Wow thank you so much for providing that! I was actually very curious of the movements his division made on D-Day.
He died on the Cotentin Peninsula offensive in France.
Here is a Documentary of the 79th Division
Thanks buddy. That was interesting
I’ll look more into it tonight and see if I can find his name. We know rank and where he died and when so shouldn’t be too much digging.
That would be incredible! What is his rank?
Okay, There were 21 KIA on July 5, 1944 in the 79th infantry division. 13 in the 313th battalion ,4 in the 314th battalion, and 4 in the 315th. So if the info on the pic is correct it’s definitely one of those guys. Next the pin on the collar. It looks like a captains pin but I don’t believe it should be worn there. The code says if it’s just a shirt nothing over shirt, it is on the right collar but if the coat is worn it goes on the shoulder loops. He has coat on so it should just be the US pin. It doesn’t look like the solid circle so it’s possibly the plain US pin, meaning he was an officer. There is nothing on arm so it ruled out 11 of them that would have chevrons. Then I finally realized after an embarrassingly long time that the cap he had on has the officers insignia badge so yeah. Definitely an officer 100% ,so that left only 3 on the list. One was a major and obviously isn’t him, they look different when I looked the major up anyways. So it’s either Captain William H. Hooper which looks pretty different from the guy in the picture so I don’t feel it’s him. That leaves only one a 2nd lieutenant. Which would make sense. Only one ribbon. Looks young, probably fresh out of training. But I couldn’t find a picture of the guy. But by process of elimination it had to be him. His name is 2nd lieutenant Frank J. Karolewicz of Utica, Oneida County, New York. Born 20 Sep 1918 . Ordered into active military service: 15 June 1942 at Camp Pickett, Virginia, Trained at Camp Laguna in California in 1943 deployed Overseas: 7 April 1944. They moved all over the US training before going overseas, so knowing where your grandmother was during this time, maybe I can find some overlap. Commander: Major General Ira T. Wyche. A little background I could find leading up to his death: The 313th Infantry Regiment left Le Valdécie on July 3rd at 7pm to a position near the hamlet of La Grande Huanville. With orders to reconnoiter the areas for a possible assembly area at Canville-la-Rocque at the east. The other two attacking regiments were progressing through hedgerows, swamps and streams, but the rain forced the division to slow down its advance. By nightfall, men of the 313th Infantry Regiment reached the areas around Baudreville exactly at the west of the 314th and 315th Infantry Regiments which were onto frontlines. The enemy decided to answer back by firing artillery shells from late afternoon until 0630am on July, 5th, 1944. While the Germans were firing, the 313th Infantry Regiment received an order to be ready for an attack scheduled in the early hours of the 5th of July 1944. The objective of the mission was to surround the German forces before they could reach the outskirts of Lessay. The three battalions encountered light resistance but the rain, shells and armored vehicles destroyed all roads making them impracticable. Two miles before the main German positions, a Task Force composed of “K” and “A” Companies of the 749th Tank Battalion which had the order to follow the 313th Battalion was given the mission to find an adequate road and to seize bridges at Concentration 55. Upon its arrival at the hamlet of Glatigny, the German resistance became stronger, small arms fire became artillery and mortar fire. Tanks had to deploy on the north of the road but the increasing artillery fire stopped them. The 313th Battalion attacked with “A” Company on the east side of the road and “B” Company on the west, the line of departure was a hedgerow. They attacked toward the south while the German artillery returned fire. forcing them to find shelter in a ditch. In the meantime, “K” Company of the 749th Tank Battalion was attacking, succeeded in establishing itself just north of Concentration 55. While “A” and “B” Companies were hidden in a ditch, Two German counterattacks were launched against the 313th Battalion but both of them were repulsed. As the counterattacks were repulsed, artillery fire again fell on the American forces forcing the Task Force and 313th Battalion to withdraw due to the increasing number of casualties. Later in the morning of July 5th, the 313th Infantry Regiment moved in the vicinity of Saint-Rémy-des-Landes, then west and south to flank the German resistance. Scheduled at 0400pm on the next day, 3rd Battalion on the right, 2nd Battalion on the left, their line of departure which was a road running east and west about 1000 meters at the north of Concentration 55. As the previous day, German resistance was strong, with well dug in emplacements, used as shelters, machine gun nests covered by barbed wire. In view, of this strength, the regiment decided it was not wise to continue the attack and withdrew to its line of departure. The 313th began its push again on the 7th and found success but he had been killed by then so I’ll stop there.
Thank you so much! I agree it has to be Frank, my grandmother was from upstate NY. I sincerely appreciate you putting a name to his story, and help getting him the recognition he deserves.
