*Webmaster's
Note: The following information and above photo are from Dianne
Ridway who is hoping someone may recognize her Great Uncle Arthur Franz
and contact her with additional information about him.
11/12/07 -
Hi
there! I've been on your website before, and would like to
provide you with some information regarding my great uncle, Arthur
Franz, whom I never had the chance to know. I'm hoping
that someone might even remember him and be able to share some
stories with me. I also have a question regarding some of his
insignia, but will save that for last.
Uncle Art
was with the 385th Field Artillery Battalion, Battery A and was from
the Seattle area. Sometime between Nov 14th, 1944 and Dec. 25,
1944, he became ill and was eventually returned home. I've heard
that there were other men who had become ill at the same time, and that
they had all left together (maybe this will ring a bell for
someone). In a letter dated Nov 14th, he was still on duty.
On Dec 25, 1944, he wrote a letter from a hospital in Paris. He
had not been in Germany for long before falling ill. This should
give a rough timeframe of when he became ill and left duty.
Uncle Art
passed away on Sept 14, 1945 at Madigan Army Hospital in Tacoma WA,
after falling into a coma a couple of weeks prior. He had been
married for 6 weeks at the time of his death. He had been in and
out of the hospital after his return to The States, and it was
discovered only after his death that he had cirrhosis of the
liver. We believe now that he may have contracted food
poisoning and this led to his illness. Medicine not being as
advanced at that time, we are only able to piece things together, as
even the doctors didn't know the reason for his illness at the
time.
I have a
photo of Uncle Art, which I will be attaching. I am wondering
about the pin he is wearing on his lapel and hat. I have not
been able to locate any info on what the significance of the pin
may be. If you could help me out, I'd appreciate it! I am
unsure of when this photo was taken, but he is displaying
the Timberwolf arm patch.
If anyone
can provide any information, I would greatly appreciate it!!!
Please feel free to post his photo on the website.
Dianne
Ridgway, grand-niece of Arthur Franz
****************************************************************************************************************************
11/14/07 -
Thanks so
much for the information, and please feel free to post my message and
the photo. The unit information was provided from letters that
Uncle Art had written home, so I'm pretty sure it's correct. It
does look like the insignia for the 385th FA, but you're correct, the
colors don't look the same. I can say this much though. The
photo is one that my grandmother has, which has become yellowed over
the years, and the photo I sent to you was actually taken with a
digital camera (a picture of the picture). So, I'm wondering if
that has something to do with the colors not looking right. Maybe
the fact that the original photo isn't as good as it used to be, or
possibly from using the digital to take a photo of it. There is
one other photo that I know of, where he was in dress uniform, and that
was his wedding picture (6 weeks before he passed away). I can
find out from my grandma if she can tell what colors the insignia were
on that photo.
Thanks
again for emailing back so quickly. I'm still hoping that someone
out there may remember him, but I have to consider the fact that it was
over 60 years ago, and that many of the men may have passed on.
Sincerely,
Dianne
