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Arranged by type of record (i.e. correspondence, clippings, photographs).
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Biographical/Historical:
Barber Craig Mills was a distinguished employee with the State of Florida from 1946 through the 1970s and a highly decorated U.S. Army Officer with the 771st Tank Battalion during World War II. He also traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, Far East, Africa, and Central America serving as a consultant on vocational rehabilitation and refugee assistance for both the U.S. government and various religious organizations. He died in Tallahassee, Florida, on February 9, 2002.
Mills was born on August 1, 1918 in Rock Hill, South Carolina, to Eugene Spencer Mills, Sr. and Lula Craig Mills. The Mills family moved to Plant City, Florida, where Craig Mills graduated from Plant City High School in 1935. He then attended the University of Florida where he graduated with a B.S. in Business in 1939. He then taught business at Pensacola High School (Pensacola, Florida) until January 1942 when he entered active duty with the U.S. Army.
Originally assigned to the 4th Armored Division, the 771st Tank Battalion split from the 4th Armored and formed as an independent unit. The 771st then attached to several different U.S. Army divisions between 1944 and 1945, primarily the 84th Infantry Division. The 771st fought in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. The primary campaigns were the Ardennes Forest (Battle of the Bulge), the Rhineland, and Central Europe. Major Mills was the most highly-decorated individual in the 771st; he earned the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart.
Summary:
This collection contains correspondence, news clippings, subject files, and photographs documenting the career of Barber Craig Mills as an educator, soldier, state employee, consultant, and public speaker. In addition, there are letters from his older brother, Eugene (Gene) S. Mills, Jr., who served in the U.S. Army Air Corp. during the 1940s, and letters from various other soldiers of the 771st Tank Battalion and their families. Materials of interest include presentations, photographs, correspondence, and clippings of Craig Mills' career as a soldier in World War II, a unit history of the 771st Tank Battalion, various reunions of the 771st, vocational rehabilitation service with the State of Florida, and biographical information.
The correspondence consists primarily of letters from Craig Mills to various family members from 1941 to 1945 and deals with Mills' career in the U.S. Army beginning with his training with the 4th Armored Division and later with the 771st tank Battalion, and his experiences with the 771st Tank Battalion in Europe during and after World War II. The letters of Eugene S. Mills date from 1942 to 1949, and the letters of other soldiers in the 771st Tank Battalion date from 1944 to 1945.
The photographs include scenes of training in the U.S. and in England; photographs of World War II equipment and troops; historic sites of interest in England, France, Germany, and Italy; 771st Tank Battalion reunions; post-war trips back to Europe; and family photographs. Mills traveled extensively in Germany, France, and Italy immediately following the end of World War II and he took numerous travel pictures.
The subject files consist of biographical information, materials devoted to the history of the 771st Tank Battalion, Mills' military records, 771st Tank Battalion Association reunions, the history of the Battle of the Bulge, Mills' career in vocational rehabilitation in Florida, and his reports on vocational rehabilitation trips to India and the Middle East. Of interest are an oral history project video and transcript by Florida State University of Mills' World War II service, a 771st Tank Battalion history, and Mills' subject files for a series of presentations he did on the Battle of the Bulge.
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Subject Access Fields:
Mills, Craig, 1918-2002. (Barber Craig),
World War, 1939-1945. Veterans Florida Veterans Societies, etc Vocational rehabilitation Florida.
Photographs. aat Clippings. aat Letters. aat
Pensacola (Fla.) Plant City (Fla.) Tallahassee (Fla.)
for detailed listing.