Portrait of Donald Ellsworth Lash in uniform
A World War II Service Record

Donald Ellsworth Lash

Technician Fourth Grade (T/4) · 21st Tank Battalion
Army · Service no. 35 610 823
Service Number
35 610 823
Rank
Technician Fourth Grade (T/4)
Last Documented Unit
21st Tank Battalion
Theater
European Theater of Operations
This timeline reconstructs Donald's World War II service from his enlistment and veterans records, Army Morning Reports and general orders, wartime unit histories, newspapers and family records, searched by service number. Each entry cites its source; items marked Newly discovered were recovered from the records.

Map of Service

Documented U.S. locations. His Bronze Star order also establishes service in Europe from November 16, 1944, through May 7, 1945; Company B's Atlantic crossing and its movements in Europe are described in the timeline from the company's own reports. Lines connect recorded locations, rather than tracing an exact travel route.

Map of Donald Ellsworth Lash's documented WWII service route

Service stops

  1. Tiro, Ohiohome
  2. Columbus, Ohioinducted 27 Oct 1942
  3. Fort Knox, KentuckyThe Armored School
  4. Camp Gordon, GeorgiaCo. B, 21st Tank Bn.
  5. Indiantown Gap, Pa.discharged 17 Jan 1946

Route notes

  • 1 → 2Inducted at Columbus, 27 October 1942
  • 3 → 4Ordered to the 10th Armored Division, 1 September 1943
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How to read this service timeline

This page brings together records created for different purposes. The labels below tell you what kind of evidence supports each entry; open either guide when a record or military term is unfamiliar.

Confirmed — Service record

A personal military record supports the entry.

Confirmed — Unit record

A record created by his unit names him or documents the unit’s activity.

Context

Helpful background, clearly separated from personal evidence.

Newly discovered

Information recovered during this research, rather than supplied at the start.

How to read a Morning Report

Morning Reports were daily administrative records prepared by individual Army and Army Air Forces units. They generally recorded changes—such as arrivals, transfers, promotions, illness, or return to duty—not a complete list of everyone present.

MORNING REPORT · SAMPLE
1Organization
Company A, 123rd Infantry
2Station or location
Camp Example, Virginia
3Date
14 September 1944
4Section
Personnel changes
5Pvt Smith, John A., 35123456
6asgd fr Hq Co per SO 187, Hq 123d Inf
In plain English Private John A. Smith, identified by Army Serial Number 35123456, was assigned to Company A from Headquarters Company under Special Orders No. 187.
  1. 1Organization: the company, hospital, squadron, or other unit filing the report.
  2. 2Station or location: where that unit reported from on that date.
  3. 3Report date: the date of the report, which may differ from the effective date of a change.
  4. 4Section: the part of the form containing personnel changes or the unit’s record of events.
  5. 5Soldier entry: usually rank, name, and Army Serial Number.
  6. 6Change and authority: what happened and the order authorizing it.
asgd
assigned
atchd
attached
trfd
transferred
fr
from
aptd
appointed
EM
enlisted men
SO
Special Orders
GO
General Orders
orgn
organization
sta
station
Common military and research terms
Army Serial Number (ASN)
The unique service number used to distinguish one soldier from others with similar names.
Discharge or separation paper
The document issued when a service member left active service. For many WWII Army enlisted soldiers, this is WD AGO Form 53-55. It summarizes service but is not a day-by-day history.
Morning Report
An Army unit’s daily administrative report. It usually lists people whose status changed, not every person in the unit.
Unit record
A document created by a military organization. It may name the soldier directly or provide context about his unit; the timeline states which applies.
OMPF or “201 file”
The service member’s Official Military Personnel File. Many Army and Air Force files were damaged or destroyed in the 1973 National Personnel Records Center fire.
Unit and final unit
A unit is the organization in which someone served. The final unit is the organization shown at separation; it may not be the only unit in the service history.
Rank or grade
The service member’s level in the military hierarchy. A timeline may show changes in rank over time.
MOS
Military Occupational Specialty—the Army’s classification for a soldier’s primary military job.
Assigned and attached
Assigned means formally placed in a unit. Attached usually means serving with a unit temporarily while belonging administratively elsewhere.
Special Orders and General Orders
Official directives used to authorize personnel actions, awards, organizational changes, and other decisions.
Campaign credit
Official recognition for service connected with a named campaign. It does not, by itself, describe a service member’s individual actions.
Station or location
The place from which a unit filed a report. It does not automatically prove that every member was physically present there.
Source citation
The note beneath a timeline entry identifying the record or records that support it.