Where do you find this type of information? I've looked into my great uncle a few times but can never find anything about his service record.
Captain
Edit: The rank insignia is visible on his right collar.
Was this your grandfather?
Dude. He died.
A true comedian laughs at death or finds humor in it 2 min after someone dies…..! #turnsoutimnotapsychoimjustacomedian
Too soon?
Another 20 years until it's funny
People not understanding the reference is sad
What's sad is believing that everyone knows every reference and taking the time to make a post without clearing it up
Commander of partying down!
Please show some respect. This young man was killed in action.
God bless him.
This god that should bless him , was he around on the day he got shot ?
That's amazing but so heartbreaking that so many men died. Reading Band of Brothers just completely opened my eyes as a non military person.
With the Old Breed by EB Sledge is another good book if you want some first hand accounts of WWII in the Pacific.
My grandpa was there on Peleliu. And made it back alive. Really puts things into perspective to think about how my existence hung in the balance in one of the bloodiest battles in the pacific.
The title of the book is really befitting. We just aren't made like them anymore.
As a big fan of the series…. Props to your grandpa, what an insane experience that must have been. We should be so thankful to not have to do that. My grandfather was an aerial photographer in Guam during ww2 and did not experience anything yours did. Bless those men, on all sides. War is terrible. ✌️
Gosh. It's something that people don't really understand. Your grandpa must have been a bad ass!
My grandpa was there on Peleliu.
Peleliu was hell on earth. Even the grainiest black and white photos are shocking. You have a lot to be proud of that your Grandpa was there!
My grandfather was a marine who fought on Okinawa during WWII. He rarely talked about it, but the little he did say gave me nightmares when I was a kid.
My grandmother’s brother was among the unfortunate marines who were captured by the Japanese during the fall of Corregidor and endured the Bataan Death March and imprisonment and forced labor at their hands. He survived the war and made it home, but fiercely hated Japan for the rest of his life.
When I was a kid (late 70’s), my grandparents had a neighbor across the street who had survived the Bataan Death March and several years of captivity. I remain in awe of these men.
When you read real life accounts of what the American military men and women survived in Corregidor and Bataan, an enduring hatred of all things Japanese is understandable.
Word.
Fantastic thank you. It's not easy reading how difficult it was but so important to remember what these men did to secure world freedom from fascists and tyranny. A lesson that was too soon forgotten sadly.
TY! My dad was on a PT boat in the Pacific.
My dad was in the Pacific during WWII. 🙁
One of my favorite memoirs from World War Two was If You Survive by George Wilson, which was from a young army lieutenant who was dumped into the fighting in Normandy and followed him all the way through the Hurtgen Forest and the Bulge until he was injured in January 1945.
I think I need to do some serious reading this summer
My Dad was a 1st lieutenant in the 8th infantry. I believe they were in the Hurtgen Forest.
this is a link to the battle " after action report" for July 1st and on 1944
Okay, There were 21 KIA on July 5, 1944 in the 79th infantry division. 13 in the 313th battalion ,4 in the 314th battalion, and 4 in the 315th. So if the info on the pic is correct it’s definitely one of those guys. Next the pin on the collar. It looks like a captains pin but I don’t believe it should be worn there. The code says if it’s just a shirt nothing over shirt, it is on the right collar but if the coat is worn it goes on the shoulder loops. He has coat on so it should just be the US pin. It doesn’t look like the solid circle so it’s possibly the plain US pin, meaning he was an officer. There is nothing on arm so it ruled out 11 of them that would have chevrons. Then I finally realized after an embarrassingly long time that the cap he had on has the officers insignia badge so yeah. Definitely an officer 100% ,so that left only 3 on the list. One was a major and obviously isn’t him, they look different when I looked the major up anyways. So it’s either Captain William H. Hooper which looks pretty different from the guy in the picture so I don’t feel it’s him. That leaves only one a 2nd lieutenant. Which would make sense. Only one ribbon. Looks young, probably fresh out of training. But I couldn’t find a picture of the guy. But by process of elimination it had to be him. His name is 2nd lieutenant Frank J. Karolewicz of Utica, Oneida County, New York. Born 20 Sep 1918 . Ordered into active military service: 15 June 1942 at Camp Pickett, Virginia, Trained at Camp Laguna in California in 1943 deployed Overseas: 7 April 1944. They moved all over the US training before going overseas, so knowing where your grandmother was during this time, maybe I can find some overlap. Commander: Major General Ira T. Wyche. A little background I could find leading up to his death: The 313th Infantry Regiment left Le Valdécie on July 3rd at 7pm to a position near the hamlet of La Grande Huanville. With orders to reconnoiter the areas for a possible assembly area at