A 302nd FA Bn / 76th Division BSM Recipient Joins the Lineup

CPT Emmett R. Nichols was born in 1910 and grew up in Massachusetts. He was a 1938 graduate of Northeastern Law School and landed a civilian career at the Prudential Life Insurance Company before entering the Army in 1942. He was first assigned to the Technical Training Command of the Army Air Forces, but was transferred to the Field Artillery when sent to Officer Candidate School. He was a member of Service Battery, 302nd Field Artillery Bn in the 76th Infantry Division where he was the Bn’s Motor Transportation Officer. 

He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and all three campaign stars the 76th received.

He passed away in 1972 at the young age of 61.

This jacket is my first khaki 4-pocket to land in the collection and I like the contrast to the sea of olive drab!

Thanks for looking and reading!

A Silver Star Medal, 385th Infantry Regiment Trunk Grouping

1LT Jack M. M-u-s-e was born in Kansas on March 14, 1923. He enrolled in Kansas State and entered in to R.O.T.C in 1941. In 1943 following the spring semester, he and his 53 member R.O.T.C detachment were shipped off to basic military training and then returned to Kansas State to await OCS. He then shipped off to Fort Benning in the winter of 1943 and was commissioned in March of 1944 (a month before my grandfather!)

He joined the 76th Infantry Division in the Anti-Tank Co, 385th Regiment in June of 1944 and ultimately landed as a platoon leader in L-Co for the units departure from the states on Thanksgiving Day 1944.

L-Co, 385th entered combat on the 28th of January with a barrage of heavy machine gun, mortar and artillery on the banks of the Sauer River in Echternach, dividing Germany and Luxembourg. The company would go on the offensive on 11 Feb into the Siegfried Line. 

On 27 February near Irrel, Germany, a mere 16 days later, 2LT M-u-s-e was subjected to an intense attack where he was wounded and was where the events took place that earned him his Silver Star Medal. (Partial citation below, full text in the photos) 

2nd Lt. Jack M. Muse, Company L ". . despite the intense fire . . continuously exposed himself in order to execute the safe withdrawal of his men . . refused medical attention until the enlisted man had medical attention first . ."

He was clinging to life with his arm hanging by (in his words) “a thread” as he made his way from field hospitals, to England, back to the U.S. 

He was still recovering in a Michigan hospital in January of 1947.

He went on to graduate with a degree in Agricultural Engineering from Kansas State and lived to the age of 95 in Colorado.

This trunk grouping was discovered in a Colorado Springs military/thrift store. It is insanely complete and there are hundreds of documents in the pocket folder. 90% are from his time at OCS and include every note, test, field exercise document, map, evaluation, and order from his time there.

Especially interesting are the 76th Division items included 3x field maps from Camp McCoy with his exercise/mission notes on them.