Hello to all, my name is James Waller son of retired Major Edward Cooper Waller of the 129th, my Father passed away in 1969 after 20 years of faithful service. I was born in Augsburg Germany in 1955 where my Father was stationed. I really do not have much history on my father other than I have his medals (3 purple hearts and 2 Bronze stars one with cluster) but have recently found an old transcript of the complete travels of the 129th from his train leaving Tullahoma, TN and all the trave through Luzon (1941-1945). The manuscript is tattered on manila paper and missing the first 2 chapters but is still in fairly good shape. The paper is typed and has "draft" written in the bottom 2 corners and also says "restricted". The paper also has many hand written grammar corrections. It tells of all of the ships and ports that the 129th visited throughout the depiction of the troops travels. If anyone has any information on such a document please respond back. I was only 13 when he passed from a heart attack and he never spoke of his experiences. Thank you and so glad I found the site.
Hi James. Welcome to the forum. You might find this thread of interest. Tommy is around, so you might want to have him check further. http://www.ww2f.com/topic/11082-37th-infantry-division-129th-infantry-1943-1945/ Anything you might want to share, we'd be happy to look at and help if we can. There is a book you can get from your local library through Inter Library Loan, I think http://www.worldcat.org/title/129th-infantry-in-world-war-ii/oclc/6148327 I would also suggest you look and read here http://five24.com/fam/d/HyperWar%20US%2037th%20Infantry%20Division.htm
Welcome to the Forum, James. I am very sorry to hear that you lost your father at such a young age. I lost my father much too soon in 1998. My great uncle Glenn (see below) served with the 129th Infantry during WWII. I would be very much interested in helping you with the manuscript. It's obviously a draft copy of some sort of a unit history. Do you have the ability to make a scan of the document?
Welcome! I have a manuscript my Dad wrote during the war, more of a diary in ink as he wrote it while in the Solomon Islands. Best of luck tracking down the genesis of your document.
Well the more I dig up I am not sure that he was in the 129th. I have his promotion document saying he was Btry "B", 29th Bn, 7th FA Tng Regt in October of 1942 to teh rank of Sargent and two more documents to 1st LT. I am guessing the 29th is his battalion. I did find some nice Luzon maps and an original newspaper with the headline of the death of Roosevelt. Thank you.
I checked the 129th Infantry Regiment roster and he is listed as a 1st Lt. of Company A. Was his promotion to 1st Lt. while he was in the Training Regiment?
No he was promoted to 2nd Lt while he was overseas in 1944 and then to 1st Lt. in 1945. He was promoted to Sargent while in the training reg. Thanks for your reply.
It's possible he receive a battlefield promotion to 2nd Lt. Do you have the dates? I can look in the 129th history book to see if his promotion is mentioned.
I don't have the book with me, but will check it later tonight or tomorrow. If I find something, I'll try to either post a scan or transcription.
Well, I didn't find either of the promotions mentioned, but that was a long shot. In April 1943, the 129th was on Espiritu Santo Island in the New Hebrides. There were mentions of officers, NCOs, and troops being added to the Regiment while there, but nothing very specific. In October 1945, the Regiment was at a camp set up at Cabanatuan in the Philippines. Cabanatuan is better known as the location of a POW camp that was liberated 30 Jan 1945 via a raid behind enemy lines. By the time the 129th arrived in late September 1945, the only remnant of the POW camp was the cemetery.
