by Mehlo, Noel
The story of how S/Sgt Herbert Stanton Hull became lost to history is a complicated one. Finding him in history has been a long road. It has taken me to four States, and communication with soldiers and family members from around the nation. I had to research and communicate with parties both public and private from across America and from as far away as England and France. I attribute his loss to history to a few key factors:
1. When he was wounded in France, he was dropped from assignment to the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion.
2. When he was in the medical treatment system of the U.S. Army, there was a disconnect between him and his unit in terms of proper documentation of his personnel records.
3. As the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion fought on across France and Germany, the ferocity of fighting continued. This ferocity ended in much of the original members of the unit being replaced by War’s end in 1945.
4. When he was discharged from service in April, 1945, a few key elements were documented incorrectly in his discharge papers and were not transmitted to the correct offices per U.S. Army protocols.
5. His untimely death in 1954 likely ended in internal family issues that likely resulted in key documentation being discarded or misplaced.
6. The 1973 fire at the National Archives in St. Louis, MO resulted in the destruction of his personnel records file.
I will attempt to explain each of the points made above further. This process can help to serve as a model for other families in search of information regarding their service or that of loved ones. When S/Sgt Hull was wounded on September 2, 1944, the fighting was very fierce. So fierce in fact that nearly all members of the battalion were pressed into active combat to hold off a determined German counterattack as described in Chapter 19. General Raaen reported to me that due to the ferocity of the fighting, the unit recordkeeping was delayed for several days. When the fighting subsided on the following day and more normal unit operations ensued, he was shown to have been processed through the Battalion Aid Station up through the Division Level Medical Evacuation Center for the 29th Infantry Division, which for the Battle of Brest, was recorded as the 108th Evacuation Hospital. Another potential key factor was that his Company Commander, George Whittington, had walked into a bar on August 22, 1944 under direct violation of orders from General Patton, and killed a man resulting in his being relieved from command just prior to the assault on Brest and being charged with murder. This loss in continuity of leadership can’t have helped when Grandpa Hull was wounded from a records perspective.
It is clear in looking at the Company Morning Reports that he was dropped from assignment as of September 4, 1944 due to being Severely Wounded in Action (SWA). The changing in status from Lightly Wounded in Action (LWA) to SWA would be due to the worsening condition of his left knee which had multiple mine fragments. His being dropped from assignment was a common practice in the Rangers due to their units being small and light and not being equipped to extensively deal with wounded and recovering soldiers long term.
From the 108th Evacuation Hospital, he was shipped by plane from France to England to the 94th General Hospital for extensive treatment. He was assigned to the 94th from 7 SEP 44 through 14 DEC 44. His award of the Purple Heart came through this unit. It is executed by HQ, 94th General Hospital, APO 508, General Order #15, on September 20, 1944. A copy of this is in the Appendix C. This order is available at NARA, St Louis on microfiche. It must be requested in person. This said many other soldiers had had Purple Hearts issued by their home unit. In his case the 5th Ranger Battalion, but due to his wounds, his Purple Heart came from the hospital unit. This was not unusual, but it is a point where his unit would have additionally lost evidence of his service to a small degree, as he was transferred out of the unit by that point in time, so the 5th Ranger Battalion likely would not have been copied on the order.
Upon shipment home, he processed through various hospitals, until in March and April of 1945; the doctors at Percy Jones decided it best to discharge him medically due his leg. As described in Chapter 8. TM 12-235 Enlisted Personnel Discharge and Release from Active Duty, dated January 1945, Page 34 indicates that a soldier would be designated as unassigned when it becomes clear that the wound suffered will result in a disability discharge. From this point on in the official records, his unit designation reads that of 5th Ranger (RN) Battalion (BN) unassigned or Simply Ranger Battalion or RN BN. The same manual mentioned above also clearly indicates what is to be included in a soldier’s discharge paperwork. In S/Sgt Hull’s case, the hospital clearly omitted his WD AGO 20 Form from his in a soldier’s discharge paperwork. In S/Sgt Hull’s case, the hospital clearly omitted his WD AGO 20 Form from his 235 indicated that for a disabled soldier, the WD AGO Form 20 was to be copied to the soldier, the VA and his permanent military records as shown above. This form was a critical component of his overall military records. If he was not in possession of a copy of it and the VA was never transmitted the record, then when it was destroyed accidently at the National Personnel Records Center described later, this record was permanently lost. It contained his units of assignment, and his training records to include weapons qualifications.
Another important key to how he got lost to history is the matter of his Bronze Star Medal. There is no doubt that he qualified to receive it. The official orders for it have not been found, but the Army has issued replacement orders and he is entitled to it. He received the award and it appears on his uniform as presented to me (Figure 348). Randall Ching did not remember him getting the award prior to his injury. The Army must have awarded it to him prior to his departing England, as newspaper accounts reveal on multiple occasions that he had been cited with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. It is believed that these articles are from the East Palestine, Ohio newspaper (Figure 349).
