261417 PFC. Bailey Frank Grimes US Army 838th AAA AW Btn. Bailey F. Grimes was drafted into the US Army in 1943. He served in the 838th AAA AW Battalion as part of a four-man team of forward observers. In late 1944, the convoy of ships transporting the battalion was attacked by a German submarine, and the ship carrying most of the artillery was lost. The battalion spent Christmas in London, England, with no artillery. General Patton needed infantry replacements in France. The day after Christmas, the battalion had all of its artillery. The 838th AAA AW Battalion served in France, Austria, and Germany. It supplied artillery for the Rhine River crossing and the liberation of Dachau Concentration Camp. In late 1946, PFC Grimes returned to the United States. He died in 2009, in Woodstock, Georgia, and is buried in the US Veterans Cemetery near Woodstock.
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