History of The United States Army's 117th Infantry Regiment

3rd Battalion - K Company

30th Infantry Division

Memorial to Corporal Joseph Stanley Jeglinski

Corporal Joseph Stanley Jeglinski of  K Company - 117th Infantry Regiment - 30th Division

My Grandpa, Corporal Joseph Stanley Jeglinski was born in Rome, New York, but lived most of his life in Chicago near Midway Airport. He was drafted into the United States Army on April 4th 1944 at Fort Sheridan, located in Highland Park, Illinois. He was 30 years old and had two small children when he was drafted.  Joseph was sent to Camp Fannin for basic training for 4 and 1/2 months (he trained with the 63rd Infantry, Company B). Camp Fannin is a place where more than 200,000 young American Men became Army Infantry Replacements and is located in Tyler, Texas. After basic training, Joseph was shipped overseas to the European Theatre of Operations on September 20th, 1944 and arrived on September 26th, 1944. Upon arrival, he was placed with the 117th Infantry, Company K, 30th Division (Old Hickory) also known as the Workhorse of the Western Frontier. The 30th Division was well known by the Nazis as they wiped out most of Hitler’s SS Divisions. He served in two of the biggest battles in World War II—Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) and Rhineland. 

On March 1st, 1945 near the region of Lipp, Germany, Corporal Jeglinski and another soldier were in the process of capturing an German soldier, but were then captured by the Germans and imprisoned for 26 days. During his time as a Prisoner of War, he ate weeds and roots to stay alive and spent most of his time in a French boxcar.  He was liberated on March 27th, 1945.

  While Serving in the European Theatre of Operations, Joseph loaded, aimed and fired his gun (M1 Garand) at enemy personnel for fire power support in gaining territory. He received several medals including Bronze Star, WWII Victory Medal, Good Conduct Ribbon, American Theatre Ribbon, EAME Theatre Ribbon with 2 Bronze Stars and Prisoner of War Medal. His military occupation was Rifleman, 745 and wore his Combat Infantry Badge with Pride. Joseph departed Europe on May 6th, 1945 and arrived in the United States of America on May 19th, 1945. He was separated/honorably discharged from the United States Army on December 3rd, 1945 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. My Grandpa is my Hero! 

Company Report from 117th Infantry Regiment, K Company from March 4th, 1945.  The report has Pfc Joseph S. Jeglinski listed as Missing In Action on March 1st, 1945 (the date he was captured) in Lipp, Germany.

Dave constructed a simulated  POW mug shot of his grandfather.  The background is an actual WWII box car and the chalkboard sign is simulated as if it was from WWII.  Most WWII POW camps used a chalkboard to include the POW's name and serial number. In some cases, the date of capture was also shown on the chalkboard.

Corporal Joseph Jeglinski reunited with his wife, Sadie, in Miami, Florida for R & R after the war.  Sadie left their children with her sister back home and took a train to Florida to see Joseph for the first time in a year and a half.

Timeline for Corporal Joseph Jeglinski WWII Army Service

The following photos are from the WWII collection of Dave Jeglinski.

The collection honors his grandfather, Corporal Joseph Jeglinski, and the members of the 30th Infantry Division.

This photo captures 16 named uniforms for 30th Infantry Division veterans.  This collection took Dave several years to compile.  On the wall are various artifacts that were collected from 30th Infantry Division veterans. Some of the items on the uniforms belong to the uniform and some are random 30th Infantry Division artifacts.

These are more uniforms associated with 30th Infantry Division veterans.  As you can see, there are some empty torso's waiting for uniforms.  Dave is hoping to have these fitted with uniforms soon.

This glass display case includes many special relics from 30th Infantry Division veterans.  Specifically, there are 5 veterans honored that gave the ultimate sacrifice to our country.  The KIA items include, purple heart medals, photos, dog tags and certificates.

This photo includes 4 German road signs that Dave and his wife made.  Stalag represents Prison Camp.  Lipp is the German town where he was captured. He  crossed the Roer River 8 days before he was captured. Prior to his capture,  he was promoted to Private First Class in Alsdorf, Germany.

The mannequin in this photo is simulating Pfc Joseph Jeglinski being captured by the Germans.  The background behind him is representing a French Boxcar door.  Dave built the door from scratch and was inspired from a real French box car that he saw in person at the United States Air Force Museum in Ohio.  Since his grandfather mentioned spending a lot of time in a French box car,  it was important to add this to my collection.   The raincoat in the shadow box was his grandfather's raincoat used during WWII.  His grandfather didn't bring home many relics.  Dave received a Facebook friend request in 2018 from an individual in France.  He told Dave he had his grandfather's raincoat.  Dave immediately accepted his request and made a friend for life.  He received the raincoat from his friend in Belgium.  The raincoat was believed to be in her family for a very long time.  His grandfather's name is written clearly inside of the jacket.  Dave assumed that he lost this jacket when he became a Prisoner of War.  Dave felt like he won the lottery!  The newspapers in his hometown and France wrote about this story.

The jacket seen in the photo replicates what Dave's grandfathers jacket would have looked like after the war.  The pennants on the wall represent where he was drafted, Fort Sheridan, Illinois, where he did basic training, Camp Fannin, Texas and where he was discharged after the war, Camp Atterbury, Indiana.

The hat and jacket were issued to 30th Infantry Division veterans during the 40th Reunion.  The photo is signed by Medal of Honor Recipient, Francis S. Currey, 119th Infantry Regiment.

This banner flew proudly in Dave's hometown of New Lenox, Illinois for 2 years.

Source

                Special thanks to Dave Jeglinski of New Lenox, Illinois, for his permission to share his story and photos for this webpage (February 23, 2023).