WWII Canteen to James H. Parsons

Recently I picked this nice Model M1910 canteen up at the militairy fair of La Gleize, Ardennes, Belgium. Dated 1918 by B.A.C.O. I bought this canteen because of the interesting inscriptions on the front, back and bottom. Following a quick search the Laundry number combined with the initials corresponded to James Henry Parsons, who served with the XVIII Airborne Corps during WW2.




Laundry number which consists of the first letter of a GI's last name and the
4 last digits of his Army Serial Number


His initials J.H.P. on the back and bottom of the canteen

James H. PARSONS

XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery


THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE SIR




Article from the local Newspaper, "The Tuscaloosa News" from Oct. 5, 1945.

James Henry Parsons from Tuscaloosa County, Alabama was born on July 30, 1908, Tuscaloosa, Alabama to James M. Parsons (1881-1945) and Susie P. (Booth) Parsons (1879-1948).

He had a two years of high school education and his civilian occupation was "Carpenter". James Parsons (#20424816) enlisted the service on November 25, 1940 in Columbus Army Air Field, Mississippi. James took some of his training with the National Guard before going to the European Theatre of Operation (ETO) and was a Technician Fift Grade (T5) in the 18th Airborne Corps Artillery.
James served 13 months overseas during World War Two. He was awarded with the Glider Wing, the Bronze Star Medal, the Good Conduct Medal with two clusters and the European African Middle-Eastern Campaign Medal with three Campaign Stars for the Rhineland Campaign, the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign an the Central Europe Campaign.

James Parsons died on September 28, 1974 in Columbus, Lowndes County, Mississippi and is buried at the Big Creek Cemetery, Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.


Military grave marker for James H. Parsons

If somebody has some more information on James H. Parsons, please don't hesitate to contact me!!

Sources:
The Tuscaloosa News edition from Octobr 5, 1945
 www.findagrave.org
www.ancestry.com