Hail and well met!

[Gnomey]

Welcome.

 

[Heinz]

G'day, welcome to the forum.

 

[Wayne Little]

G'day mate welcome from another Aussie!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Welcome to the forum Astaldo.

 

[RabidAlien]

Welcome aboard! If you have any other information (names, unit numbers, plane names/numbers he might've mentioned/written down, dates, missions, etc), there are quite a few research-hounds here with "friends" in high places who can help you find more about your Dad and his involvement in the War. Also, have you tried getting in touch with the VA to get a copy of his records?

 

[jamierd]

welcome to the forum

 

[Astaldo711]

Thanks to all for the warm reception!
I'm from NW New Jersey - Highland Lakes about 10 minutes from Mountain Creek if anyone knows the area. It's pretty rural - bears and deer and such.
My dad was stationed in High Wycombe in England from 41-45 I believe. His name was Russel Louis Hompesch. I think at that time he was living in Bloomfield, NJ.
I went to the 8th AF website but couldn't find any info. I sent them an email so I'll see.
Part of the problem trying to find info on him is that most of my relatives have passed on. My mom, his sister, all my grandparents. My one brother passed away, the other doesn't know, my one sister had a stroke and not too communicative and the other doesn't have too much history on him.
Thanks for all the help!

 

[Thorlifter]

Welcome to the site

 

[RabidAlien]

Have you tried requesting records from the military? Might take awhile (hey...they're the gov't!), but its worth a shot:

How to Request Military Service Records or Prove Military Service (DD Form 214, DD-214, DD214

GovMilitaryRecords.com - Comprehensive Online Military and Army Records Searches

GovtRegistry.com-Instant Access to 100's of Millions of Records and Resources

 

[Astaldo711]

Thanks for the links. I tried the first one earlier today so I'll see if anything comes of it. The other two are pay sites which are unfortunately not an option for me.
I'm going to try and find some of his old paperwork.

 

[B-17engineer]

I live in North West Jersey too. In Hunderton County

 

[Astaldo711]

Another rural area. Whenever we get bad weather in the winter, it seems like it's always Sussex, Warren and Hunderton counties.

 

[B-17engineer]

..... I live in Tewksbury....about 25minutes from the Pennsylvania boarder.

 

[Astaldo711]

I found some of my dad's old papers. I found a little New Testament book of Psalms and in it is his social and service number. He must have joined right after Pearl Harbor because it shows it was given to him by the chaplain in Jan of '42.
I'm going to upload a couple of images. One is a picture of him at work and the other is a letter from Eisenhower announcing the end of the war in Europe.

 

[Astaldo711]

This is a picture of a pamphlet I found. It's a short review of how far the 8th came from the beginning of the war. In the back is a little note on how to keep your guns from freezing.

 

[RabidAlien]

Nice finds there! Yeah, sorry 'bout the last two sites, I was at work and just posted the first two that looked promising.

How to Request Military Service Records or Prove Military Service (DD Form 214, DD-214, DD214

 

[Astaldo711]

I filled that one out, thanks. Just waiting to hear from them.