CUMMINGS John B - 276 IR 70 ID

 

John Bradford CUMMINGS

 

Cummings John Bradford

Source : usafdo & Ellen Marchese

NUMBER OF SERVICE36275466 
AGE22
DATE OF BIRTH14 May 1922 Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac, WISCONSIN
ENLISTMENT STATEWISCONSIN
FAMILY

Parents : Leo Bradford & Helen Alice Crosby CUMMINGS

Sœur : Mary Ellen 

RANK
Sergeant sergeant armee de terre
FONCTIONInfantry Man 
JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT wi
DATE of ENLISTEMENT 
COMPANYCompany A  
REGIMENT   1st Battalion
DIVISION     276th Infantry Regiment
ARMY70th Infantry Division
DATE OF DEATH31 Decembre 1944

Cummings John Bradford

Rosette placed next to name indicates individual has been accounted for

Source : Crosby Schrap

Cummings John Bradford

Unknown grave, where Jack rested for nearly 70 years

Source : Crosby Schrap

STATUSKIA
PLACE OF DEATHNeuhaeusel, Département du Bas-Rhin
CEMETERYEPINAL AMERICAN CEMETERY of Epinal (Dinoze-Quèquement) France

Map of Epinal American Cemetery

GRAVE
Wall of the Missing
DECORATION & BADGE

Bronze Star

Purple Heart

American Campaign Medal

World War II Victory Medal 

Combat Infantryman Badge

 

bsm 

Photo FDLM

american campaign medal

victory medal

combat infantryman badge

 

 

us army div 70 70id 120
STORY

Cummings John Bradford

Source : Andy

 		On the final night of 1944, German soldiers crossed the Rhine into Alsace and reached an American defensive line. John Cummings was alone in his foxhole when the attack reached him. After the shooting stopped, his body was gone.
John Bradford Cummings was born on May 14, 1922, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to Leo Bradford Cummings and Helen Alice Crosby. Records place him in Wisconsin throughout his youth and show that he registered for military service in 1942. He eventually entered the U.S. Army and was assigned to Company A, 276th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division.
The 70th Infantry Division was entering combat in northeastern France during the winter of 1944–45. Cummings's regiment was positioned in the Alsace region near the Rhine, opposite German territory, during a period when enemy forces were still capable of aggressive raids and counterattacks despite Allied advances elsewhere in Europe.
On the night of December 31, 1944, German troops crossed the Rhine and penetrated the sector where Cummings's unit was defending the line. According to DPAA's reconstructed case history, the 22-year-old soldier was manning a foxhole alone when enemy gunfire struck him. German troops subsequently removed his body from the position and carried it back across the river.
For the Americans, Cummings had effectively vanished. There was no body in his fighting position to recover, and postwar records initially could not establish exactly where his remains had been taken. His case therefore became one of the unresolved losses left behind when the European war ended.
The first major break came after the war. American Graves Registration personnel questioned the mayor of Iffezheim, Germany, across the Rhine from the area of Cummings's loss. The mayor directed them to an isolated burial near the riverbank where an American serviceman had been interred. The remains were recovered on May 10, 1946, but investigators could not establish an identity.
Without a name, the soldier was designated an unknown and eventually buried at the American cemetery at St. Avold, France. Records later associated the remains with the unknown designation X-6454. Meanwhile, Cummings remained officially missing, his name appearing on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery.

Cummings John Bradford

High school graduation portrait.

La Crosse Aquinas (WI) High School, 1940.

Source : Crosby Schrap

Decades passed before historical researchers revisited the connection between the unidentified remains and the December 1944 Rhine fighting. The remains were eventually disinterred for renewed examination, allowing modern forensic methods and the accumulated historical evidence to be applied to a case that investigators in the 1940s had been unable to solve.


On July 12, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency officially identified the unknown remains as those of John B. Cummings. More than seventy-three years after he disappeared from his foxhole, the Wisconsin soldier finally had his name restored.


His memorial entry at Epinal records him as a recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and his name remains permanently inscribed on the Walls of the Missing. As with other recovered service members, that memorial record now notes that he has been accounted for.


John Cummings was only 22 years old when his final night of 1944 ended beside the Rhine. His story became more than the account of a soldier who fell in combat; it became the story of an American whose identity disappeared with him, only to be recovered generations later.


The enemy carried him away from his foxhole. Seventy-three years later, America finally gave the unknown soldier his name back. 


This true story is based on historical records and is shared for educational purposes only.

 

Cummings John Bradford

High school graduation portrait.

La Crosse Aquinas (WI) High School, 1940.

