Reader’s Question: Seeking Information About my Grandfather in Co. H, 306th Inf.

Reader Tim Gobin recently left a comment:  “Looking for Information about my grandfather, William J. Holbert, who was in Co. H. 306th Infantry and at the Meuse-Argonne offensive.  On his discharge papers it says he got, “victory medal with clasps” and we had thought he also was awarded a citation for “service above and beyond the call of duty.”  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Webmaster’s Reply:  Tim, I looked in the divisional history, “History of the 77th Division:  August 25, 1917 – November 11, 1918,” and did not see his name in the list of citations received by officers and men of the 306th.  You might want to check out that book for more information.

Also, the American Battle Monuments Commission has published “American Armies and Battlefields in Europe” as well as a “Summary of Operations” for each division.  All of those are quite easy to find either as electronic downloads or through sites such as abebooks.com.

Rob Laplander has done a lot of work on the Lost Battalion, so he might have some additional information for you.  He is a regular reader of this column and its related Facebook group.  He also maintains a FB group, “Finding the Lost Battalion.”  He probably has more information on the 77th Division than anyone else I know.

 

Readers, please feel free to add any additional information for Tim.