Canville-la-Rocque at the east. The other two attacking regiments were progressing through hedgerows, swamps and streams, but the rain forced the division to slow down its advance. By nightfall, men of the 313th Infantry Regiment reached the areas around Baudreville exactly at the west of the 314th and 315th Infantry Regiments which were onto frontlines. The enemy decided to answer back by firing artillery shells from late afternoon until 0630am on July, 5th, 1944. While the Germans were firing, the 313th Infantry Regiment received an order to be ready for an attack scheduled in the early hours of the 5th of July 1944. The objective of the mission was to surround the German forces before they could reach the outskirts of Lessay. The three battalions encountered light resistance but the rain, shells and armored vehicles destroyed all roads making them impracticable. Two miles before the main German positions, a Task Force composed of “K” and “A” Companies of the 749th Tank Battalion which had the order to follow the 313th Battalion was given the mission to find an adequate road and to seize bridges at Concentration 55. Upon its arrival at the hamlet of Glatigny, the German resistance became stronger, small arms fire became artillery and mortar fire. Tanks had to deploy on the north of the road but the increasing artillery fire stopped them. The 313th Battalion attacked with “A” Company on the east side of the road and “B” Company on the west, the line of departure was a hedgerow. They attacked toward the south while the German artillery returned fire. forcing them to find shelter in a ditch. In the meantime, “K” Company of the 749th Tank Battalion was attacking, succeeded in establishing itself just north of Concentration 55. While “A” and “B” Companies were hidden in a ditch, Two German counterattacks were launched against the 313th Battalion but both of them were repulsed. As the counterattacks were repulsed, artillery fire again fell on the American forces forcing the Task Force and 313th Battalion to withdraw due to the increasing number of casualties. Later in the morning of July 5th, the 313th Infantry Regiment moved in the vicinity of Saint-Rémy-des-Landes, then west and south to flank the German resistance. Scheduled at 0400pm on the next day, 3rd Battalion on the right, 2nd Battalion on the left, their line of departure which was a road running east and west about 1000 meters at the north of Concentration 55. As the previous day, German resistance was strong, with well dug in emplacements, used as shelters, machine gun nests covered by barbed wire. In view, of this strength, the regiment decided it was not wise to continue the attack and withdrew to its line of departure. The 313th began its push again on the 7th and found success but he had been killed by then so I’ll stop there.
My first thought was great photo! And then I read the reverse.....so sad. My brother and I also have quite a few pictures in the family photos, who we don't recognize. Unfortunately, everyone who could tell us who they were have passed away.
I feel the same! I wish I could ask her who this was and why she kept it. Thanks for commenting 💜
My aunt lost her high school boyfriend to the Vietnam war. She still has her photos and letters to this day.
My mother held onto this picture for the last 20 years because her mother (my grandmother) kept it to honor his life and sacrifice. Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. I’m so glad he can finally get the recognition he deserves.
My mom thinks this was one of my grandmother’s boyfriends.
We know he was an officer in the 79th Division- you can tell by his cap (enlisted would have a simpler, round eagle decoration instead of his fancier one)
Awww 💔
Good reminder to always write descriptions on the back of photos, even if it's obvious to you and everyone else who they are. Never know who's going to find your photos 100 years from now.
This isn’t my grandfather, I suspect it was someone she knew from her hometown. If you see the next picture it looks like this veteran died on D-Day.
maybe her sweetheart?
Very possible. She didn’t meet my grandfather until after the war.
Almost certainly. If her town hosted veteran or active military gatherings before he was deployed, this could be where she met him too. My grandmother met my grandfather this was. The local high school held dances.
D-Day was in June 1944; the pics says July.
That’s right, I knew July 5 didn’t sound right. I think I was thinking it was from the invasion but good call.
I read something recently that said D-Day lasted until the end of July, so he could still be considered one of the casualties.
Do you have her high school yearbook? If not, it might be online.
Can you share her home town/state? It may reduce the number of possibilities.
Boonville, NY
The man in the photo looks so engaging. I had a genuine pang of sadness reading the back of the photo.
Such a happy looking YOUNG man. He looks excited to me, he’s enjoying posing. The other side of the picture was like a punch in the gut.
Exactly😭
My grandfather, Warren Wooden, was a Captain in this Division. He was killed July 7th at St. Lô. He is buried at Normandy
His parents were from Baden Wurtenburg. He spoke fluent German and volunteered to go back to Germany to fight. He came home for leave in 1942. My mother was born in 1943. He never saw her. My mother is still alive and has never gotten over his death .
