inquiring as to whether this is the same organization that was known as the “National Association of the Sixth Division United States Army” in which the contact person was …..Clarence A. Anderson,Secretary
National Association of Sixth Division
P.O. Box 502
Ogden,Utah
My father [ William L. Fisher]was in the 6th, Field Artillery and was in the South Pacific campaigns and later in Korea. I got this name from his Book on the Division of ‘306 Days of Combat’.
Thank you for any information……..Alan L. Fisher
It may be the same organization. However, it was always known as the “National Association of the Sixth Infantry Division United States Army.” You know there was a “6th Armored Division” in Europe during the War? A separate and distinct division.
I have a uniform with the name Kenneth H osiek. He was the relative of the owner. He served in the 6th Inf, 6th Armored and 8th Army. any help would be awesome!
According to Fold3, there was a Kenneth H Osiek born 1929 that was in the Air Force during the Korean War.
My name is Kevin Morrow and I am a military history researcher in Northern Virginia. I wanted to make you all aware of a way in which you can find out more about the military career of yourself or a family member who may have served with the 6th Infantry Division. I run a history research business (www.abinitioresearch.net), and I regularly make searches for the records of US Army units that have participated in our nation’s wars. This includes things like after-action reports, casualty rosters, general orders, award/decoration announcements, tactical maps, photographs and the like.
I believe that this service might be very useful to some folks who are looking for a greater depth of information on relatives who served in the division. I would greatly appreciate it if you could spread the word to others that it is possible to find out a great deal of information about a veterans’ service at the unit level, and if anyone wants to go ahead with making a search for unit records, please send them my way.
Thanks,
Kevin Morrow
Tried sending an email to admin@6thinfantry.com and it is no longer active.
I found the WW2 article of the 6th ID very educational. Showing action in the Philippines and the stories of former residents from Iowa that lost family members during WW2.
During the time period: March 79-April 80 & June 83-July 91, I was a member of USAR Unit: A Co, 1/410th INF 205th BDE (Artic Light) with the 6th ID located in Cedar Rapids, IA.
While deployed to Iraq Oct 04-Nov 05 encountered service members from several Divisions that I was familiar with, including the 6th ID. at LSA Diamondback in Mosul, Iraq. At that time was a member of USAR Unit: 445 TC with the 25th ID located in Iowa City and Waterloo, IA. By the end of our tour we had been assigned to 5 different ID’s by providing security and supplies with PLS gun trucks for convoys. Escorting fuel tankers, soldiers with the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines and tons of supplies from the Turkish border to Baghdad, Iraq most commonly referred to as the Highway of Hell. As the 445th TC met at the crossroads with many units, we became famous by our nickname “REDBALL”.
I am originally from Iowa and been a Philippine resident during the past 12 years. When the virus protection ban lifts, I will be looking into finding some memorial sites during 2020.
Mr. Harms:
Thank you for sharing your experience and information with us. If you do find information specific to the 6th Infantry in the Philippines, including what some of the locations look like today, please consider sharing them with us.
Thank you for your contact.
Thomas Price