Company B and 8th Tank BN in Ardennes Rhineland?

I'll be honest, I know little about WWII history but I've been researching my grandfathers service and was wondering if anybody could explain some things to me from his "Enlisted Record and Report of Separation".

Mostly, can you interpret this for me and tell me if there is anything I can better understand in terms of where or what he was doing in the war.

Arm or Service: INF (ARMD)

Organization: CO B 8TH TANK BN

Place of Entery Into Service FORT SHERIDAN ILLINOIS

Military Occupation: TANK DRIVER

Battles and Campaigns: Ardennes Rhineland Central Europe

Decorations & Citations: 3 OVERSEAS SERVICE BARS, EUROPEAN AFRICAN MIDDLE EASTERN, CAMPAIGN MEDAL W/3 BATTLE STARS, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, PURPLE HEART MEDAL GO 71 HQ 12 EV H 29 NOV 44 (I don't know what that last part means other than the date of course), DISTINGUISHED UNIT BADGE *

Wounds Received in Action: VIA FRANCE

Service Outside Continental U.S. and Return:
ETO Arrival 20 SEP 44
DEPARTURE for USA 4 MAR 46

Total Length of Service, 6 MONTHS 2 DAYS Continental Service, 1 YEARS 6 MONTHS 3 DAYS Foreign Service.

Remarks: *WORLD WAR II VICTORY MEDAL, LAPEL BUTTON ISSUED ASR SCORE (2 SEPT 45) 51, TIME LOST AW 107 29 DAYS (I think this is time he didn't get credit for because he was absent for some reason), ERC TIME FROM 29 JAN 44 TO 18 FEB 44

The only stories I really recall from him about the war as he didn't talk much about it was him calling his mom from Piccadilly Square, he talked about the large delay in the phone line. I also know he was blown up twice in tanks. One time they were shot by a Tiger and he said only survived because the shell went right through the tank, as I understood things he carried 2 of the other people from his crew to safety and refused a medal for doing so but maybe he did get one for that. Another time he said they hit a mine and this is the time I think he was injured. One of those times he was laying in the mud depression from one of the tracks and said he must have looked crazy because his hair was smoking and two infantry men looked at him and just took off running.

Oh, I also have a picture of him next to one of his tanks which was called "Big Mike". Like I said, not much talk about it and it was known in the family from the time I was a little kid not to ask but sometimes a story would just come out.

Anyway, if you can come to any conclusions from any of this I would be super thankful for the help.

 

We do sometimes have expertise on the US Army and other services here, that aside have you tried "cousins" site in the USA: WWII Forums

I'd have a look at Bill Beigel's webiste, a WW2 paid researcher: WW2 Casualties Database | Military Records Research | WW2 Research Inc

There does not appear to be any threads here on the 8th / 8 Tank or Armoured Battalion here.

Wiki has some clues on their service: 4th Armored Division (United States) - Wikipedia If you use "8th tank Battalion" + "US Army" to search there are many US links, adding Company B might narrow the number down.