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An unmarked picture,
that to my untrained eye appears to have been taken at a military
base somewhere. Perhaps this taken where they underwent their
training. I do not recognize any of these men as my Uncle Lowell, but
the shadows from the helmets make any identification difficult.
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My great-uncle
Lowell Brosius served in the U.S. Army during WWII. He enlisted on 10
Nov 1943, started service on 1 Dec 1943, and was released from
service 18 Apr 1946. He served with the Military Police.
Our family was very
close to Uncle Lowell. When he could no longer drive, my dad (and
usually I tagged along) would go over to his trailer house once a
week and offer him the opportunity to do some grocery shopping.
Sometimes Lowell would take us up on the offer, and other times he
didn’t need to do any shopping, so we would hang out with him and
visit for a while. When Lowell’s health began to fail and it was no
longer advisable that he live alone, he moved in with us. We had a
nice, finished basement which we fixed up as an apartment for him so
he could have his independence, but we could check on him any time.
If he became unwell enough to require nursing, we would have had to
find a nursing home, but that never became necessary. He passed away
one October morning in 1995, sitting in his easy chair.
As his closest
family, we inherited his small collection of photographs.
Unfortunately, most of them are unmarked, but some of them are. Today
I thought I would showcase some of his photos from the war. Perhaps
you will find someone from your family among these pictures.
[Please note, my comments on each picture appear below the image.]
This
is one of the marked photographs, marked only “Lowell Brosius Speed
Patrol Maurmelon France.” I recognize Lowell as the passenger in
the Jeep. If you look carefully, you can see that the sign above the
rear fender reads “Military Police.” The Jeep is numbered
20655756, and perhaps some day that will be of use in my research. Or
yours, if you happen to recognize the driver. As for the driver,
although he is unidentified in this picture, I may be able to make a
guess. He resembles a man identified in another of Lowell’s
pictures as Desmond Call. But then again, he also resembles the one
identified as Rocco Robertson. But, really, I think Desmond Call is
the more likely candidate. (Those photographs—and all others
referred to in this post—will be in an upcoming post, and then you
can compare them for yourself.)
This
photograph is marked “Melvin Chrisman.”
This picture appears to have been taken in the same time and
place as the one of Melvin Chrisman above. This one is not marked,
but I’m pretty sure that is Uncle Lowell squatting atop the tire of
that vehicle. I can picture Lowell and Melvin taking turns posing
with the artillery while the other handles the camera.
The
next group of pictures has a similar theme: army buddies posing with
an interesting vehicle. This time it is some sort of
caterpillar-tired thing marked “USA 950858.”
This first picture is Uncle Lowell. He had two
copies of this one. The other print is in better condition and
slightly brighter. It is easier to make out the numbering on the
vehicle. But in my opinion this print shows Lowell’s face a little
more clearly.
Here is the apparent mate to the picture of Lowell above.
Unfortunately, it is not marked, so I cannot identify the man posing.
He looks a little like a man identified in another photo as B. F.
Simpson, but I am not convinced they are the same man. In the other
photo, B. F. Simpson is kneeling on the ground, wearing a hat, so it
is difficult to compare.
This is apparently the same vehicle, or at least the same type
of vehicle, as the one pictured above, but taken from the opposite
side. Perhaps it was taken in the same place, looking the opposite
direction, though an inspection of the backgrounds in the three
pictures inclines me to think that unlikely. The man is another
unidentified friend of Uncle Lowell’s. He resembles men identified
in other photos as Ed Whitten and S. J. Marquis, but this picture is
too grainy for me to decide with much certainty between the two.
Although
this portion of Lowell’s army photo collection was pretty low in
names, I hope that my guesses may have helped someone out there!
Sources:
National
Archives and Records Administration, "U.S. World War II Army
Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, Ancestry
(www.ancestry.com
: accessed 24 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell A Brosius; citing
Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival
Database]; ARC: 1263923. World War II Army Enlistment Records;
Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record
Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland,
U.S.A.
National
Cemetery Administration, "U.S. Veterans Gravesites,
ca.1775-2006," database, Ancestry
(www.ancestry.com
: accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius, Willamette
National Cemetery; citing National Cemetery Administration.
Nationwide
Gravesite Locator.
U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs, "U.S., Department of Veterans
Affairs BIRLS [Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem]
Death File, 1850-2010," database, Ancestry
(www.ancestry.com
: accessed 25 Aug 2015), entry for Lowell Brosius; citing
Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death
File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
