Raymond had the distinction on flight #10 of being the
oldest, although he looks very young for 99!
He enlisted at the Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis Missouri
on January 9, 1943. From the dates listed, it looks like Raymond entered the
service around the age of 30. In World War II, the average age of a service man
was somewhat older than say, the Vietnam War. But going in at the age of 30 in early
1943 was unusual but admirable. It shows that almost everyone wanted to do
their part, no matter what age.
Raymond served in the U.S.Army in France during the war. It
is known that he strung communications and telephone wire in areas that the
Allies had liberated in their march towards Berlin.
As with thousands of other WWII veterans, almost two-thirds
of their wartime records, going back before the Civil War, and including
veterans of the Vietnam War, were destroyed in a massive fire in St. Louis in
1973. This fire happened at a time when military records were kept in their
original paper form in this vast government warehouse. No computer disks existed
at this time of course.
Sadly, many families have no idea, or little knowledge of
what their family members did during the war, and no copies of the records that
were destroyed exist today.
Raymond was discharged from the Army in 1946 with the rank
of Staff Sergeant.
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