WWII medals of Herbert Eugene Mattingly

[vinsanity]

Hey all,

Well... after searching for information for over 22 years I have finally received some information on my grandfather (my dad's dad.) It is a long story, but basically he enlisted into WWII and while in France he was hit by a sniper in Brest and discharged. No one in our family ever heard from him again. I suppose he was messed up by the war. He died in a VA hospital in Indiana (or possibly Arizona) in 1968.

Anyway, while the Army still cannot tell me where they buried him, I have FINALLY obtained his service records and a copy of all service medals he received.

I have uploaded the images of his medals. I know this isn't huge, but to me it is. Anyway, if you want to take a look here they are...













EDIT: fixed image layout. -Lamron

[vinsanity]

sorry for the big images.... I could not figure how to shrink them.

[Death's Shadow]

Im sorry that your family lost touch with him. What an honor to have such a decorated soldier in the family. Thank you for sharing the story and the medals with us.

[beer]

I just recieved a letter about my grandfather too. It was from a freind of his trying to reach him. I guess since we live in the same area as he did they sent it to me because i have his name...has nothing to do w/your grandads story but I thought it was cool,so I wrote him back.I told him about my grandads death and asked to keep correspondence w/him. That generation is almost gone and I feel we need to remember the sacrifice they made and do all we can to make the time they have left enjoyable. I am very proud to know that your grandfather served and to see the medals he earned.

WWII Memorial

[vinsanity]

That is great! I sure wish one of my grand dad's old Army buddies would contact us. We know nothing at all about him once he left for the war. Well, nothing but what is in his service records that I just obtained. Apparently there was a fire in St. Louis where these records are kept. My grandfather's records were damaged, some of the pages were actually burned along the edges.

You are right, nearly all of that generation is gone now. It is a shame, they were likely the greatest patriots of our nation's history. My mom's dad served in the Navy. He was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. His stories of world travel and combat were inspiring. He passed away in 2000.

[vinsanity]

OH! Thanks for the edit Lamron, I really appreciate it - looks much better now

[I...Died...Again!!!]

Vin if you would like to obtaine any medals that he was awarded and do not have the medal, for a display case or something,. Get in touch with Military.com. If there is no assistance there pm or e-mail me. I work on a base and may be able to help a bit. Even if I cant help much it would be an honor to try.

[vinsanity]

I.D.A... I do have the medals, they just arrived a week ago. The pics I posted are his medals. As far as Military.com goes, I have been there. The odd thing is that the Army knows his date of death but not where, how, or where he is buried. I find it odd that they know then "when" and only that. I cannot see how they could know just that information.

[I...Died...Again!!!]

Vin,
You mentioned that he passed while in a VA hospital. I would encourage you to start there. i dont know why I didnt think of this earlier. My wife workes at the VA here in Augusta, she is in logistics but she may be able to find out who you would call to get the ball rolling. She is off today but I will have her try to find some info. Also visit your local VFW, and American Legion. You are correct that this is the greatest generation we have seen and they are few and far between. As a vet I think it is great that you are researching this. Best wishes.

[RedRock]

If you know the date of death, usually the Dept. of Vital Statistics or the Health Dept. of a State can do a search on that date and last name and find the D.C. Next of kin can then get the full D.C. and find out where and how he died. Some states have it as blanket open records, anyone can get the whole D.C., some have it restricted so that only next of kin can get the how death happened. Either way, that should work.

Congratulations on having such an ancestor!

My father was a marine on the USS North Carolina in WWII and Korea and I still love to hear his stories and look at his yearbooks and Marine discharge plaque. He shot the small antiaircraft guns (16 MM? 20 MM?) and recounts one japanese suicide plane coming right at him but then just passed right over his head to go into the water on the other side of the ship--he doesn't know if he hit the pilot or if another gunner did, but it was clear the pilot at the end was no longer in control of the plane. As he was shooting at it, he was just going over in his head about how he hoped my mom and older sister (I wasn't around then!) would be OK without him. He also served as Captain's orderly (only person allowed to go armed on ship).

These stories and those medals make me sick all over again at the very idea of John Kerry being proud to say he'd thrown his medals over the wall at the White House.

[Sgt_Blueberry]

LMAO @ John Kerry being proud.....

[vinsanity]

IDA & Red... thanks for the idea. Unfortunately I have tried all of them and have com up empty. The VA hospital in Indiana (Camp Atterbury) where he was supposedly dying has no record of him. I have also contacted the VFW and the offices of Veteran's Affairs in TN, IN, AZ, KY, and OH - all with no luck. If anyone has "connections" Herbert Eugene Mattingly's Service Number was 35 812 980 & discharge date (medical) was May 19, 1945. DOB was July 2, 1922 and the DOD the Army told me on the phone (but that I cannot find anywhere in the service records they sent me) is November 22, 1968. His SSN was 262-24-9540. The Social Security death benefit has never been paid either and he is not listed in the Social Security Death Index. It is like he vanished from the Earth after being discharged in 1945 with the exception of the hospital calling to make the family aware that he was dying. Very odd indeed. My focus now is determining where he is buried before my father passes away.

[Death's Shadow]

Just food for though..

Almost sounds like the run around they might give a family if he was in covert ops and died in the line of duty doing something top secret. Just guessing though. The facts they are feeding you just dont add up, but this you know. It would explain a few things. Like why they cant produce records that you ask about, or were he is buried.

Like I said just food for thought. Not trying to cause you grief, just tossing it on the table for thought.

[RedRock]

Vince, are you certain you checked not with the VA but with the State authorities in AZ about his Death Certificate? www.azdhs.gov/vitalrcd/death_index.htm
Here is what I found on ancestry.com -- does this look like it might be him?:
img510.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture2ex8.png
The links there also list a similar person but dying in AZ in 1979.

search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&gsfn=Herbert+Eugene&gsfn_x=1&gsln=Mattingly&gsln_x=1&rg_81004011__date=1922&rs_81004011__date=0&81004011__date_x=1&gsbco=1%2CAll+Countries&gsbpl=1%2C+&gsbst=&gsbCounty=&gsbCity=&gsbTown=&_82004013=&_82004014=&_82004015=&rg_81004021__date=&rs_81004021__date=0&gsmco=1%2CAll+Countries&gsmpl=1%2C+&gsmst=&gsmCounty=&gsmCity=&gsmTown=&_82004023=&_82004024=&_82004025=&rg_81004031__date=1968&rs_81004031__date=1&gsdco=1%2CAll+Countries&gsdpl=1%2C+&gsdst=&gsdCounty=&gsdCity=&gsdTown=&_82004033=&_82004034=&_82004035=&gs1co=1%2CAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2C+&gs1st=&gs1County=&gs1City=&gs1Town=&=&=1%2C+&=&=1%2C+&=&=1%2C+&gskw=262-24-9540&_8000C002=&_8000C003=&_80008002=&_80008003=&_80018002=&_80018003=&sbo=0&sbor=&prox=1&UseAdvRQuery=1&AdvSrch=1&db=&ti=0&ti.si=0&gl=allgs&gss=&gst=&so=3

[vinsanity]

Red,

That is him. Does it say who posted it there? I have posted there myself but I do not recall putting that post there? I am no longer an Ancestry.com member as I exhausted all of their resources.

As to contacting AZ vital statistics... I did that but they found nothing.