Eugene P. Cummings

Eugene P. Cummings

Company G 22nd Infantry

4th Infantry Division

1944-1945

Lieutenant Colonel Byrne N. Sherwood commanded 2nd Battalion 22nd Infantry 10th Mountain Division
at Fort Drum, New York from 1988-1990. LTC Sherwood was responsible for getting several buildings
in the 2-22 Infantry Battalion area at Fort Drum named after 22nd Infantry soldiers from the past.

He got to know a number of World War 2 veterans of the 22nd Infantry and became friends with
Eugene P. Cummings, who served in 2nd Battalion 22nd Infantry during WW2. Cummings gave LTC Sherwood
a number of small photos he had taken in Germany after the war, while Cummings and his Company were on
occupation duty there.

The photos will be presented to the leadership of 2-22 Infantry at Fort Drum, so they may be placed
in the holdings of the Battalion, alongside other artifacts of the Regiment.

Eugene Patrick Cummings was born in Carbondale, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania on October 15, 1924, the son of Albert Anthony
and Marguerite Mary Burke Cummings. Prior to entering military service he was employed by the Exide Battery Company in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Cummings volunteered for the draft, was inducted into the Army on March 13, 1943 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and
began active duty as a Private on March 20, 1943. At the time of induction he was single, had completed two years of High School,
had hazel eyes, brown hair, stood five feet seven inches tall, and weighed 135 pounds.

He deployed overseas as a replacement on June 6, 1944. Cummings was assigned as a Private First Class, to Company G 22nd Infantry
4th Infantry Division on July 13, 1944. He was one of 52 enlisted men assigned to Company G from the 4th Infantry Division replacement pool
on that day.

Cummings was one of four men in Company G who were promoted from Private First Class to Sergeant on November 29, 1944, during
the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest. On November 30, 1944 he was one of three enlisted men in Company G who were indicated as being
Lightly Injured in Action (LIA) in Germany, and dropped from assignment. (The entry of "dropped from assignment" in this case means
he was sent to a medical facility for treatment and recovery.) At that time his MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was listed as Squad Leader.

Cummings returned to duty and was reassigned to his Company, from the 79th Replacement Battalion, on February 4, 1945.
On February 9, 1945 he was one of 22 enlisted men in Company G who were Lightly Wounded in Action (LWA) and dropped from assignment,
during the battle for the city of Prüm, Germany.

The date of his return to his Company could not be found, but was most likely sometime in March 1945. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant
on May 22, 1945, while his Company was on occupation duty at Feuchtwangen, Germany.

He returned to the United States with his Regiment aboard the United States Army Transport James Parker, arriving in New York harbor
on July 11, 1945.

Though he missed the D-Day landing, Cummings participated with Company G in the following campaigns: Normandy 1944,
Northern France 1944, Rhineland 1944-1945, Ardennes-Alsace 1944-1945, and Central Europe 1945.

He is in the yearbook done for the 22nd Infantry Regiment in 1946, as a Sergeant in Company G 22nd Infantry at Camp Butner, North Carolina.

Cummings was discharged at Camp Butner, North Carolina on October 21, 1945.

Without his actual service record, a complete list of his decorations cannot be compiled. However, according to the known details of his service,
the following is a list of the minimum awards he is authorized:

Combat Infantryman Badge
Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver service star
World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
Presidential Unit Citation with oak leaf cluster
Honorable Service Lapel Button
Belgian Fourragere

Eugene P. Cummings married Loretta Bernadette Jordan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 18, 1948. They had three sons and three grandchildren. Cummings worked for Curtis Publishing Company and then went to work for the U.S. Postal Service. Eugene P. Cummings died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 22, 1995.

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