Figure 348: S/Sgt Hull’s uniform showing the medals he had at the time of his death including the Bronze Star Medal Figure 349: East Palestine Morning Journal Newspaper accounts of Herbert Hull in fall of 1944 As the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion fought on across France and Germany, the ferocity of fighting continued. This ferocity ended in much of the original members of the unit being replaced by War’s end in 1945. Randall Ching verified that only three members of the original Platoon made it to war’s end. The continual turnover of troops and officers, undoubtedly resulted in his not being included in the official unit history, “Lead The Way, Rangers” by Henry S. Glassman (himself a member of the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion) written in 1945. This could be due to loss of certain internal unit records such as unit roster information and general orders as the unit moved across Europe. It is unknown what level of access and to what specific records Mr. Glassman had available to him as he authored the above work. It is no reflection on him that S/Sgt Hull was not added to this work. His omission did however go entirely unnoticed since 1945. Mr. Glassman is deceased, and his widow whom I contacted through a family friend, has no desire to reprint the work with corrections. It would be up to the military or NARA to make corrections to their official records, of which the Glassman book is considered. The Army responded to me that they have no intention of editing the Glassman work, and the same goes for the Glassman family.
When he was discharged from service in April, 1945, a few key elements were documented incorrectly in his discharge papers and were not transmitted to the correct offices per U.S. Army protocols. This includes the failure of the personnel at the Percy Jones Hospital including his WD AGO Form 20 as part of his records transfer to the VA. These errors are also reflected in various blocks of his discharge paper WD AGO Form 53-55, and will be described at the end of this chapter where I include language from a letter I sent to the Army requesting a correction of his records. His untimely death in 1954 likely ended in internal family issues that likely resulted in key documentation being discarded or misplaced. The pain inflicted to the family that resulted from his death created fractures in the family that have persisted for generations. It also resulted in the beginning of a lon
g period of spotty oral history that often times transmitted incorrect information amongst various members of the family that have likewise persisted for decades. Nothing more needs to be said of this.
decades. Nothing more needs to be said of this.
18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF). No duplicate copies of these records were ever maintained, nor were microfilm copies produced. Neither were any indexes created prior to the fire. The damage resulted in an estimated loss of 80% of all U.S. Army records for soldiers discharged between November 1, 1912 and January 1, 1960. (NARA, St. Louis) As a result of this fire, S/Sgt Hull’s military records were destroyed. The U.S. government has prepared a replacement file based on their work in recreating his file from other sources as they have slowly been doing for as many veterans as is possible over the years. Information regarding the fire may be found on NARA’s website2 and at Wikipedia3. Fortunately for our family, due to the fact that S/Sgt Hull was discharged under a disability rating of 30 percent by the military, and his care was turned over to the VA, the VA was copied on many of his pertinent records, and these records were and are stored separately from his personnel records, which were lost as previously mentioned. Where I began with all of this was with a very limited understanding of my Grandpa Hull’s service to our nation. All of my life, I had known that he was a Ranger. I had been told that “he scaled the cliffs at Normandy.” Often, family references to him included his assaulting Pointe du Hoc. I knew that he got wounded in France and that he was injured either by a landmine or hand grenade. In more recent years, I had come by a hand-written note prepared by my mom with the following details:
Toulbroc’h
Normandy cliff 6-6-44; 1 hour before D-Day
Back of German lines, retreated at Paris
Sherbourgh; Sherbourgh Peninsula, end August; 9-2-1944 hit 60 men division (3 left)
Staff Sergeant
Tripped wire; put arm up and down, went off but he was hit Laid in the field for 3 days before medics got to him Plane to England
Knee gangrene; got better
Fort Dix New Jersey; Battle Creek Michigan
Came home Dec 1944
Again, as stated in Chapter 1, the family oral history heard over the years, indicated he was either in the 5th or 2nd
Ranger Battalion. I had heard mention of either B Company or D Company as his assigned unit. Upon receiving his uniform, I had more questions even as other questions were answered. The uniform and discharge solidified his inclusion as a 5th Ranger Battalion member, in my mind at least. I then set out to investigate more about his service based on some things on his discharge paper that did not seem to add up with the oral history. I was told by both my mom and Aunt Linda that at some points in the past, that Grandma Parks had been told by various individuals that he couldn’t have been a member of the Rangers because he wasn’t on the roster. As I started to research the 5th Ranger Battalion, I soon realized that he had been lost to history. I wanted to fix that. I wanted to know him. I wanted to try to heal old wounds for my small part.