Source : Crosby Schrap 

 

Cummings John Bradford

 November 2, 1944: The last evening of furlough before Jack left to rejoin his unit for upcoming overseas deployment. He would be killed 59 days later.

Source : Crosby Schrap

 

Cummings John Bradford

Lakeside Cemetery Hazelhurst, Oneida, WISCONSIN

Source : Crosby Schrap

 
 

Cummings John Bradford

  Source : Fold3

 
 

div 70

70th INFANTRY DIVISION - Trailblazer

 

Activated/Activé

 Normandy/Normandie
15 Jun 1943  Days of Combat/Jour de Combat  83
   Casualties/Victimes 3,919

Entered Combat/Entré au combat

  
3 Feb 1945  

Commanding Generals/Commandants généraux

Maj. Gen. John E. Dahlquist (Jun 43 - Jul 44)
Maj. Gen. Allison J. Barnett (Jul 44 - Jul 45)
Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Herren (Jul 45 - inactivation)

Campaigns/Campagnes

Rhineland (15 Sep 44 - 21 Mar 45)
Ardennes-Alsace (16 Dec 44 - 25 Jan 45)
Central Europe (22 Mar 45 - 11 May 45)
   

PLAN DE ROUTE DE LA CAMPAGNE - CAMPAIGN ROUTE MAP
carte campagne europe

DIVISION CHRONICLE


The three infantry regiments of the 70th Infantry Division landed at Marseille, France, 10-15 December 1944, and were formed into Task Force Herren before the arrival of the remainder of the Division on 18 January 1945. Task Force Herren took over defensive positions along the west bank of the Rhine, 28 December 1944, in the vicinity of Bischweiler, south of Haguenau Forest. Elements took part in the fight to stop the German winter offensive, and struck at the enemy at Phillipsbourg and at Wingen. In mid-January 1945, the Task Force moved to an area directly south of Saarbrucken, where it carried out reconnaissance and combat patrols, and improved defensive positions. Upon the arrival of the remainder of the Division, Task Force Herren was dissolved. Patrolling and combat raids continued as preparations were made for an offensive drive in mid-February. On 17 February 1945, the attack jumped off just below the Saar River. The 70th drove onto high ground overlooking Saarbrucken, smashed into Forbach, took Stiring-Wendel, and continued across the Saar to take Saarbrucken, 20 March 1945. Pushing through Siegfried Line defenses along the north bank of the Saar, the Division took Volklingen and other Saarland cities and towns. In April it took part in the reduction of the Saar Basin, and after VE-day was engaged in occupational duties, with CP's at Otterberg, Bad Kreuznach, Frankfurt, and Oranienstein.

CHRONIQUE DE DIVISION


Les trois régiments d’infanterie de la 70e division d’infanterie débarquent à Marseille, en France, du 10 au 15 décembre 1944, et sont formés dans la force opérationnelle Herren avant l’arrivée du reste de la division le 18 janvier 1945. La Task Force Herren a pris des positions défensives le long de la rive ouest du Rhin, le 28 décembre 1944, dans les environs de Bischweiler, au sud de la forêt de Haguenau.

Les éléments prennent part au combat pour arrêter l’offensive allemande de l’hiver, et frappent l’ennemi à Phillipsbourg et à Wingen. À la mi-janvier 1945, la Task Force s’est déplacée dans une zone située directement au sud de Sarrebruck, où elle a effectué des patrouilles de reconnaissance et de combat et amélioré ses positions défensives. À l’arrivée du reste de la Division, le Task Force Herren a été dissous. Les patrouilles et les raids de combat se sont poursuivis alors que des préparatifs étaient en cours pour une offensive à la mi-février.

Le 17 février 1945, l’attaque a sauté juste en dessous de la Sarre. Le 70e a conduit sur des hauteurs surplombant Sarrebruck, s’est écrasé dans Forbach, a pris Stiring-Wendel et a continué à travers la Sarre pour prendre Sarrebruck, 20 mars 1945.

En poussant à travers les défenses de la ligne Siegfried le long de la rive nord de la Sarre, la division prend Volklingen et d’autres villes et villages de la Sarre. En avril, il a participé à la réduction du bassin de la Sarre et, après le jour VE, s’est engagé dans des tâches professionnelles, avec des postes de commandement à Otterberg, Bad Kreuznach, Francfort et Oranienstein.

 

SOURCE INFORMATION & PHOTOArmydivs.squarespace.com
SOURCE INFORMATION & SOURCE PHOTOFindagrave.com -  abmc.gov - Findagrave.com - Legacy of World War 2 - Fold3 - Ancestry - JP Gentil
EDITORSVictor,  Jean-Philippe, Eric, Henri, Garrett, Clive, Frédéric & Renaud
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