GENEALOGY OF GEORGE HENRY MASSELINK; Generation 10
Generation Number: 1122113241
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KLEINE MASSELINK FENNE HARMEN 1660-1731
KLEINE MASSELINK GEERD 1693-1743
KLEINE MASSELINK HARMEN 1719-1771
KLEINE MASSELINK HENDRIK 1747-1790
KLEINE MASSELINK FENNE 1771-1843
KLEINE MASSELINK GERRIT HENDRIK 1792-1870
KLEINE MASSELINK HENDRIK 1829-1907
KLEINE MASSELINK GERRIT HENDRIK (GH) 1858-1927
MASSELINK ANDREW 1888-1977
MASSELINK GEORGE HENRY MASSELINK 1916-1977
Siblings: George (1916), Franklin (Frank) (1918), Edward (1920), Grayce (1922), Harold (1924), Jeanette (Toots) (1926), John (1928), Benjamin (1933), Kathryn (Kay) (1939)
Spouse: Alice DeBruyn Masselink
Children: George Jr (1947); Patricia Masselink Holland (1951); Theodore (Ted) (1955); Lois Masselink Hein Spicuzza (1960)
Generation Number: 1122113241
Facebook : None
KLEINE MASSELINK FENNE HARMEN 1660-1731
KLEINE MASSELINK GEERD 1693-1743
KLEINE MASSELINK HARMEN 1719-1771
KLEINE MASSELINK HENDRIK 1747-1790
KLEINE MASSELINK FENNE 1771-1843
KLEINE MASSELINK GERRIT HENDRIK 1792-1870
KLEINE MASSELINK HENDRIK 1829-1907
KLEINE MASSELINK GERRIT HENDRIK (GH) 1858-1927
MASSELINK ANDREW 1888-1977
MASSELINK GEORGE HENRY MASSELINK 1916-1977
Siblings: George (1916), Franklin (Frank) (1918), Edward (1920), Grayce (1922), Harold (1924), Jeanette (Toots) (1926), John (1928), Benjamin (1933), Kathryn (Kay) (1939)
Spouse: Alice DeBruyn Masselink
Children: George Jr (1947); Patricia Masselink Holland (1951); Theodore (Ted) (1955); Lois Masselink Hein Spicuzza (1960)
1915 George's mother, Bena, had a terrible stomach ache that would not go away. His father Andrew's cure is to go to the barn, fill a rucksack full of oats, heat it and place the hot oats on Bena's stomach. When the hot oat remedy failed to work, Bena's mother Grace (a strong-willed and quick-tongued woman) was summoned. "She surveyed the scene without mirth" and then reprimanded Andrew soundly for not recognizing that Bena was pregnant with their first child, who was to be named George, after his grandfather, Gerrit Hendrik (G. H. or George Henry Masselink in America), according to the old country tradition.
1916 Jan 21 Born Chandler, MN; Named after George's grandfather, Gerrit Hendrik Kleine Masselink (George Henry Masselink in the USA)
1920 Jan Living on farm with parents and siblings; Moulton, Murray, MN; Father Andrew is 31, George is 3
1930 Apr Living on farm with parents and siblings; Moulton, Murray, MN; Father Andrew 42, George is 14
1942 Mar 10 Enlists in Detroit as a Private in the U.S. Army at age 26 "for the duration of the war or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President"; Two years of high school education; Occupation: farm hand, general farm; Single without dependents; 69" tall; 168 pounds.
1943 Nov 1 Marries Alice Bernice DeBruyn (Age 27 and 22) in Grand Rapids, MI while George is in the Army and stationed at Pine Camp, NY; Served in the 5th Armored Division during WWII.
1945 Nov 5 Discharged from the Army as a Staff Sergeant.
1946 Brothers George and Frank Masselink start Masselink Brothers Trucking Service in Grand Rapids, MI with a single straight truck making deliveries for local furniture manufacturers. Driver Don Biggs is hired in October. All the Masselink Brother's drivers (to include George and Frank) join the Teamster's Union.
1949 Occupation listed as "Trucker"
1954 Occupation: Trucking, Grand Rapids
1957 Dec 12 Masselink Brothers Trucking Service is incorporated when they contract with the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad to deliver Less Than (Box) Carload (LCL) freight in the Grand Rapids and surrounding areas; About this time, third brother Edward Masselink leaves General Motors to become the Vice President of Masselink Brothers Trucking Service, Inc.