Service Timeline

14 min
Confirmed — Record
May 20, 1922

Born in Ohio

Donald Ellsworth Lash was born on May 20, 1922. On the draft registration card he signed in 1942 he gave his birthplace as Crawford County, Ohio. A Social Security index names Tiro, in that county; his obituary names nearby Shelby.
scanned record
Draft registration card, front: birthplace recorded as Crawford County, Ohio.
Source: Draft registration card, 30 June 1942, front (digital image, Fold3); News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio), 10 November 1983; VA BIRLS; Berkeley Unified Numident, record 15849426 and linked birthplace table
Confirmed — Record
January 6, 1941

Goes to work at the Ohio Seamless Tube Company

Donald started in the Bench Room at the Ohio Seamless Tube Company in Shelby, where his father, G. N. Lash, had worked since July 1940. He stayed until October 24, 1942, when he left for the Army.
scanned record
The O.S.T. Comet, August 1945, page 7.
Source: The O.S.T. Comet (Ohio Seamless Tube Company employee paper), August 1945, p. 7, "Victory Teams"; Shelby Historical Society collection on Ohio Memory https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll49/id/7836
Confirmed — Record
June 30, 1942

Registers for the draft at age twenty

Donald registered with Local Board No. 2 for Crawford County, Ohio. He was living in Tiro, working for Ohio Seamless Tube in Shelby, and named George N. Lash of Tiro as the person who would always know his address. The registrar recorded him as five feet ten inches tall, weighing 175 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair. He signed the card Donald Lash. Registration preceded his October induction into the Army.
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Front: identity, residence, employer and signature. The serial and order numbers belong to Selective Service registration.
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Reverse: physical description, registration date and Local Board No. 2 stamp, Bucyrus, Ohio.
Source: Selective Service registration card, D.S.S. Form 1, Donald Ellsworth Lash, 30 June 1942, front and reverse; Local Board No. 2, Crawford County, Ohio; digital images, Fold3 (subscription), retrieved 17 September 2026.
Confirmed — Service record
October 27, 1942

Inducted into the Army at Columbus, Ohio

Donald entered the Army at Columbus as a selectee: a private, enlisted for the duration of the war plus six months. His record lists four years of high school and no dependents.
Source: WWII Army Enlistment Records, ASN 35610823 (NARA AAD)
Confirmed — Service record
November 10, 1942

Begins active duty

His veterans record dates his active duty from November 10, 1942, two weeks after induction.
Source: VA Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS)
Confirmed — Record
November 13, 1942

The Shelby paper lists him among the men leaving for service

The Shelby Daily Globe named Donald Ellsworth Lash of Tiro among the Crawford County youths leaving that week for the armed services.
scanned record
Shelby Daily Globe, November 13, 1942, page 3. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Shelby Daily Globe (Shelby, Ohio), 13 November 1942, p. 3; Marvin Memorial Library via Advantage Archives https://marvin.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=donald%20ellsworth%20lash&i=f&d=01011942-12311946&ord=k1&fn=daily_globe_usa_ohio_shelby_19421113_english_3&df=1&dt=9
Confirmed — Unit record
September 1, 1943

