WWII information sought... HELP!

Factual Questions
1

My grandfather died recently. He was a WWII veteran. He seemed quite proud to have served his country and served it well. Whenever my sister or I would ask about the war, he told us that he had seen some horrible things during the war, and that he didn’t ever want to talk about it. Since I loved him, I respected his wishes and left it at that. Experiencing his touching military burial service sparked my interest in this again, and I’ve realized that I know absolutely nothing about his military background. I’d like to learn more about where he fought, the battles he was involved in, etc.

Here’s pretty much all I know:
[list=1]
[li]He was in the Army.[/li][li]He fought in northern Africa and Italy[/li][li]He was the last surviving member of his division, so I cannot get information from other officers that served with him.[/li][li]His uniform, which I’ve only seen once, and is now missing, had two medals, each for a distinguished unit citation.[/li][li]I’m pretty sure that General Paul W. Kendall was his commander.[/li][li]His infantry regiment was known as the “Kraut Killers”, but I suspect that lots of regiments went by that name.[/li][li]My family is a dead-end, as they are estranged and don’t seem to know much about it anyway.[/li][/list=1]

Not a lot to go on, really. Is there some sort of place online that I could look up his name and find out his Infantry Division and Regiment? I think that would be a good starting place to find out more about where he was and what he did. Any ideas you can come up with that can help are appreciated.

2

The 88th Infantry Division was sent to Algeria in late 1943 for training, prior to deployment in Italy from January 1944. Brigaadier General Paul Kendall was the Assistant Division Commander and led the advance party sent to Italy.

The site linked above has a good summary of the division’s record in action. The division was based around the 349th, 350th and 351st Infantry Regiments, and that site lists the 349th as the “Kraut Killers”.

Good luck finding more details.

3

Oh; a Google search for the 349th has returned one link you may be particularly interested in: a book of memoirs by one of the 349th’s medics during the Italian campaign.

4

One more. This second-hand bookstore lists the following title as in stock:

“Waters, C.W. (editor). HISTORY OF THE 349TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, 88th Infantry Division, April 1944 to May 1945. Kensington, MD: 88th Infantry Division Assoc., 1973. 4to. Wraps. A bit worn. Good+. $40.00”

5

Check this site on how to obtain military records.

http://www.archives.gov/facilities/mo/st_louis/military_personnel_records/veterans_and_next_of_kin.html

6

I don’t know what the case was back then, but since veterans were instructed by the military to record their discharge paper(DD214) at the county of their residence. The copy of the form may be at the counthouse, if you can determine which one, and would include useful information.