1977 Dec 23 Dies in Grand Rapids, MI
1916 Jan 21 Born Chandler, MN; Named after George's grandfather, Gerrit Hendrik Kleine Masselink (George Henry Masselink in the USA)
1920 Jan Living on farm with parents and siblings; Moulton, Murray, MN; Father Andrew is 31, George is 3
1930 Apr Living on farm with parents and siblings; Moulton, Murray, MN; Father Andrew 42, George is 14
1942 Mar 10 Enlists in Detroit as a Private in the U.S. Army at age 26 "for the duration of the war or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President"; Two years of high school education; Occupation: farm hand, general farm; Single without dependents; 69" tall; 168 pounds.
1943 Nov 1 Marries Alice Bernice DeBruyn (Age 27 and 22) in Grand Rapids, MI while George is in the Army and stationed at Pine Camp, NY; Served in the 5th Armored Division during WWII.
- Pine Camp, NY: With the outbreak of WWII, the area then known as Pine Camp was selected for a major expansion and an additional 75,000 acres of land was purchased. By Labor Day 1941, 100 tracts of land were taken over. Contractors then went to work, and in a period of 10 months at a cost of $20 million, an entire city was built to house the divisions scheduled to train here. Eight hundred buildings were constructed to include 240 barracks, 84 mess halls, 86 storehouses, 58 warehouses, 27 officers' quarters, 22 headquarters buildings, and 99 recreational buildings as well as guardhouses and a hospital. The three divisions to train at Pine Camp were the 4th Armored Division, the 45th Infantry Division and the 5th Armored Division. Pine Camp later became Fort Drum.
- The 5th Armored Division was activated on 10 October 1941, and reached the United Kingdom in February 1944. The division landed at Utah Beach on 24 July 1944 under the command of Major General Lunsford E. Oliver, and moved into combat on 2 August 1944, driving south through Coutances, Avranches, and Vitré, and across the Mayenne River to seize the city of Le Mans, 8 August 1944. Turning north, the division surrounded the Germans in Normandy by advancing, through Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe which was liberated on 11 August 1944 and then to the edge of the city of Argentan on 12 August 1944—8 days before the Argentan-Falaise Gap was closed.
- After turning Argentan over to the 90th Infantry Division, the 5th Armored advanced 80 miles to capture the Eure River Line at Dreux on 16 August 1944. Bitter fighting was encountered in clearing the Eure-Seine corridor. The 5th passed through Paris 30 August 1944 to spearhead V Corps drive through the Compiègne Forest, across the Oise, Aisne, and Somme Rivers, and reached the Belgian border at Condé, 2 September 1944.
- The division then turned east, advancing 100 miles in 8 hours, and crossed the Meuse at Charleville-Mézières, 4 September 1944. Racing past Sedan, it liberated Luxembourg City on the 10th and deployed along the German border. The reconnaissance squadron of the division sent a patrol across the German border on the afternoon of 11 September 1944 to be the first of the Allies to cross the enemy frontier. On 14 September 1944, the 5th penetrated the Siegfried Line at Wallendorf, and remained there until the 20th in order to to draw off enemy reserves from Aachen.
- In October 1944 it held defensive positions in the Monschau-Hofen sector. The division then entered the Hurtgen Forest area in late November 1944 and pushed the enemy back to the banks of the Roer River in very heavy fighting. On 22 December 1944 it was withdrawn to Verviers and placed in 12th Army Group reserve.
- Crossing the Roer on 25 February 1945 the 5th spearheaded the XIII Corps drive to the Rhine, crossing the Rhine at Wesel, 30 March 1945. The Division reached the banks of the Elbe at Tangermunde, 12 April 1945—45 miles from Berlin. On 16 April 1945, the 5th moved to Klotze to wipe out the Von Clausewitz Panzer Division and again drove to the Elbe, this time in the vicinity of Dannenberg. The division mopped up in the Ninth Army sector until VE-day, 8 May 1945.
1945 Nov 5 Discharged from the Army as a Staff Sergeant.
1946 Brothers George and Frank Masselink start Masselink Brothers Trucking Service in Grand Rapids, MI with a single straight truck making deliveries for local furniture manufacturers. Driver Don Biggs is hired in October. All the Masselink Brother's drivers (to include George and Frank) join the Teamster's Union.
1949 Occupation listed as "Trucker"
1954 Occupation: Trucking, Grand Rapids
1957 Dec 12 Masselink Brothers Trucking Service is incorporated when they contract with the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad to deliver Less Than (Box) Carload (LCL) freight in the Grand Rapids and surrounding areas; About this time, third brother Edward Masselink leaves General Motors to become the Vice President of Masselink Brothers Trucking Service, Inc.
1977 Dec 23 Dies in Grand Rapids, MI