Beginning on January 15, 2012, I began to really look into the Rangers during World War II. I started by using the internet to find possible leads. I came across the following site:
In the early part of the research the men previously mentioned listened to my account of the family history and then they concluded that Grandpa Hull must have been a replacement Ranger added to the unit after D-Day. They even got frustrated early on with my insistence that Grandpa Hull was in fact a 5th Battalion Ranger. He was not listed in any publication previously produced on the unit in terms of being included in unit roster information. Most notably absent, was Grandpa Hull’s inclusion in the official U.S. Army unit history, or in print elsewhere.
This absence as a listed member of the unit, only served to make me dig in and go deeper until I got to the bottom of this. As I continued the search in January, I came across the website:
NARA, St. Louis, Missouri (one visit)
NARA, College Park, Maryland (three visits) USHEC, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania (one visit) Ohio University, Cornelius Ryan Collection (One visit)
I later met James Robert Copeland and came to know Randall Ching from B Company. Lastly, I corresponded with the son of Captain George Whittington, with Mark Weast, the son of Carl Weast, and with Elmo Banning, nephew of Elmo Banning, whose family members were all in B Company. These men all greatly assisted me in this research, and I have struck up friendships with each of them. I am honored by their friendship. Early in my search, Colonel Robert Black sent me this encouraging note. It spurred me on. I respect him greatly in his knowledge of the Rangers and World War II history.
From: Robert Black
Subject: Herbert S Hull 5th Ranger BN WW2 To: Noel Mehlo
Date: February 17, 2012
Dear Noel and Denise Records not found but I assure you the service of Ranger Hull is not forgotten. Thanks for your kind words about "Rangers in World War II." it was of course an overview of six Ranger Battalions spanning from North Africa, to Sicily to Italy, Normandy to the heart of Germany and into the Pacific. There were many things not included in that work.
You have the records that prove he was in the 5th Ranger Battalion. My records are with the U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle, PA. I am in Florida. However there are very devoted people who may be able to help and they are copied on this message: Julie Fulmer at JRF224 above is 2nd Ranger Bn Daughter and a keeper of the Battalion Rosters. Jerry Styles at Mailstyles is President of the sons and daughters group and the son of a 5th Bn Ranger. General John Raaen was the Headquarters Commandant of the 5th Ranger Bn at the time of the Normandy Invasion. He is in the process of publishing a book on the 5th Battalion. I sincerely hope these good people will be able to assist you,
Bob Black I would receive similar encouragement from General Raaen and my research group. When I finally began working with Randall Ching and his daughter, he told me in an interview “Well, you’re a Grandson who never met his Grandfather. Right? And what I hear from the Grandson, the family’s problems and troubles seems to lay all the blame on the Grandfather. Well I know your Grandfather, and he’s not that type of person. He’s very caring, honorable, and patriotic. From what you told me, after he got back, got discharged from the hospital he went to be a peace officer. So that is how much he care about people under him. That’s why I agreed to help you know your grandfather, what kind of person he is or was.” His daughter Bonnie told me, “and you need to know this Noel. Many people have tried before in the past have tried to contact my Dad, or interview my Dad, and my Dad has always said no. But when the name Herbert Hull came up, and then I read about the circumstances about his death to my Father, and like I told you over the telephone, that is why
he is agreeing to be interviewed, because he wanted you to know your Grandfather through his eyes.”
Figure 350: Leroy Anderson receiving haircut from Randall Ching in France in 1944.(courtesy of Randall Ching) Randall went on to say, “For the short time I know him, I know he is a good person. He’s a very caring person. And he’s down to earth, both feet on the ground solidly. That’s why I want to correct people who talk about him.”
Bonnie said to her dad, “People’s impression about him… That’s the reason like I told you Noel. He wanted you to know your Grandfather, and that is what my Dad wanted you to know from him, not from anybody else, firsthand, that my Dad knew your Dad (Grandfather) and liked him very much.”
Through this effort, Randall Ching pointed out that Herbert Hull was not the only Lost Ranger. Leroy Anderson from B Company was also a Lost Ranger. He was right as Anderson is not listed in Glassman (Figure 350). I wanted to point this fact out as it just highlights the importance of World War II research as our veterans are passing on.
Using Glassman and Black, I began to develop leads for each phase of his service known at the time. To this end I developed a file structure for each thread.
I wrote a notebook for our family that contained nine chapters broken into key areas. These included: Transition from Civilian to Soldier, 35th Infantry Division, 320th
Infantry Regiment, 134th Infantry Regiment, 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion, D-Day and Battle for Normandy, The Battle for Brest, Medical Treatment and Evacuation to the United Kingdom, and Becoming Lost to History, and Found Again.
In order to quantify data and mine the official record fully, I sought what information was available through records requests using: National Archives And Records Administration, Authorization For Release Of Military Medical Patient Records, NA Form 13036
