– Contribute to the 9th Infantry Division In WWII Archive –

How can you help in preserving the History of the 9th Infantry Division in World War 2?

For several years I have been collecting anything related to the World War 2 actions of the 9th Infantry Division. I am always searching for additional material that can be used in order to build and provide the most complete and trustworthy source to go to for information about this great Division. Maybe you have some things tucked away in dusty boxes that you never really look at anymore. Maybe you have some old documents or pictures? Maybe you don’t know what to do with that old uniform, cap or insignia?

Hereby I would like to kindly ask you to consider sharing or donating some of these items with me in order to preserve these in a good place. Plans are currently being made in order to have one central place where all of this will be saved and available. Let’s have a look at some of the items that will be a great help in understanding and completing the history of the 9th Infantry Division:

1. Pictures.
Pictures of your grandfather, father, uncle, brother, anyone who served in the 9th Infantry Division, are very much appreciated. These can be used for Tribute Pages, or possible future publications (when permission of course). Also, pictures of places, events, anything would be great.

All pictures will be digitized and indexed and be added to the 9th Infantry Division In WWII Photo Archive.

2. Maps.
Maps are invaluable for research. If you have a map at home, and not sure what to do with it, please consider to share it with me. A copy or scan of it is also very helpful already.

3. Memoirs / Diaries / Stories
If your father, grandfather, uncle or brother has written down his war time experiences in any way or form, I would love to hear from you. These notes are so important to be read, processed and placed into the history of the 9th Infantry Division for future generations. No matter how short the notes are, they all help to get a better understanding of what happened.

4. After Action Reports.
These reports that give us more information about the actions and movements of a certain unit of the 9th Infantry Division.

5. (Combat) Interviews.
Interview transcriptions. Maybe done during the war, or after the war. Maybe you have interviewed your grandfather or father in regards to his actions in World War 2. These would be very much appreciated.

6. Books / Unit booklets
We’re always looking for books written by veterans. Privately published booklets are often very valuable to our research.
If a booklet is long out of print, maybe it is possible to get a digital version of it.

7. Rosters.
Rosters provide the names of the men who served in a certain unit. Reading names and their information can be very helpful in locating other veterans or family members as well.

8. Citations.
Citations are describing the events that led up to a soldier being awarded a medal / award.

9. IDPF (Individual Deceased Personnel File). 
This document contains all the information that is collected in regards to the death or missing of a soldier during World War 2. It always provides a lot of information about the events surrounding the death of a soldier.

10. Old Octofoil Newsletters.
The official Ninth Infantry Division Newsletters have been published since 1946.
I have a lot of them, but I’m always looking for issues I don’t have.

11. Uniform related items.
Through my research I have become very interested in all aspects of the 9th Infantry Division. This includes personal items of the men of the Ninth. In the past, families have donated some personal items to me in order to have these preserved in a right and honest way. When you find any uniform items, insignia, or other 9th Infantry Division related items on your attic or in a box that you never really look at that much, or are not sure what to do with it, please consider them donating to 9th Infantry Division In WWII.

For more information on this, please check this page:
https://9thinfantrydivision.net/donate-memorabilia/

Why?
At the moment I am planning a way to display all the items of the 9th Infantry Division I have so far. There are plans to have some of these displayed as part of an exhibition about the 9th Infantry Division’s involvement in the Hurtgen Forest Battle in a museum in Germany. There is also a plan to create a virtual online museum, and possibly inclusion in a book.

I understand that not many people will donate items to a complete stranger. Feel free to email me any questions about this. I just want to make sure to keep all the 9th Infantry Division related items somewhere where these items will be appreciated for their historic value, and where they will be taken care off properly. Too often I see collections of a veteran that passed away being sold in different auctions on auction websites. This way the unique uniform will be taken apart, and ends up in various places. I would like to preserve the original uniform and items as they were worn by the veterans. Just make sure you don’t get rid of them and throw things out. I have seen this happen, and it saddens me greatly.

All these things can be very useful in my research. I am not just “collecting”, but I am studying all of these items and preserving history.

Through all these resources I have been able to write down the history of the 9th Infantry Division, connect veterans to each other, confirm what happened to certain men, write detailed texts about certain actions or events.

If you have anything of the above to share with me, please let me know through the form below:

For now I would like to thank you for your consideration.
All these items will be used to preserve the history of the 9th Infantry Division in WW II.

Thank you.

Yuri Beckers