Draft Record and Death Certificate for
Rudell E. Foster [Note: his name has been seen recorded as "E. W. Foster as
well as Rudell E. Foster]
Rudell's Selective Service record shows
that he registered for the draft in 1940 at age 21 and that he worked as a
mechanic at Selma Motor Company in Tullos, LA, a small town 235 miles NNE of
New Orleans.
Rudell enlisted in the Army at
*Jacksonville Army Air Field, FL on 11 February 1942. His name was
carried as "Rudell E.W. Foster" on his enlistment records.
On 16 October 1942 Pvt Foster was a member
of the cadre team transferred from the 507th PIR to the newly activated
508th PIR at Camp Blanding, FL. Ironically Camp Blanding was, as the
crow flies, only 40 miles from Jacksonville Army Air Field where he had been
sworn in just 8 months earlier.
Pvt O'Malley was sent on detached Service
to the 2nd Army Maneuver #3 at Camp Forrest, TN on 3 September 1943.
He vanishes from the 508th records at that
juncture and nothing more is known of his service history. A hand-written
notation at the top of the draft record indicates that he was discharged on
17 January 1946.
His death record indicates that he retired
as the manager off a Public Service company.
*That base transitioned multiple times
during and after WWII. at the time of it closure in 1968 it was known
as Jacksonville - Thomas Cole Imeson Municipal Airport. |