A poignant grouping of a member of the 346th Infantry of the 87th Infantry Division who gave his life for his Country and fellow soldiers. The grouping includes his 1942 dated and named four pocket service jacket as well as his named Officers Visor Hat by Dobbs. Also has his bagged Sam Browne Belt. Both are in excellent condition. 2) OFFICIALLY ENGRAVED CASED PURPLE HEART. Purple heart also comes with the outer box addressed to his Wife Mrs. Anna F. Dobie of 4 Kenney Street Boston Massachusetts. The purple heart itself is named to John E. Dobie along with a letter from Brigadier General Roland Walsh 3) Western Union Telegram that says "THE SECRETARY OF WAR ASKS THAT I ASSURE YOU OF HIS DEEP SYMPATHY IN THE LOSS OF YOUR HUSBAND FIRST LIEUTENANT JOHN E. DOBIE REPORT RECEIVED STATES HE DIED SEVEN JANUARY IN BELGIUM AS RESULT OF WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION CONFIRMING LETTER FOLLOWS = ULIO ADJ GENERAL." 4) BOXED COFFIN FLAG ADDRESS TO HIS WIFE. 5) GOLD STAR MEMORIAL CARD 6) LETTER FROM THE QUARTERMASTER GENERAL. The letter reads as followed: Dear Mrs. Dobie: The War Department is most desirous that you be furnished information regarding the burial location of your husband, the late First Lieutenant John E. Dobie, A.S.N. 0-1 044 496. The records of this office disclose that his remains are interred in the U. S. Military Cemetery Grand Failly, plot G, row 11, grave 252. You may be assured that the identification and interment have been accomplished with fitting dignity and solemnity. This cemetery is located ten miles north of Verdun, France, and is under the constant care and supervision of United States military personnel. The War Department has now been authorized to comply, at Govern-ment expense, with the feasible wishes of the next of kin regarding final interment, here or abroad, of the remains of your loved one. At a later date, this office will, without any action on your part, pro-vide the next of kin with full information and solicit his detailed desires. Please accept my sincere sympathy in your great loss. Sincerely yours, T. B. LARKIN Major General The Quartermaster General 7) LETTER FROM GRAVE REGISTRATION THAT READS: DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY OFFICE OF THE QUARTERMASTER GENERAL WASHINGTON 25, D. C. 11 Apr 11 1949 1/Lt John E. Dobie, ASN 01 044 496 Plot E, Row 9, Grave 43 Headstone: Cross Hamm (Luxembourg) U. S. Military Cemetery Mrs. Anna E. Dobie 3 Atherton Street Jamaus Plain Boston, Massachusetts Dear Mrs. Dobie: This is to inform you that the remains of your loved one have been permanently interred, as recorded above, side by side with com-rades who also gave their lives for their country. Customary military funeral services were conducted over the grave at the time of burial. After the Department of the Army has completed all final interments, the cemetery will be transferred, as authorized by the Congress, to the care and supervision of the American Battle Monuments Commission. The Commission also will have the responsibility for permanent construction and beautification of the cemetery, including erection of the permanent headstone. The headstone will be inscribed with the name exactly as recorded above, the rank or rating where appropriate, organization, State, and date of death. Any inquiries relative to the type of head-stone or the spelling of the name to be inscribed thereon, should be addressed to the American Battle Monuments Commission, Washington 25, D. C. Your letter should include the full name, rank, serial number, grave location, and name of the cemetery. While interments are in progress, the cemetery will not be open to visitors. You may rest assured that this final interment was conducted with fitting dignity and solemnity and that the grave-site will be care-fully and conscientiously maintained in perpetuity by the United States Government. Sincerely yours, H. FEIDMAN 8) LETTER BY UNITED STATES SENATOR LEVERETT SALTONSTALL THAT READS: Dear Mrs. Dobie: It grieved me deeply to learn from our official records which have just come from the War Department of the death of your husband. There is nothing I can say to lessen your sadness, but I know that those who give their lives in this terrible struggle are earning the everlasting gratitude of their fellow men. For they die, so that we who are left and our children in the years to come will enjoy in peace the blessings of a better world. May I express my pride in the sacrifice in which you so directly share and my heartfelt sorrow for your loss. Sincerely yours, Leverett Saltonstall February 9, 1945. 9) LETTER BY CONGRESSMAN JAMES MICHAEL CURLEY THAT READS: Mrs. Anna F. Dobie, 4 Kenney St., Boston, Mass. My dear Mrs. Dobie:- With sincere regret I have just recently learned of the death of your husband Lieut. John E. Dobie while he was serving faithfully in one of the branches of the armed forces of our beloved country. This loss is greatest of all to you and may you bear it bravely and proudly because of the courage and ideals that your husband's life and sacrifice exemplified. Mrs. Curley joins me in extending our deepest sympathy knowing the sorrow you feel in the loss of one so dear. Sincerely James Curley. 10) SEVERAL OTHER PIECES OF EPHEMERA INCLUDING LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES PHOTO PORTRAIT OF LT. DOBIE AND HIS MILITARY SERVICE RECORDS. A very Sad reminder of what War cost to beat back tyranny. World War II: Before Organized Reserve infantry divisions were ordered into active military service, they were reorganized on paper as "triangular" divisions under the 1940 tables of organization. The headquarters companies of the two infantry brigades were consolidated into the division's cavalry reconnaissance troop, and one infantry regiment was removed by inactivation. The field artillery brigade headquarters and headquarters battery became the headquarters and headquarters battery of the division artillery, and its three field artillery regiments were reorganized into four battalions. The engineer, medical, and quartermaster regiments were reorganized into battalions. In 1942, divisional quartermaster battalions were split into ordnance light maintenance companies and quartermaster companies, and the division's headquarters and military police