Student at The Armored School, Fort Knox, Kentucky

Donald appears as a Technician Fifth Grade (T/5), attached as a student to the 7th Company, 1st Student Regiment, The Armored School. The report released him to rejoin the 10th Armored Division at Camp Gordon, Georgia. It establishes his attendance at Fort Knox, but does not identify his course or the location of his earlier Army training.
scanned record
"35610823 Lash, Donald E. T/5: Reld fr atchd enroute to 10th Armd Div Camp Gordon, Ga." The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Report — 7th Co., 1st Student Regt., The Armored School, Fort Knox, Ky. — NARA Roll 44, image 996 (1 September 1943); NAID 449443956
Confirmed — Unit record
September 13, 1943

Back on duty with Company H, 3rd Armored Regiment, Camp Gordon

Company H logged Donald back on duty at 5:00 p.m. on September 12, returning from detached service at the Armored Force School at Fort Knox. The entry shows he belonged to this company while he studied at the school.
scanned record
"35610823 Lash T/5. Fr DS AFS, Ft. Knox, Kentucky to Dy as of 1700, 12 Sept. 1943." The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Report — Co. H, 3rd Armored Regiment, Camp Gordon, Ga. — NARA Roll 126, image 455 (13 September 1943); NAID 449670585
Confirmed — Unit record
October 1 and 16, 1943

Company B, 21st Tank Battalion

By October 1 Donald's company reported as Company B, 21st Tank Battalion. Captain James B. Buckley Jr. signed both Company H's September report and this one, and men such as John L. Cline appear on both. That points to the division reorganizing its armored regiments into tank battalions rather than to a transfer. Two rosters that month list Donald as a T/5.
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October 1, 1943: "35610823 Lash T/5" heads the Technician Fifth Grade list. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
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October 16, 1943: the clerk typed "LASH, Donald P."; the service number 35610823 is his. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Reports — Co. B, 21st Tank Battalion, Camp Gordon, Ga. — NARA Roll 181, images 473 and 489 (1 and 16 October 1943); NAID 452626570. The National Archives also catalogs the same roll under NAID 452629573, where the October 16 roster is again image 489.
Confirmed — Unit record
December 5 and 11, 1943

On the Company B rosters at Camp Gordon

Two Company B rosters list Donald E. Lash as a Technician Fifth Grade at Camp Gordon. On the December 5 roster the clerk overtyped one digit of his service number, which reads 35610833. The December 11 roster gives his number, 35610823, and places him between the same two men, Perley W. Wheeler and John H. Sanders.
scanned record
December 5, 1943: "LASH, Donald E. T/5." One digit of the service number is overtyped. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
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December 11, 1943: "35610823 LASH, Donald E. Tec 5." The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Reports — Co. B, 21st Tank Battalion, Camp Gordon, Ga. — NARA Roll 269, images 1506 and 1514 (5 and 11 December 1943); NAID 458476945
Confirmed — Unit record
February 10, 1944

Ten days' furlough

Donald and six other men of Company B went from duty to a ten-day furlough. The report does not give his destination.
scanned record
"35610823 LASH, Donald E. Tech 5," one of seven men marked "Fr Dy to furl (10) days." The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Report — Co. B, 21st Tank Battalion, Camp Gordon, Ga. — NARA Roll 156, image 1504 (10 February 1944); NAID 463045248
Confirmed — Unit record
February 20, 1944

Back from furlough

Donald heads a block of nine men returned from furlough to duty. That day the company was in the field, reporting a bivouac area and "usual field duties."
scanned record
"35610823 LASH, Donald E. T/5" heads the block marked "Fur (10) days to Dy." The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Report — Co. B, 21st Tank Battalion, Camp Gordon, Ga. — NARA Roll 156, image 1514 (20 February 1944); NAID 463045248
Confirmed — Record
June 16, 1944

