The WWII Story of Pfc Joseph Lucas, Sr.

	7 December 1907 - 26 May 1945

Battery "B", 882nd Field Artillery Battalion

 70th Infantry Division

Hello, I'm Christopher Shaw and Joseph Lucas is my grandpa.  This web site is dedicated to him and all veterans of WWII.

I never knew my grandpa; he was killed on 26 May 1945 near Hanau, Germany. For those very good on their WWII dates, this was just 18 days after Victory in Europe Day, which was 8 May 1945. I remember hearing my mom say that he was buried in Germany; I can't remember if I had asked or she was talking to someone else. But, that is all I ever knew about him; he was buried in Germany. I really didn't even know why. Then in 1999, I received an assignment to go to Germany for 3 years (I'm in the US Air Force). I decided to ask my mother a little more about her dad and where he was buried; maybe I could visit his grave when I got to Germany. After asking my mom a couple questions, I found out that he was killed while serving during WWII. It was just by coincidense that for the past year or so I had been really interested in WWII and was reading everything I could.

My mom didn't know much more than I did. She had no idea where he was buried, except in Germany, and she didn't know how he was killed. She had heard talk when she was growing up, but she wasn't sure. She heard that he was accidentally killed while he was drunk and also heard that he had forgotten the password and was shot by one of our own sentry's. Nobody was sure and my mom's mom didn't search for the answers. My mom's parents were divorced in 1943, and 5 months later he enlisted in the Army. My mom is the oldest of 4 kids, but she was only 6 years old when they divorced, so she doesn't remember a lot from back then. But, she does remember it wasn't a pleasant divorce, there was a lot of fighting, this is one of the reasons I believe my grandfather volunteered for the Army, he felt he needed to get away.

Before I left for Germany, I talked with my mom and got any information she had on my grandfather. It wasn't much, but it was enough to start my research. She had the last letter he wrote to my grandmother before he shipped overseas and she also had the western union telegram my grandmother received confirming his death. The letter she had still had the envelop and this proved to have the goldmine of information on it; his serial number and unit. From information I learned on the internet, I knew that I could contact the American Battle Monuments Commission to find out where he was buried. I called as soon as I could and they were more than helpful; they gave me the name of the cemetery, The Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, the exact grave he was in, and they also told me that he belonged to the 70th Infantry Division. His letter told me his unit was the 882nd Field Artillery Battalion, but I didn't know the division until they told me.

From this information I went back to the internet and looked for the 70th I. D. and found their association web site and looked through it for hours. It had a wealth of information about the 882nd and the rest of the division, but nothing on my grandfather (I really didn't expect it to mention him). I made contact with several people who were in the division and they were more than helpful directing me to more information. From their help, I eventually received the Individual Deceased Personnel File and the investigation report on his death, and his VA files. I tried to get his actual personnel files from the Army archives, but his file is one that was lost during the 1973 fire in their facility. It wasn't until I started talking with everyone from the 70th Association that I realized that my grandfather was killed after the war was over.

I joined the 70th association and received a members mailing list. I wanted to try and find someone who may have new my grandfather, so I wrote to everyone who showed they belonged to the 882nd Field Artillery. I could only find one person who vaguely remembered him, but he said he remembered him as a "great man". My research hasn't stopped and will not stop and I hope to eventually write a short story of types about what his life must have been like during the war. I could write about the 882nd and the 70th division, but their association web site does a much better job telling the story of the division than I could ever do, so please visit them at this link: 70th Infantry Division Association.

What I have included here is the documents and information that I have uncovered on my grandpa. It's a little information about one man in the war, but I feel that every individual person that sacrificed as much as my grandpa and all the WWII veterans did during this pivotal time in our history, must be remembered as individuals and not just as part of an army. Please follow the links below to see more information on my grandpa, and thanks for viewing my site. Please feel free to use this link to email me with questions, comments, or suggestions: My EMAIL.

[Copyright © 2005 Christopher Shaw.. All rights reserved.]