Thank you to your grandfather for everything he did for us 💜. Maybe your grandfather and this man knew each other.
That's what I'm wondering. Honestly that handwriting looks just like my grandmother's. Maybe that was just how they were taught to write back then.
My mom told me that girls were taught one script, and boys another one.
You might want to re-word ... go back to Germany to fight. It was not uncommon for 1st and 2nd generation German-American families to send their sons back to Germany to fight for the German army.
I knew what you meant, but for a second, I thought it could sound like he went back to Germany and fought for Germany.
Do you have a source on that? So many German immigrants came to America to avoid the German and Prussian mandatory military service. I'd be surprised to learn that their kids went back to fight for the army they fled from.
It has a name. I can't remember at the moment. Give me a minute.
volksdeutsche. It was more commonly a reference to those with German ancestry that lived outside of Germany but in the vicinity of Germany, but it applied to anyone who met the requirements and lived outside of Germany.
Maybe uncommon was not the correct word to use. Not unheard of would be a better term.
EDIT: With information provided by the OP, this man is definitely Frank Joseph Karolewicz.
The OP's grandma is from Boonville, New York, just down the road from Utica, New York. Utica is the hometown of Frank Karolewicz. Both are located in Onedia County.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56646235/frank-joseph-karolewicz
The picture does not have a lot of information, but this man is definitely an officer. He is also possibly a captain as there are what looks to be Captain's bars on his uniform lapel. His cap and uniform are ones issued to officers.
The 79th Infantry Division's records aren't very digitized, but there are only 3 officers from the division killed on the 5th of July, 1944, that I could find.
The first, a major, is too old, and the pictures online do not match
Frank Joseph Karolewicz was a second lieutenant. He served in the 313th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division. He was killed on July 5th, 1944, near Basse-Normandie, France.
William Howard Hooper was a captain.
He served as Company L's commander in the 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division, and was killed in action on July 5th, 1944, near La Haye-du-Puits in France.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56645740/william-howard-hooper
Without further geographical information, it's about a 50/50 toss-up.
Again, this is just an educated guess, and anyone is free to dispute it.
Cheers
I think you got it. Good work. Wonder how long it had been since anyone had William in their thoughts before this picture was found.
1961 at least, since that's when his mother died. She was buried in the same grave as her son and husband (the latter passed in 1919 when his son was three).
E: Or his sister, buried at the same cemetery in 2000.
The ears and nose look identical to me. I found some more information on William Howard Hooper: https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=59618 Looks like he was from Maine, also may have lived in New Jersey.
I think it is just as likely to be the 1st Lt. I'd say that pic was from '42. He was probably home on leave just after some level of training or home just before he shipped off to Europe.
He is probably a 2nd Lt. In the pic.
Wow, great find. The pictures are hard to compare given the different facial expression and angle, but looks to me to match (or at least I don’t see anything that doesn’t match). Given all the other matching details, I think you got it right.
u/musketeer2013 you need to check this out.
So would a captain be like storming the beach on this date? Just imagining how it occurred.
Rest in Peace Soldier.
My grandmother’s father was also KIA in February of 45’. I’ve spent the last 3 years reading the letters he sent to his family back home while at war. he passed less than a month before his 24th birthday and was MIA until october of the same year. Seeing the “Return to sender” stamps on his parent’s letters they tried to send but failed because he was no where to be found is heartbreaking. He actually looked a lot like the man in the picture!
As macabre as it sounds. But to sit down and talk to someone who survived Omaha. That’s an entire lifetime in a week
This photograph has such poignancy. That lovely smile. That handsome, engaging looking young man. Cut down in the flower of his youth. What an utter tragedy. War is so tragic.
I just want to thank everyone here who has a relative that helped liberate Europe. My family in particular are grateful for the sacrifices they made.
I'm the kid of a holocaust survivor. My dad was a French/AlgerianJew. Algerian Jews that had been granted French citizenship decades before were persecuted by the Germans, Jews even more so.
When the Nazis occupied France, ethnic Algerians were stripped of their French citizenship and civil rights. This happened to my father and his family and they were deported to the camps.
A lot of Algerian Jews were sent back to Algeria and placed in camps there. My father and his family were one of them. Only my dad and his brother survived.
My Dad and Uncle were eventually moved to another camp back in France (Pithiviers). They survived that camp by working as laborers- but I will not elaborate beyond that. That's because it's too awful to describe here what they had to do as children to survive in that camp.
My dad ended up in the United States (eventually) as a refugee. He married my mom who is from the French Caribbean. I am half North African and a mix of black, European and Latino via my Mom.