company, which had previously been a combined unit, was split. The 87th Infantry Division was ordered into active military service on 15 December 1942 at Camp McCain, Mississippi. It was nicknamed the "Baby Division" because many of its initial filler soldiers were among the first eighteen year olds conscripted after the lower limit of the draft age was reduced from twenty to eighteen years old in November 1942. It moved to the Tennessee Maneuver Area on 3 December 1943, for the Second Army #4 Tennessee Maneuvers, and consolidated at Fort Jackson, South Carolina on 20 January 1944 for divisional training. The division staged at Camp Kilmer, at Stelton (now Edison), New Jersey, on 10 October 1944 until it received its port call to the New York Port of Embarkation in Brooklyn, New York. It sailed to the European Theater on 17 October 1944, arrived in England on 12 November 1944, and staged for movement to France. It was assigned to the Third Army on 25 November 1944, and arrived at Le Havre, France, on 28 November 1944. The 87th was further assigned to the III Corps on 4 December 1944, and to the XII Corps on 11 December 1944, to the XV Corps on 21 December 1944, and to the VIII Corps on 29 December 1944. Crossed into Belgium on 12 January 1945, and returned to XII Corps on 14 January 1945. Crossed into Luxembourg on 21 January 1945, and assigned to VIII Corps on 25 January 1945. Because of discontinuity in the German railroad system, the 87th was routed to Germany by returning to Belgium on 3 February 1945. Entered Germany 16 March 1945, and remained to Victory in Europe Day. Returned to the United States at the New York Port of Embarkation on 11 July 1945, and proceeded to Fort Benning, Georgia, on 14 July 1945 to prepare for deployment to Japan; it was at Fort Benning on VJ Day. The 87th Infantry Division was inactivated on 21 September 1945, at Fort Benning. The 87th Infantry Division arrived in Scotland, 22 October 1944, and trained in England, 23 October-30 November. It landed in France, including at Rouen, 13 December, and moved to Metz, where, on 6 December, it went into action against and took Fort Driant after shelling the ports day and night for five days. The division then shifted to the vicinity of Gros-Réderching near the Saar-German border on 10 December. The 87th was moving into Germany when, on 16 December 1944, German Field Marshal Von Rundstedt launched his offensive in the Ardennes forest (Battle of the Bulge). Through 22 December, the division captured Rimling, Obergailbach, and Guiderkirch. Then ordered to head for the Bulge, they were relieved by the 44th division. The Division was placed in SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) reserve, 2428 December, then thrown into the Bulge battle in Belgium, 29 December. In a fluctuating battle, it captured Moircy on 29 December and Recogne on 30 December. On 2 January 1945, it took Gérimont, on 10 January Tillet, 12 January St. Hubert, and reached the Ourthe by 13 January. On 15 January 1945, the division moved to Luxembourg to relieve the 4th Infantry Division along the Sauer and seized Wasserbillig on 23 January. The 87th moved to the vicinity of St. Vith, 28 January, and attacked and captured Schlierbach, Selz, and Hogden by the end of the month. After the fall of Neuendorf, 9 February, the division went on the defensive until 26 February, when Ormont and Hallschlag were taken in night attacks. The 87th crossed the Kyll River, 6 March, took Dollendorf on 8 March, and after a brief rest, returned to combat, 13 March 1945, crossing the Moselle on 16th and clearing Koblenz, 1819 March. The division crossed the Rhine, 2526 March, despite strong opposition, consolidated its bridgehead, and secured Grossenlinden and Langgöns. On 7 April, it jumped off in an attack which carried it through Thuringia into Saxony. Plauen fell, 17 April, and the division took up defensive positions, 20 April, about 4 miles from the border to Czechoslovakia. On 6 May 1945, it took Falkenstein. On 10 May 1945, the division was ordered to maintain the immediate area, moving back through Poessneck to Saalfeld, where they took over two hotels, one of which was called the Hotel Goldener Anker. Troops maintained their positions until Victory in Europe Day, and remained in these hotels until at least 16 May 1945. The 87th Division returned to the States in July 1945 expecting to be called upon to play a role in the defeat of the Imperial Japanese, but the sudden termination of the war in the Pacific while the division was reassembling at Fort Benning changed the future of the 87th. The division was inactivated 21 September 1945. The last active soldier from the division that served in World War II retired in June 1981. Colonel Vedder B. Driscoll (19251983), who had enlisted in 1943 and was a platoon sergeant for Company I, 345th Infantry, achieved thirty years of commissioned service. Casualties: Total battle casualties: 6,034 Killed in action: 1,154 Wounded in action: 4,342 Missing in action: 109 Prisoner of war: 429 Assignments in European Theater of Operation 25 November 1944: Third Army, 12th Army Group. 4 December 1944: III Corps. 11 December 1944: XII Corps. 21 December 1944: XV Corps, Seventh Army, 6th Army Group. 29 December 1944: VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group. 14 January 1945: XII Corps. 25 January 1945: VIII Corps. 22 April 1945: VIII Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group. Order of battle Headquarters, 87th Infantry Division 345th Infantry Regiment 346th Infantry Regiment 347th Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 87th Infantry Division Artillery 334th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) 335th Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm) 336th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) 912th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) 312th Engineer Combat Battalion 312th Medical Battalion 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized) Headquarters, Special Troops, 87th Infantry Division Headquarters Company, 87th Infantry Division 787th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company 87th Quartermaster Company 87th Signal Company Military Police Platoon Band 87th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment
