Military Monday: Lowell’s Army Buddies (Part 2)

Lowell and two unidentified buddies standing in front of a Jeep. The Jeep number is partially visible. The vehicle has a tattered-looking cover, and a shovel and what appears to be an ax are attached to the side. With those tools, I wonder if it may have been intended for use in some sort of fire-fighting, though I don’t know if there was much demand for that in the Army in WWII. Lowell is the man on the left, with the cigarette in his hand. I never knew Lowell to smoke; he always chewed snus during my lifetime.

As I said in the last post, 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. At least part of that time he was an MP. I am posting some more of his photographs from his army days. Most of them, unfortunately, are unmarked. But some are marked, enabling me to make guesses as to the identities of some of the unmarked individuals.

This photo was obviously taken in front of the same Jeep as the photo at the beginning of this post, and the man at the right of this picture is clearly the same man at the center of the above picture. He resembles men identified in other photos as Desmond Call and Rocco Robertson, however his hairline does not quite match up with the hairlines in either of the identified photos. It is possible that it is one of those men with his hair swept forward, but I am not convinced. The man at the left of this picture resembles men identified in other pictures as Ed Whitten, S. J. Marquis, and Melvin Chrisman. In this case I would guess that it is Melvin Chrisman.

Here is another (rather blurry) photograph taken in front of that Jeep. This one, too, is unmarked. The man on the left is clearly (blurrily) the same man who was on the left in the second picture. I think that the man second from the left is the same man who was on the right in the first picture. That might be Uncle Lowell in the middle, but if it is it’s not a very good resemblance. However, I couldn’t find anyone else in the marked photos who it could be. The second man from the right could be Desmond Call or Rocco Robertson or S. J. Marquis or Albert Matkovich. The features are too blurry in this photograph for me to hazard a more positive guess. But I do feel pretty sure that the man on the far right is Wynn Tingey (or Wynn Fingey; I’m not quite confident about the handwriting on the marked photo).

As you can see, this time all the pictures were unmarked, but perhaps some of my guesses may help someone identify their family in one or more of these photos.

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.