Marriage license to Eleanor Nadine Glauer

The Shelby Daily Globe reported a marriage license issued at the Crawford County courthouse to Eleanor Nadine Glauer of Crestline and Donald Ellsworth Lash of Shelby, "now located at Camp Gordon, Ga."
scanned record
Shelby Daily Globe, June 16, 1944, page 3. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Shelby Daily Globe (Shelby, Ohio), 16 June 1944, p. 3; Marvin Memorial Library via Advantage Archives https://marvin.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=donald%20ellsworth%20lash&i=f&d=01011942-12311946&ord=k1&fn=daily_globe_usa_ohio_shelby_19440616_english_3&df=1&dt=9
Confirmed — Unit record
June 23, 1944

Back from a thirteen-day furlough

Donald returned to duty on June 22 from a thirteen-day furlough, still listed as a Technician Fifth Grade. The Shelby paper printed his marriage license on June 16, during that leave. The reports establish the leave and the license announcement, but do not give a wedding date.
scanned record
"35 610 823 LASH, Donald E. Tec 5," one of four men "Fur (13 day) to Dy as of 22 June 1944." The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Report — Co. B, 21st Tk. Bn., Camp Gordon, Ga. — NARA Roll 191, image 3162 (23 June 1944); NAID 476941639
Context
September 3 and 4, 1944

Company B leaves Camp Gordon for Camp Shanks, New York

At 8:00 a.m. on September 3, Company B left Camp Gordon on a permanent change of station. It reached Camp Shanks, New York, by rail at 3:00 p.m. the next day. These are company movements; the reports do not list Donald by name among the travelers.
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September 3, 1944: "Departed 0800 3 Sept 44 Camp Gordon Ga for Perm chg of Sta to Camp Shanks N Y."
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September 4, 1944: "Arr Camp Shanks N Y Via rail 1500 fr Camp Gordon Ga."
Source: Morning Reports — Co. B, 21st Tank Battalion — NARA Roll 436, images 212 and 213 (3 and 4 September 1944); NAID 569171657
Context
September 11–23, 1944

Company B crosses the Atlantic aboard the Brazil

Company B left Camp Shanks by rail and ferry at 10:30 p.m. on September 11. At 3:00 a.m. on September 12 it sailed from New York aboard the transport Edmund B. Alexander, which ran aground while leaving the harbor. The division's history explains that an incoming freighter forced the ship onto a sand bar in the Narrows in heavy fog. The company came off by harbor boat at 4:00 p.m. and transferred to the transport Brazil, which sailed at 5:30 p.m. on September 13. On September 23 the company came ashore by landing craft and trucked to a bivouac half a mile north of Theurteville, the report's spelling of Teurthéville in Normandy. The division's history places the landing at Cherbourg. That history, written ten years later, dates the grounding and the sailing one day after the company's daily reports; the dates here follow the reports. The reports record the company's movement and do not list the men aboard by name. Donald was on Company B's rolls at Camp Gordon in June 1944, and his Bronze Star order names him in Company B in Europe from November 16, 1944.
scanned record
September 11, 1944: "Departed Cp Shanks N Y for Overseas Movement. Traveled By Rail and Ferry Boat (2230)."
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September 12, 1944: "Sailed on USAT Edmond B Alexander at 0300. Ran aground while leaving harbor. Debarked at 1600 via harbor boat for transfer to USAT Brazil." The clerk's spelling of the ship's name is kept.
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September 13, 1944: "Sailed on USAT Brazil at 1730 for PCS for overseas dy."
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September 23, 1944: "Debarked from USAT Brazil LCT and moved to bivouac area via truck. Bivouac area ½ mile north of Theurteville."
Source: Morning Reports — Co. B, 21st Tank Battalion — NARA Roll 457, images 92, 93, 94 and 104 (11, 12, 13 and 23 September 1944); NAID 569253534; Lester M. Nichols, Impact: The Battle Story of the Tenth Armored Division (1954; 1967 reprint), chapter 1 https://archive.org/details/Impact1967
Context
September 23, 1944

