World War II Honoree

Oscar E. Ball

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Mustang, Oklahoma

Honored By

Mr. Oscar E. Ball

Relationship

Self

Enlisted in late 1943. Infantry Basic training in Camp Hood, Texas as an S-2 Intelligence Scout. Assignment to the 66th Infantry Division (Black Panthers), Camp Rucker, Alabama. Shipped to England in November 1944 and across the English Channel, December 24, 1944. German submarine sank the SS Leopoldville 5 miles outside Cherbourg Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1944. Then assigned to the German pockets of resistance remaining on the Bay of Biscay coast at Lorient and. St Nazaire. Awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and European Theater of Operations Ribbon with 1 Battle Star. On V-E Day, division accepted the surrender of the pockets and moved east. After V-J Day, the 66th was disbanded and the troops reassigned. Then went to the 42nd Infantry (Rainbow) Division unit at Saalfelden, Austria. Transferred to the 34th Postal Regulating Section, U.S. Forces in Austria. In charge of processing Parcel Post for 6 months and returned to the states for discharge as a Technician 5th grade in June 1946.