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Caption:
Survivors Medical Detachment 124th Inf 31st Div
Activated Oro Bay Apr 5th 1944
First Combat Aitape New Guinea July 1944
There are 49 GIs in this photo. Back Row (left to right):
Wilbert Veit, Robert J. Abadie, Robert E. Hobson, Leonard Neal, James
A. 'Al' Holloway, Charles Winfield, (unknown), Wallace George Smith Sr,
Kermit Foles, Ralph Kelland, 1st Sgt Barnes, Clarence McClain,
(unknown), Art Levering, Reginald Leslie, Gilbert Campbell, Gerald
Fried, Berg, (unknown), Trelvie Collum, Murphy, William F. 'Willie
Fred' Montgomery, Clothel 'CC' Dulaney, John Henry Seitz, Art Barry,
Ernest Bennett, Lewis B. Kelly, Robert A. Lee, John O'Connor, C. A.
'Bunk' Lewis, and Sam Linden.
Front Row (left to right):
Lyle Harvey, Neil McLeod, L. H. 'Casey' Keele, John 'Rock' Biernett,
Bertel Luke, Raymond L. 'Ray' Roach, Eric Murrah, Frank E. LeVan,
Dr. Albert DiGiandomenico (called 'Doctor DeeJohn' by the men), Hosie
Smith, Richard 'Scooter' Edwards, Edward A. St. Germain, Arthur G.
'Guy' Black, Levite (?), William M. Prather, Allen Purdy, Ernest
Smith, and Roger B. 'Hound Dog' Smith.
Credit:
Far East Photo News
300 W Jefferson
Springfield, Ill.
I found this photograph at the home of Mr. Raymond L. 'Ray' Roach
in Starkville, Mississippi on Friday, October 7, 2005. I flew to
Starkville on October 6 to attend the annual reunion of the 124th
Infantry Regiment Medics. Ray Roach, one of Tom Deas' medics, met me
at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport and drove me to the Holiday
Inn Express in Starkville. On the morning of October 7, before the
other folks arrived, Ray drove me to his home in Starkville to
demonstrate his hammer dulcimer. While there, he showed me his
amateur radio ham shack in the back yard. I looked up and admired
his tower and beam antenna, similar to one my father had in the
1960s. We entered, and Ray switched on a transceiver and tuned
through one of the Amateur bands. It was quiet. Then he showed me
around. He pointed to a framed photo that was hanging on the back
wall (the photo above). He said that it was taken at Camp Stoneman,
California, near San Francisco, in December 1945 after the 124th
Infantry Regiment had returned to the States. Soon after this
photo was taken, the men split up and traveled by troop train to
bases near their homes. Many of them traveled to Camp Shelby in
Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Ray said that he traveled in a 1918
coach that had no sleeping berths.
Ten veterans attended the reunion in October 2005: Tom Deas, Art
Barry, Arthur 'Guy' Black, Gilbert Campbell, Clothel 'CC' Dulaney,
Lewis Kelly, Delphia 'DJ' Laborde, C. A. 'Bunk' Lewis, Raymond Roach,
and Herb Thurston. I asked these men to identify the men in the
photo. They identified all but seven, and they were uncertain about
the identity of Sam Linden (back row, far right), whom someone
remembered as Lindsey. Since then, I have received the following
identifications:
(1) The full name of Roger B. 'Hound Dog' Smith from Nodaway, Missouri
was provided by Melinda R. Cordell, a great niece, on January 1, 2012.
(2) Frank E. LeVan was identified by Tracie LeVan Weldon, his
granddaughter, on December 31, 2015.
(3) Wallace George Smith Sr was identified by Vida Hall, his daughter,
on November 3, 2018.
(4) Sam Linden (originally thought to be Lindsey) was identified by
Derek Otstot, his granddaughter's spouse, on November 24, 2018.
(5) Levite, the man in the front row fifth from the right, was
identified by Derek Otstot on December 24, 2018. He learned this from
Sam Linden, his wife's grandfather, but he did not say whether Levite
is a surname, a first name, or a nickname.
(6) The identification of John Henry Seitz was confirmed by Paul
Seitz, his son, on May 25, 2019. Paul Seitz also provided his father's
middle name.
(7) The full name of Dr. Albert DiGiandomenico was previously
confirmed by Dr. Tom Deas on May 27, 2002.
(8) Reginald Leslie was identified by Leigh Leslie, his grandchild,
on November 11, 2022. Previously unidentified, Reginald is the "tall,
skinny gentleman in the middle of the back row, number 15 from the
left."
Three men in the photo remain unidentified.
Some of the survivors of the 124th Infantry Regiment Medics returned
home before December 1945 and are not in this photo. For example,
Regimental Surgeon Dr. Thomas Malcolm Deas left the Philippines for
the States on August 25, 1945. Herb Thurston received orders to return
home in early August 1945, and was discharged at Camp Blanding,
Florida, on October 15, 1945.
(Photo courtesy of Raymond L. Roach)
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