Help with cousin Willard Moore

andrwoo · Mar 16, 2015

Hey all. It has been a while since I have been on, sorry. I have been busy at work and doing family genealogy.

I just ran across a cousin that I feel an attachment too. Like me, he never married. His name is Willard Moore. I am hoping on getting someone's assistance. I am still looking, but many of you here are much better at WWII record searching than me.

I will be requesting file from Archives.

What I have so far:

Army Service Number: 35261712

WWII Army Enlistment Records:

Name: Willard Moore
Birth Year: 1922
Race: White, citizen (White)
Nativity State or Country: Kentucky
State of Residence: Kentucky County or City: Martin
Enlistment Date: 14 Jan 1942
Enlistment State: Kentucky
Enlistment City: Fort Thomas Newport
Branch: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA Branch Code: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers,
USA Grade: Private Grade Code: Private
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil Life
Education: Grammar school
Marital Status: Single, without dependents
Height: 67 Weight: 133

US Veterans Gravesites:

Name: Willard Moore
Service Info.: RCT US ARMY WORLD WAR II
Birth Date: 7 Dec 1922
Death Date: 2 Jul 1985
Service Start Date: 14 Jan 1942
Interment Date: 5 Jul 1985
Cemetery: Riverside National Cemetery
Cemetery Address: 22495 Van Buren Boulevard Riverside, CA 92518
Buried At: Section 20 Site 1751

BIRLS Death File:

Name: Willard Moore
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 7 Dec 1922
Death Date: 2 Jul 1985
SSN: 236242282
Branch 1: ARMY
Enlistment Date 1: 14 Jan 1942
Release Date 1: 28 Jan 1949

What does Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA mean? Was he enlisted as a Warrant Officer?

Thanks

LRusso216 · Mar 16, 2015

I think Branch Immaterial was a catch-all phrase when a man went into the army. My father's NARA file says the same thing. It's unlikely that he went into the service as a Warrant Officer.

On a related note, Riverside National Cemetery is where my father is buried. He died in 1990.

Plot: 27, 1803

Here's his stone.

Pacifist · Mar 16, 2015

Copied from someone who can give a much better explanation than I. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=A0LEVvCtlAdVdz0AUFglnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBybnV2cXQwBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--?qid=20090617203621AAJ1PsY

"Branch immaterial" (BI) meant "not assigned to any particular arm or service. The term is applied to commissioned officers and to replacement training centers not as assigned to any particular arm or service." (Dictionary of United States Army Terms; 1944). The Code List for the World War II Army Enlistment Records may be found at NARA’s Access to Archival Databases site.

Ostensibly, a soldier in a branch may be "branch immaterial" because they were assigned to a branch but did not have an assignment "directly related to that branch, such as an infantry or aviation assignment" but rather "a more general, branch-immaterial functional area skill" (Stipak, 1986). So e.g., the 5th armored division shortly after WWII had "5 branch immaterial companies" (Troop Topics, 1953).

However, there are other possible reasons for your grandfather's BI classification. For example, my grandfather's record also reads "Branch Immaterial- Warrant Officers" but his skill set was quite specific and he did not belong to any division's "immaterial company". He was "attached" to the 5th army and then to the USAF because he was part of Army intelligence. Although not without precursors, the modern US intelligence community really began in WWII and included the selection of hundreds of academics. Also, by 1944 many officers were classified as "branch immaterial" to better facilitate their assignment (Greenfield et al., 1987). So if your grandfather had a doctorate or rare skill set this could also explain the rank and classification on his record.

Finally, there's the possibility of error. Under education, my grandfather's record has "4 years in college". It's true he spent 4 years in college, but out of a total of 8 (4 for his A.B., 2 for his A.M., and another 2 for his Ph.D). As he was recruited into Army intelligence solely for his academic background, the error is a bit ironic.
Click to expand...

andrwoo · Mar 18, 2015

Ok, a gentleman in California took his headstone picture for me. He is listed as RCT? I'm guessing Regimental Combat Team? If so, was there more than one RCT in WWII? Any thoughts?

Pacifist · Mar 18, 2015

It's certainly possible. Regimental Combat Team sounds very impressive to family members who don't actually understand what it was.

RCT's were ad hoc organizations within a division. So yes they were common and changed depending on mission requirements.

TD-Tommy776 · Mar 18, 2015

Regimental Combat Teams are normally identified by the regiment's number followed by the RCT (i.e. 129th RCT, or 133 RCT). I have seen grave markers for WWII veterans that have their unit as a RCT, but this is the first I have seen with just RCT. I did a quick search and found several others for veterans from WWI to Korea. So, it seems that it is not an unusual marking, but is not the norm.

Log in or Sign up

Help with cousin Willard Moore

andrwoo New Member

LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

Pacifist Active Member

andrwoo New Member

Pacifist Active Member

TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

Share This Page

About US

Useful Links