The History of the 181st Engineer Heavy Pontoon Battalion is a tribute to them and to my Dad. He served in World War II and I did not get the chance to say thanks as he died when I was 12.
There was a journal of the battalion’s service during the war as written by the men in the battalion. I have created this blog with their story and the pictures that they took. It is an interesting story and the only corrections made were spelling errors. I have also included the maps of their journey.
Another note of interest to me is that when I was in college I spent a year in Europe and visited many of the places that the battalion had been in, but I did not realize that until I worked on this blog. Another strange coincidence is that there was a Sargent named Bader in the battalion and after the war Dad fell in love with my mother, who’s maiden name is Bader. What are the odds as that is not a common name.
Thanks for listening to me ramble. There is another enhancement at the blog and that is the addition of apture links. What you want to look for are links with small icons next to them. When you hover over the links a box will come up and have more information about that particular link or keyword phrase. The apture links make the experience even richer.
You can start at the Home Page and then on to Page A. Enjoy the story.
Richard Mathiason
RichardMathiason.com
[...] (199) 181 engenheiro história batalhão pesado do pontão [...]
My father was in WWII, and like yours he passed away when I was young. I have always been curious but know very little other than he in the one hundred something combat engineers and crossed rivers in Europe.
Every now and then I try to find something on the internet. But l have very little to go on and have had very little luck.
That is until hit your website. My dad’s name was Thomas Raymond Burns and he was a staff sergeant. It is likely he is the ssgt mentioned as one of the four members of an advance team on page E
hi there
what a great site, great read just like to say i own a 1941 gmc cargo truck that i have ownd for 11 years now, on the restoreing of my truck and preping for repaint the 181st unit marking came threw, its now as far i can get it as it was in ww2
i can send photos if your interested
hi there
i dont know if your interested but i own a 1941 gmc cargo truck that belonged to the 181st i have owned the truck for now 11 years. the 181st unit markings came threw when i was preping the truck for repaint its still now in the 181st unit markings i can send photos if your interested
andy
I have not been back to this sight for awhile. Andy – Very interesting about the 1941 GMC truck
I would be very interested in seeing the photos.