-A- Company, 83rd Engineer Battalion.
Dave Burke has found a bunch of nice pictures of Chinon and the 83 Engineer guys.
John Orphanos Has agreed to help us with this page, We are looking for items and photos to include here.
He gets this page started with this letter.
We were stationed at Chinon from 1963 to 1964 (?) in A company 83rd Engineer Battalion I was platoon leader of the heavy equipment platoon. Our daughter Marion was born at the hospital June 22 1964. I believe the Battalion HQ (Lt. Col James Bowden cmdr) and A co was moved from Fontenet to Chinon in 1964. We visited in 2003 (Jean D'Arc Hospital) and to my surprise our barracks and Company buildings were still standing. We lived in Saint Benoit during my assignment. By chance we met a lady Lillian Marolleau in Azay le Rideau who was a secretary to our Adjutant Lt. Goldstein . Prior to Chinon we were in Braconne and St. Nazaire ( D company) . Lt Howard Talley, Lt Brent Robertson (still in touch), Lt Vito Feraro Lt. Louis Grespan as well as Maj Peterson are names I remember. Have you heard from anyone from the 83rd? Thanks John and Vicki Orphanos
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83RD ENGINEER BATTALION Reprinted from a book by Joan Ann Wood Moore in 1970.
The 83rd Engineer Battalion was officially activated at Fort Sill, Okla. on May 25, 1949. However, the history of the 83rd does not begin merely with the activation at Fort Sill, It's direct ancestors are first mentioned in military records as far back as 29 JuLy 1921, when a unit known as the First Battalion, 345th Engineer Regiment (Gen Svc) was designated by the Department of the Army.
When the United States entered the Second World war, the 345th came to life. The unit was activated on 15 June 1942 at Camp Crowder, Mo. The.unit sailed for the Mediterranean Theater, landing in Italy. The unit received credit for three campaigns in Italy the Naples-Foggia, The Rome-Arno, and the North Appinnines campaigns, With the completion of WWII in Europe, the 345th was deactivated at Foggia, Italy on June 30, 1946. The colors of the battalion were cased on the first active chapter of its history, thus resting the parental line of the 83rd Engineer Battalion.
Captain John 0. Buchanan arrived at Fort Sill. OK. on May 25, 1949 to take command of the 83rd Engineer Battalion (Construction.) On March 1951 the 83rd was alerted for overseas shipment to Europe, and on May 10, 1951 sailed from Brooklyn Army Base, under the command of Lt. Col. Gray. Instead of landing at Bremerhaven and Battling in Germany, as was originally scheduled, the battalion was ordered to disembark on the west coast of France and settle in the EUCOM Zone of Communication, Lendes da Bussac. Obviously, the primary mission of the 83rd was to build, and this the 83rd did from one end of France to the other. In June 1959 the Battalion moved from Lendes da Bussac to Fontenet. In late 1963. the battalion headquarters, along with A Company and B Company moved to Chinon, France.
In the summer of 1966, the battalion began its duties in FRBLOC (Fast Relocation from France. Under this operation, Companies C and D, were forced to dismantle and ship a great percentage Of the buildings the battalion had constructed over the previous 15 years. Each project in FRELOC was aggressively and rapidly completed. All schedules were met and the unit's move from France was almost flawless.
Commanding .Officers
Lt. Col. R. C. Gray August 1949 to September 1950
Lt. Col. E.B. Butler September 1950 to June 1952
Lt. Col. J. B. Bowman September 1952 to April 1953
Lt. Col. H. F. McKeown April 1953 to October
Lt. Col. H. H. Hoover December 1954 to May 1955
Lt. Col. D.R. Clark June 1955 to October 1956
Major R. B. Broadwell October 1956 to May 1957
Lt. Col. W. Johnston May 1957 to June I960
Lt. Col. L. H. Cockrell June I960 to February 1961
Lt. Col. T. B. Griess February 1961 to July 1962
Lt. Col. S. A. Bowden July 1962 to July 1963
Lt. Col. R.W. Staffa July 1963 to July 1964
Lt. Col. V. H. Johnson July 1964 to January 1966
Lt. Col. W.F. Halley January 1966 to August .1966
In MEMORIAM
SFC Diggs
Colonel D. Miller
Sgt. West
Lt. Col. H. 0. Bond
Sgt. Charles King
Lt. Gary Overleas (with 83d.in.Ingrandes) died of cancer April 27, 1970.
John Orphanos ioavvis@msn.com