During late summer 1944 they were shipped to Europe as the Army’s first combat-trained MP Battalion, to help with the invasion of Germany.

A news release published in the Albion Evening Recorder on August 17, 1964 for the 524th’s annual Reunion, which was being held here in Albion that year, gives a synopsis of the activities of the 524th as follows: “The 524th was a combat unit, and saw service in England, France, Belgium, and Germany, being attached to the 9th U.S. Army Headquarters. During the Battle of the Bulge, the battalion was located near Liege, Belgium, which was in the direct path of the German breakthrough. The 524th played a major part in directing the unison of the 3rd and 9th Armies along with the British armies to speedily close the gap of the spear-heading Germans. Prior to the Bulge, the 524th escorted Prime Minister Churchill along with General Eisenhower and other dignitaries to Julich, Germany. The 524th were also the first troops across the Rhine River at Wesel, Germany when the 9th Army made the crossing.”

During the War, my father wrote numerous letters to his sister Leila (Pasick) Sierens (1915-1997) and other siblings whenever he could. Fortunately, these letters were saved by the family, as well as over a hundred photographs which have now been digitized by yours truly. It is a treasure-trove of information and photographs. I have since transcribed my father's World War II letters he wrote to his siblings.

In a particular letter dated July 20, 1945 after Germany had surrendered, my father wrote from Regensburg, Germany where he was stationed at the time. In it, he mentioned several ALBION soldiers from other units whom he had just ran into. He wrote: "I’ve been rather lucky down here. Met four Albion boys one night: J. Kolodica, P. Shepard, Stanley Tautkus, and J. Bramble. They pulled out the next day for Antwerp and the U.S. A couple days later I ran across Harry Dubina while on duty and then last night Harry brought down Gordon Kabel to see me. Harry is with a U.S. Claims outfit in town and Kabel a guard at the prison stockade outside of town. We had a few beers together before turning in. Seems odd to run across so many Albion boys in such a short time."

In looking through these names, J. Kolodica would be John Kolodica (1922-1957), P. Shepard would be Palmer Shepard (1911-1974), Stanley Tautkus (1916-1995), J. Bramble was probably James (1915-1976) Bramble, but John (1921-1980) Bramble also served in the War. The other two were Harry Dubina (1913-1964), and Gorden Kabel (1919-1960). Notice that many of these men died young, and most did not live past their early 60's.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present another reunion of Albion men in the military during World War II. The photo is from the Public Relations Division of the U.S. Coast Guard and the caption reads as such: “Albion Men Meet Aboard Troop Transport in Atlantic. “Cooking up a good chat about the ol’ home town, as well as the dinner, are Coast Guardsman Paul R. Kissinger, 18 (left), ship’s cook, second class, of 408 Linden Ave, Albion, Michigan; and Sgt. John Walter, Army Air Corps, 24 of Rt. #2, Albion, who meet in the kitchen of the Coast Guard-manned troop transport which is carrying them to duty overseas. Walter recognized the skivvy shirt Kissinger is wearing.”

Hey, that’s a great Albion Wildcats T-shirt he’s wearing. Let’s get these reprinted! If you have photographs and/or letters from World War II from your ancestor(s), I would encourage you to scan and transcribe them for future generations. Your descendants will be glad you did. How many of our readers had a relative who served in World War II? If you see a Veteran this week, be sure and thank them for their service.