Message from Bob Searl, Sr.(b1917-d2017)
NOTICE: ROBERT SEARL, SR PASSED AWAY ON SEPTEMBER 21, 2017, ONE MONTH SHORT OF HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY. HE HAD BEEN IN EXCELLENT HEALTH AND WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN THIS WEBSITE UNTIL HE SUCCUMBED TO A SUDDEN AND MASSIVE CEREBRAL HEMORRHAGE.
IN HIS MEMORY AND IN THE HONOR OF THOSE OF THE GREATEST GENERATION WHO ALSO SERVED IN WORLD WAR II, IT IS MY INTENTION TO KEEP THIS WEBSITE ONLINE (WITHOUT MODIFICATION) FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. PLEASE NOTE THAT I DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO MOST OF THE ORIGINAL DATA AND WILL NOT BE MAKING CHANGES TO THE WEBSITE.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THIS INFORMATION FROM THIS WEBSITE FOR NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. HOWEVER, OUT OF RESPECT FOR MY FATHER'S LIFETIME OF COLLECTING AND BUILDING THIS ARCHIVE, I WOULD RESPECTFULLY ASK THAT YOU INCLUDE THE NOTATION: "FROM THE PERSONAL ARCHIVES OF U.S. ARMY WWII VETERAN, ROBERT H. SEARL, 56TH SIGNAL BATTALION."
--Robert Searl, Jr., sayhibob@gmail.com
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As a Veteran of my US Army Wartime Selective Service in the ETO of World War II and now at 99 years of age, I have edited and copy-scanned my Personal Wartime snapshot history Photos and those of my few remaining comrades; group them into SEPARATE GALLERIES, depicting the US Army 56th Signal Battalion's early 1941 pre-wartime training and combat participation in WWII in Europe as part of the First US Army and the Fifth Corps. Photos captions to the best of my memories of those days are shown. I have also included a new photo Gallery of my June 2004 visit back to Normandy, Berlin & Beyond, another revisit back to Normandy in May 2006 and my participation in a three day challenging field training exercise with the current 56th Signal Battalion at Fort Gordon, Georgia in February 2006. The WWII Galleries are from my basic military training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, May 1941; time spent during the War construction and Supplies Build-UP reinforcing the allied forces in the UK in 1942-44; the initial D-Day Landings in Normandy, France in June 1944; to the first days of the liberation of Paris; the Battle of the Bulge and across the continent of Europe, to the last days of the European war and personally experiencing the actual sights of inhumanity, brutality and horror in the Concentration Camps, then on to Pilsen, Czechoslovakia in May 1945 and a meet-up with Russian Troops. A total of 1305 combat road miles in 335 consecutive days without leave. The snapshot photos are far from the digital camera "photographic artworks" that appear on some of these Pbase galleries, but the photos are part of the precious recollections of the life of my War and the many experiences and memories that I manage to retain. A few of the photos depicted here may be from field sources other than my own, as due to the wartime scarcity of film and the restricted services of film processing under combat conditions, snapshots were copied, traded and exchanged between those of us in our unit that managed to possess our pocket cameras. I share these, my memories of times, places and the friends I knew, with anyone interested in my small, but proud contribution and obligation to our nation's national honor, interests and history. I have also included in Gallery #6, photos provided from the personal albums of my fellow comrades that were part of the 56th Signal Battalion in WWII who wish to share their wartime photographic memories with the world. I would humbly ask your discretion in using any of the photos depicted in this #4 Gallery site or the other Eleven without first seeking permission. +CLICK ON "ALL GALLERIES" ABOVE TO BEGIN............MOST PHOTOS MAY BE ENLARGED FOR BETTER DETAIL AND DESCRIPTIVE CAPTIONS ===Bob Searl===
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