SSG John S. DuQoin, A Co 743rd Tank BN

This is a photo of S/Sgt John S. DuQuoin, Company A, 743 Tk Bn, receiving the Silver Star from General Leonard Gerow on June 21, 1944 - this for his actions during the beach head operations on June 6.

John DuQuoin (at age 36) was part of the initial cadre forming the 743rd at Fort Lewis, Washington in 1942.  In late 1942 he completed radio school at Fort Knox, Kentucky and then rejoined the Battalion just in time for the desert training that occupied most of 1943.  He made the Normandy landing (at age 38!), served with the Battalion in the fighting across France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, participated in the Battle of the Bulge and was sent stateside on furlough in late January 1945.  Just before returning to the ETO he flunked an Army physical and consequently remained stateside until war's end.  He spent the last six months of his service doing office work at Jefferson Barracks - the processing, transferring and discharging of high point GI's from every theater. 

In September 1944 my uncle, John DuQuoin, sent a letter and photo to his sister (my Mom) as follows:

 "I'm enclosing a photo of a section of the Beach head, found in a magazine in Holland.  It is right in the section we operated in, and gives a good idea of the way debris was littered everywhere.  The tank is one of our own company's which was knocked out."

John was discharged in August of 1945 and resumed civilian life.
Submitted by John Warner

PFC Julius Marvin Helder, A Co 743rd Tank BN

I began looking into family history with a big assist from Ancestry.com (and a cousin who is also into genealogy) a couple years ago. Among other things, I began to piece together the story of my Great Uncle Juke who was part of a unit I had never heard of before. The unit that this blog is created to tell the story of: the 743rd Tank Battalion. I would very much like to provide a place for anyone who would like to share their experiences doing the same thing I'm doing with family history, or for anyone who simply has an interest in this unit. I am soliciting guest bloggers for this site. Just email me the text and any images. I'll even clean them up for you in Photoshop CS5 if you'd like, before I post them. While I was in the Army, I was not a tanker but I must admit I'm enamored by the unbelievable story this unit has. This blog is dedicated to the memory of my Uncle Juke of course, and all those brave souls who came together to form this particular separate tank battalion and part of the highest rated unit in WWII!

In Memorium