John William Eskew

Service

Tec 5 radio operator with Company A, 757th Tank Battalion, fighting through the Italian campaign from Rome-Arno through the Po Valley.

Branch

United States Army (AUS)

Unit

Company A, 757th Tank Battalion

Rank

Technician 5th Grade (Tec 5)

MOS

Radio Operator 776

ASN

36 877 458

Born

21 Apr 1915, Grand Haven, Michigan

Entered service

15 Sep 1943, Fort Custer, Michigan

Separated

28 Oct 1945, Fort Sheridan, Illinois

Overseas

Departed U.S. 22 Mar 1944; arrived ETO 9 Apr 1944; returned 13 Oct 1945

Home address (1945)

Savidge St., Spring Lake, Michigan

In Italy with Company A, 757th Tank Battalion from spring 1944 through the end of the war in Europe. MOS 776 (radio operator) placed him in the communications seat of a medium-tank crew — often the bow gunner / assistant driver when the tank carried an SCR-506 set.

Decorations & awards

• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 bronze battle stars (Rome-Arno, North Apennines, Po Valley)
• World War II Victory Medal
• Good Conduct Medal
• Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar (M1)
• Honorable Service Lapel Button (WWII)
• 3 overseas service bars; 1 service stripe

757th Tank Battalion

A separate (independent) tank battalion in the Mediterranean Theater. Activated as a light tank battalion at Fort Ord, California, on 1 June 1941; arrived in Italy in late 1943 and reorganized as a standard tank battalion in January 1944. Companies A–C fielded medium M4 Shermans; Company D the light tanks.

Theater

Mediterranean (Italy)

Campaigns (John’s)

Rome-Arno · North Apennines · Po Valley

Typical attachments

French colonial divisions early; later 34th, 88th, and 91st Infantry Divisions

War’s end

Near Treviso, Italy

John’s discharge lists wounds received in action as none. Prior Michigan National Guard service: Private, Company F, 126th Infantry (honorably discharged 24 Sep 1940).

757th in Italy (while John was overseas)

John reached the ETO in April 1944. The battalion’s Italian record below is the war he served through with Company A.

1. Spring–Summer 1944

   Gustav Line & Rome-Arno

   After reorganization, the 757th supported French divisions through the Gustav Line breakout, then operated with II Corps near Florence and north of the Arno — the Rome-Arno campaign credited on John’s discharge.

2. Fall 1944–Winter 1945

   North Apennines / Gothic Line

   Attached at times to the 34th Infantry Division and others, the battalion fought the mountain war toward Bologna. Signal Corps photos place 757th tanks shelling German positions near Monzuno on the road to Bologna in October 1944.

3. April–May 1945

   Po Valley Offensive

   In the spring offensive the 757th supported the 88th and 91st Infantry Divisions in the Po Valley breakthrough that ended the war in Italy. John returned to the United States in October 1945 and was honorably discharged at Fort Sheridan.

About this page

Service facts on this page follow John’s WD AGO Form 53-55 and the 2002 DA Form 1577 award authorization. A 2002 family letter also mentioned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart; those do not appear on the discharge or the Army’s award authorization (and the discharge lists no wounds in action), so they are not shown as confirmed awards here.

His original Official Military Personnel File was among those destroyed in the 1973 National Personnel Records Center fire; the discharge copy and reconstructed award authorization are what survive in the family file.