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Medical Detch., 101st Amm. Train.

Medical Detch., 101st Amm. Train.

Posted: 15 Jan 2015 8:59PM GMT
Classification: Military
Surnames: Sockwell
My grandfather, Claude Oscar Sockwell, was a Medic in WWI and was assigned to the Medical Detch., 101st Amm. Train in France. I have his portrait, his dog tag, his Medic patch, Soldier's prayer book, etc., all of his letters written home, and his French Croix de guerre medal (but not the ribbon). His war records were lost in the fire of 1973 at the NPRC. I contacted them and received verification that they were among those that were destroyed.

I have seen mention of possible French military records regarding their awarding of the French medal to U.S. soldiers and that citations were required to award the medal. Does anyone know where/if these records are available? This medal required having received at least one citation and each citation is indicated on the ribbon. I would love to know to know the nature of his citation(s). My grandfather was a quiet, hardworking, humble and very loving man. He never voluntarily spoke of the war to us grandchildren and would not go into many details when we asked him about it. He would mainly tell us about his journey back to the states and being in New York with all the ticker tape being thrown down to the troops returning. We didn't even know about the dog tag, medal, etc, nor did my mother or her siblings. We found those after his death. We did know he was a medic because he was also our "medical" person in the family. He would talk to us about his medical knowledge/training from the war but never gave details of the wounded/killed soldiers or the terrible things he must have experienced. I guess you can tell that I loved my grandfather very much! I grew up next door to my grandparents and saw them everyday. Both had a huge influence on me and I also entered the medical field in nursing, primarily due to my admiration for my grandfather.

If anyone knows how I can gain access to the WWI medal records in France, I would surely appreciate it!!!

Thanks!
Dr. Wanda Bradford
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