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Pegg, Jack E. (607th, 6th Grp)

Jack E. Pegg

Biography:  Jack Elton Pegg was born on September 1, 1915, in Portland, Oregon. He was the son of Willis J. Pegg and Florence J. Powers and attended local schools through the 12th grade. He worked as a skilled pattern and model maker prior to the war.

Service Time:  Jack entered the service on March 15, 1942, at Presidio of Monterey in California. He was assigned to the 607th Tank Destroyer Battalion, arriving at Co. C on the 20th, and trained with them until July 17, 1943, when he was transferred to Headquarters Company, 6th Tank Destroyer Group. At the time he is listed as a Technician 4th Grade.

The first record we have of him with the 6th is on July 23, 1943, just a few days after the transfer. He is listed on their payroll roster while the unit is stationed at Camp Young, California. That location is part of the Desert Training Center, which was established to train soldiers and test equipment for desert fighting.

From there they moved to Camp Maxey, Texas, on July 31st, as part of the Third Army. They then traveled by rail to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, on Jan. 16, 1944, where they prepared for shipment overseas. They shipped from the New York Port of Embarkation on Jan. 29th, arriving in England on February 5th. In addition to their own training, they assisted with the preparation of troops for the D-Day landings.

They finally shipped to Normandy, France, landing on July 25th, and functioned as part of Task Force “A” VIII Corps of the Third Army. Beginning September 5th, the unit supported XIII Corps of the Ninth Army, as their Anti-Tank section. The 6th moved into Belgium on Oct. 24, 1944, and then into Holland on Nov. 6, 1944, where they established a rear area Rest Center for the 9th Army troops. They then moved into Germany on Mar. 16, 1945.

Jack E. Pegg 1The 6th received credit for campaigns of Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland and Central Europe. Jack left the service at the rank of Master Sergeant. 

We have very limited information on Jack after the war but he did return to the Portland area and may have gone back to school during the 50’s. He passed away on May 23, 1989, and was buried in the Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.

The photo at left was taken at one of the 607th reunions Jack attended.