Private Clarence Mills joined the 85^th Custer Division during its organization and served his Country until the end of the war.  I'm excited to provide his biography because Clarence Mills served in the same unit as my father; the 328^th Field Artillery Battalion.

    Private Mills entered the Army in October of 1942 at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He left there for Basic Training at Camp Shelby, Miss., where he was assigned to the 85th Division.  Then he continued on to California for Desert Warfare Training. He then went to Fort Dix, N.J. where his unit departed by boat to North Africa, where he was trained to use a .50-caliber machine gun.
    Clarence was a member of the Headquarters Battery of the 328^th Field Artillery Battalion. The HQ Battery did not operate any artillery pieces. Instead they were the command and control and administrative unit of the Battalion. But they shared the same fox holes and hazards as the rest of the artillerymen.

War Experience
  The 328^th Field Artillery Battalion entered combat with the 85^th Division, 5^th Army in May 1944.  In Italy, Private Mills helped direct artillery fire at enemy targets by operating the switchboard that transmitted messages to the 3 artillery batteries. One of his best buddies was Private Jack Boutell.
   At the end of the war, the soldiers were sent home by a Points System.  Each soldier was assigned points based on his time in service, rank, awards, etc.  From my research, most of the 328^th Field Artillery Battalion returned to the US together in August 1945.  Private Mills remained a few extra months in Italy and was assigned to the 34^th Division. He left for home in December 1945.

After the War
  Clarence Mills settled down in West Virginia after the war and married Edith. They have been married for 55 years and have 4 children, 6 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.