Seeing so much hatred and antisemitism lately has been very depressing. I think many young people have no clue about the sacrifices that were made to eradicate this evil during the Second World War.
I often think that lately. I'm from a neutral country, but my grandfather and his brothers volunteered to join the British army to help the war efforts. He was only 16 and lied about his age to go fight. One brother was gravely injured, but they all survived, which is amazing; my great grandfather had already lost his first born son in ww1 when he was drafted as a teenager.
I think if they were still with us, they would all be horrified at what is happening rn.
My grandfather was in France and Germany. He loves to joke how he got shot in the ass. And he sure did, he took shrapnel all over his backside. Funny to hear as a kid, but terrifying to think on as an adult. He got $400 payment as restitution for his injuries by the US government, and he lived until Parkinson’s caused him to fall (92 years). Towards the end of his life he wanted to talk about the war a lot. He told me he met a neighbor from his hometown in France but never saw him again. He assumed his friend died, but I found an obituary and got to tell my pop pop his friend lived a full life.
My other grandfather lied about his age to get drafted to Korea. He was shot in the shoulder and heart while parachuting and spent his life with bullet fragments near his heart. My grandmother loved him the entirety of her life. Alcoholism took him out in his 50s. Crazy how different the lives of these two veterans turned out.
One of my Grandfathers invaded Germany-he refused to talk about it.
He would only tell people that he had fought in Europe and had lied about his age to get into the Army.
None of the family knew until he was terminal with cancer. That was when he told us that his unit was one of the ones that invaded Germany.
He would later fight in the Korean War.
WW2 was never to be mentioned, in his household. If anything about his service came up-the family was only to mention Korea.
He asked that WW2 not be mentioned on his tombstone and that request was honored. Only Korea is listed on his tombstone.
He was buried with full military honors.
Wow. My grandfather was in the 712th Tank Battalion and was killed in that area the same day.
Wow, that was a rough one.
Heartbreaking
My dad was a Merchant Mariner during the war. His very first mission had him in a convoy when his ship collided with a mine laid by a German UBoat a week earlier. All survived. A couple of weeks later, the sub that laid the mine was sunk by the British. All hands on the sub died. I doubt it would have given my father any satisfaction to learn that.
3 of my grandmother's brothers were in the Merchant Marines. They all served on the same ship, which was sunk in the early days of the war. All 3 survived the initial sinking of the ship. Only one survived. After that, brothers would not be able to serve on the same ship. The Navy did not adopt this policy until a few years later after the tragedy of the Sullivan brothers.
The 79th Division landed at Utah Beach in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
That was some tough fighting in France.
My grandfather was in this division! He used to fire a bazooka, landed on Utah Beach June 9th. Ironically this would later become my birthday.
Yes. Let us never forget all those brave souls who died fighting the facists. Please do not vote for one now here at home.
Sad that she lost him. My grandfather and his three brothers all served in WWII. Uncle Bill had shrapnel in him his whole life, my Uncle Walter came back missing one leg below the knee. My grandfather and his oldest brother Ed made it home in one piece. They were all heroes, the greatest generation.
Greatest generation. RIP
RIP
Hero!
Nice pic, sad note at the back
Man, reading the back of that Pic was a punch to the gut. RIP.
He only had a month and a week to go
Short timer's fever - the paranoia that when you're finally cleared to go home, you will be shot.
Do you know who he is, OP? Maybe your great-uncle or the grandfather you coulda had?
A month and a week for what?
If we don’t know his identity, how do you know he was getting discharged in a month and a week?
Did you mean a month and a week for the war to end? If so you’re off by a year (the war ended in 1945- this is July 5 1944, the thick of the invasion of Europe)
😞sorry!
Sad as hell....
🫡
Rest in peace, anonymous soldier. All gave some, some gave all
Is it just me or does he look seven feet tall?
My grandfather also served in the 79th; served with the Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 315th Infantry Regiment, 79th (Cross of Lorraine) Infantry Division. He fought in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland and Central European campaigns.
🖤🖤🖤
What a handsome lad!
Interesting history of 79th ID
Your grandma was hitting that, just so you know.
Hey that’s my birthday! But of course 53 years before I was born
He was too handsome to be killed in war. He was too confident to be killed in war. He was too popular to be killed in war. His mother loved him too much for him to be killed in war.
War is deadly.
Bro was a giant!
And to have paid that sacrifice on a field so far from home...
This division landed on Utah Beach, Normandy, then held a defensive line at the Ollonde River until 2 July 1944 and then returned to the offensive, taking La Haye du Puits in house-to-house fighting by 8 July.