The division arrives in Europe

The Army's order of battle dates the 10th Armored Division's arrival on the continent of Europe to September 23, 1944, the same day Company B's own report records it coming ashore in Normandy. Donald's Bronze Star order establishes his own service in the European theater from November 16, 1944, through May 7, 1945.
scanned record
U.S. Army, Order of Battle, European Theater, printed page 508 (PDF page 528): division chronology and campaigns.
Source: U.S. Army, Order of Battle of the United States Army, World War II, European Theater of Operations, 10th Armored Division, p. 508; Headquarters 10th Armored Division, General Orders No. 173, 14 July 1945 (reproduced in the Bronze Star entry).
Context
October 2–November 28, 1944

Company B moves up to the front

Company B's reports place it near Theurteville in Normandy on October 2. On October 27 it moved to Falaise, and on October 29 it traveled from Damville to Paris. The December 1 report records its withdrawal from Borg to Perl, Germany, on November 28. These reports describe the company route; they do not locate Donald individually on each date.
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October 2: the company's station near Theurteville.
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October 27: movement from Theurteville to Falaise.
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October 29: movement from Damville to Paris.
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December 1 report: movement from Borg to Perl on November 28.
Source: Morning Reports — Co. B, 21st Tank Battalion — NARA Roll 545, images 2572, 2597 and 2599 (2, 27 and 29 October 1944), NAID 572817961; Roll 397, image 1033 (1 December 1944), NAID 578385580
Context
December 17–27, 1944

The Battle of the Bulge: Company B in Luxembourg

Company B left Perl on December 17 and reached Garnich, Luxembourg, early on December 18. It moved through Bertrange and Larochette, fought at Waldbillig on December 21, and held the town on December 22 and 23. Its 2nd Platoon reported taking 55 prisoners on December 23. The company reached Peltre, France, on December 27. These are company actions, described in reports that do not name Donald; his precise role in these movements and fighting is not recorded.
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December 19 report: departure from Perl on December 17 and arrival at Garnich on December 18.
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December 25 report, page 1: company movements and operations.
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December 25 report, continuation: operations at Waldbillig.
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December 25 report, continuation: holding Waldbillig and prisoners taken.
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December 28 report: arrival at Peltre on December 27.
Source: Morning Reports — Co. B, 21st Tank Battalion — NARA Roll 397, images 1057, 1063–1065 and 1068 (19, 25 and 28 December 1944); NAID 578385580
Context
March 2, 1945

Company B's task force at Trier

XX Corps' operational report places Company B, 21st Tank Battalion, in Task Force Richardson when it was re-formed at Zerf on February 27. The task force set out for Trier at 10:00 p.m. on March 1, and in the early hours of March 2 it seized the bridge over the Moselle intact. The report describes the task force's actions without naming Donald or identifying his role.
scanned record
XX Corps operational report, printed page 30 (PDF page 37): Company B's attachment and the seizure of the bridge.
Source: XX Corps, The Capture of the Saar-Moselle Triangle and Trier, 15 December 1944–12 March 1945, Appendix No. 2, p. 30 (PDF p. 37), CARL Digital Library item 5707
Context
May 9–October 13, 1945

The war ends with the division in Bavaria

The 10th Armored Division captured Garmisch-Partenkirchen in southern Bavaria on April 30, 1945. Hostilities ended at 12:01 a.m. on May 9, and the division began occupation duty the next day. Donald's Bronze Star order, issued by division headquarters on July 14, names him in Company B during the occupation. The division left for Marseilles on September 12, sailed on October 3 and reached Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, on October 13, 1945. These are division dates. Donald's discharge came three months later, on January 17, 1946.
Source: Lester M. Nichols, Impact: The Battle Story of the Tenth Armored Division (1954; 1967 reprint), chronology https://archive.org/details/Impact1967; Headquarters 10th Armored Division, General Orders No. 173, 14 July 1945 (reproduced in the Bronze Star entry)
Context
1944 to 1945

