By James “Beau” Wasson
“This is the story of three years in the lives of thirty-eight American soldiers. Typically, they are descendants of nine nationalities, from all sections of America, helping to defend their liberty, families, and the rights of free men everywhere. Entrusted with the reproduction of top military secrets involving the lives of thousands of men and the success of the invasion prior to D-day, they were charged with operating, maintaining, and moving $1,000,000 worth of equipment, and its destruction if threatened with capture. . . .
Largely over age, rich in civilian experience, they fought with their skills twenty-hours out of twenty-four, in two shifts, bore arms and performed their full share of other Army details. . . . They make no pretense of being heroes and fortunately wear no Purple Hearts. This is merely a record of their travels and their contribution to wrecking the Festung Europa and driving the Nazi Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe to a final battlefield surrender.”
An anonymous Soldier penned these words about the Reproduction Platoon, 902d Engineer Air Force Headquarters Company in 1945. They appeared in a unit scrapbook titled 902 in the ETO. This scrapbook, along with hundreds of pages of unit reports, articles, newspapers, and pictures, provide numerous stories from the 902d Engineer Construction Company’s history. More than simple stories, these tales form a narrative that shapes the culture of the organization today.