Alvin Paulus
Born: September 17, 1915, Morris County, New Jersey
Died: October 6, 1995, Succasunna, Morris County, New Jersey
Relation to Author: Grand Uncle
Brother of Elizabeth Charlotte Paulus (married name Cheney)
On this date (July 20) 70 years ago Alvin Paulus enlisted in World War II. He enlisted in Newark, NJ, at the age of 27 (enlisting for the duration of the war plus six months). His enlistment came in the middle of America's involvement in the war - a year and a half after the attack on Pearl Harbor and America's declaration of war on Japan (December of 1941), but one year before D-Day (June 4, 1944) and two years before Japan surrendered (September 2, 1945).
In July of 1943, the course of the war was favoring the Allies in the Pacific - with the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal behind them. However progress was difficult and slow.
Alvin served through January 18, 1946. He served on the Pacific front as a journal clerk and later duty sergeant, working for the Chief of Section. He received the Bronze Star Medal - the fourth highest combat award of the US Armed Services - on August 6, 1945 for, "performing his duties in an outstanding manner," in support of the Chief of Section.
His Bronze Star document says, "During the period Technician Fourth Grade Paulus developed from a state of complete ignorance of army and office procedure to become a thoroughly competent and responsible non-commissioned officer in the 24th Division Intelligence Section." He apparently had no office training (his enlistment form says his civil occupation was in, "Semiskilled occupations in production of industrial chemicals") but seemed to pick things up very quickly and help out the last two years on the Pacific front.
He served at the following operations:
Hollandia; Dutch New Guinea;
Leyte; and
Mindanao, Philippine Islands. He would later serve in Japan during the occupation. He achieved the rank of duty sergeant /
staff sergeant - a non-commissioner officer (NCO).
I have a copy of a history of the 24th Division. The history tells a lot about the military campaigns, particularly Leyte. However, I don't think it is particularly relevant and worth publishing any of here because I don't think Alvin saw any action and instead was doing office work. That's not to diminish his role, as the Bronze Star shows how important it was, but a book about combat history wouldn't show how a non-combatant spent time.