The division's campaigns

The Army's wartime order of battle lists the division's campaigns as Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe; the Army's official name for the first is Ardennes-Alsace. These are the division's credits. A soldier's own campaign credits were entered on his separation form.
scanned record
U.S. Army, Order of Battle, European Theater, printed page 508 (PDF page 528): division chronology and campaigns.
Source: U.S. Army, Order of Battle of the United States Army, World War II, European Theater of Operations, 10th Armored Division, p. 508 (PDF p. 528)
Confirmed — Service record
July 14, 1945

Awarded the Bronze Star Medal

Headquarters, 10th Armored Division, awarded Donald the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement in connection with military operations against the enemy in the European Theater of Operations from November 16, 1944, through May 7, 1945. General Orders No. 173 names 'Technician Fourth Grade Donald E Lash,' service number 35610823, Company B, 21st Tank Battalion. This confirms his European service and T/4 rank by July 14, 1945. The order does not describe a particular act or give his promotion date.
scanned record
General Orders No. 173, July 14, 1945, page 1. Donald's name, exact Army serial number, rank, unit and award period appear near the bottom. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
scanned record
General Orders No. 173, page 2: continuation and authentication.
Source: Headquarters 10th Armored Division, General Orders No. 173, 14 July 1945, Section I, pp. 1–2; digitized General Orders, Part 4, PDF pp. 68–69, World War II Veterans archive
Confirmed — Record
August 1945

"Victory Teams": father and son in the plant paper

The O.S.T. Comet paired G. N. Lash of the Bench Room with a photograph captioned as his son, 'Cpl. Donald E. Lash.' The photograph is undated, and the corporal designation differs from his July Army order, which names him as Technician Fourth Grade. The official order supplies the documented rank by July 14, 1945.
scanned record
The O.S.T. Comet, August 1945, page 7.
Source: The O.S.T. Comet, August 1945, p. 7; Shelby Historical Society collection on Ohio Memory https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll49/id/7836
Confirmed — Service record
January 17, 1946

Honorably discharged at Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania

The VA's veterans index dates Donald's release from Army service to January 17, 1946. Two days later the Shelby Daily Globe reported that 'T-4 Donald B. Lash of Tiro' had received an honorable discharge at Indiantown Gap. The name, hometown and timing identify this as very likely Donald's notice, despite the different middle initial. Its T/4 rank agrees with his July 1945 Army award order. His last documented Army rank is Technician Fourth Grade.
scanned record
Shelby Daily Globe, January 19, 1946, page 6. The printed middle initial is B. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: VA Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS); Shelby Daily Globe (Shelby, Ohio), 19 January 1946, p. 6 https://marvin.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=donald%20lash&i=f&d=01011942-12311946&fn=daily_globe_usa_ohio_shelby_19460119_english_6&df=41&dt=50
Confirmed — Record
April 27, 1950

Home in Tiro: the 1950 census

The census taker found Donald, 27, on North Main Street in Tiro with his wife Nadine and their son Benjamin, age 1. He reported working sixty hours during the preceding week as a self-employed trucker in the stone and sand trade.
scanned record
1950 U.S. Census, Crawford County, Ohio, ED 17-1, sheet 73: Donald's household begins on line 10. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: 1950 U.S. Census, Ohio, Crawford County, Auburn Township, ED 17-1, sheet 73, line 10 (National Archives) https://1950census.archives.gov/
Confirmed — Record
November 7, 1983

Dies in Tucson, Arizona

Donald died in Tucson at 61. His obituary announced burial in Tiro Oakland Cemetery with services by the American Legion. He lies beside his wife Dorothy, with a bronze World War Two marker at the stone.
scanned record
Oakland Cemetery, Tiro. Photograph by Linda Kaple, Find A Grave, 2012.
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News Journal, Mansfield, Ohio, November 10, 1983.
Source: Obituary, News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio), 10 November 1983; Find A Grave memorial #83619438