Identified personal documents

Documents identified to Captain John F. Cleary Jr.

Grouping of rare and original documents and photos related and named to John F. Cleary Jr. The paperwork ranges from Camp Atterbury until his discharge documents and postwar, reserves related documents. The group includes some great photos, a message by General Macon to congratulate his men on VE-Day, his original Bronze Star citation and much more.

Captain John F. Cleary Jr.

John Francis Cleary Jr. was born on April 19, 1916 in Taunton, Massachusetts as the son of Mary Madlyn Murphy and John Francis Cleary, both with Irish roots. John Jr. was a 1938 graduate of Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana.

John "Jack" Cleary entered the service on March 19,1941 and spend a few months with the 104th Infantry Regiment before attending Officers Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He married Mary J. Cronan in September, 1941. They had one son, John F. Cleary the 3rd. After graduating as a 2nd Lt, John was stationed at Camp Atterbury, Indiana and Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky with the 83rd Division. He was initially assigned to C Company, 329th Regiment but was transferred to Service Company before going overseas. He served with the 329th as a personnel officer in all five campaigns. For his service in WWII he was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge, the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the European African Middle-Eastern Campaign Medal with five campaign stars, the American Defense Medal, the American Victory medal and a Presidential Unit Citation.

After the war, Cleary received his master's degree at Boston University and remained a lifetime resident of this city.

John F. Cleary Jr., 56 died at the Morton Hospital after a short illness on June 14, 1972. He was survived by his wife Mary J. Cleary (1916–1974) and his son John F. Cleary III (1947–2017).

click on the images to enlarge