Henry J. Cates Jr. Collection

Collection

Identifier: 000059

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Henry J. Cates Jr. Collection contains photographs regarding Technical Sergeant Henry J. Cates Jr. and his service as a Technical Sergeant of water purification for the 1307 Engineers. The photographs in the collection capture the various scenes TSgt. Cates encountered at Camp Claiborne during basic training. There are also several photographs of the 1307 Engineers’ camp in Milne Bay, New Guinea, and indigenous people that regularly interacted with the soldiers.

Dates

Creation: 1944 - 1945

Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions on this collection. Publisher is responsible for complying with copyright law.

Biographical / Historical

Technical Sergeant Henry J. Cates Jr. was born on January 7, 1915, in Atlanta, Georgia. He studied mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech for four years. After spending six months in Philadelphia for additional schooling, he relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to work as a service engineer for Minneapolis Honeywell. Cates then married Marjorie May Guenther on July 1, 1939. That same year, he began to work for Robert and Company Architects and Engineers as an engineering draftsman.

In 1943, TSgt. Cates was called into service and attended basic training at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. He was stationed at New Guinea the following year where he would be a Technical Sergeant of water purification for the 1307 Engineers General Service Regiment. TSgt. Cates then moved to Batangas Bay in 1946 after transferring to the 1759 Special Service Battalion. In 1947, TSgt. Cates returned to the United States and was honorably discharged before resuming his work with Robert and Company.