My Grandfather, Samuel Famous Pyle SN: 33066067 was born in 1918, served in the US Army during world war II. I have heard he enlisted at Ft Meade, MD on Sept 10 1941 and was then deployed to Italy after training. My trail ends there. according to the National Archives his records may have been destroyed in the 1977 fire. They have informed me that If I can give them a unit or division number that his records may still be intact at that units location. can anyone help me in this search? All family who could have known this information have already passed on. R. Pyle
Hi Rick, welcome to the forums. My first suggestion would be to check with the county clerk office at the location your grandfather would have returned home to. Service members were instructed to file copies of their records with their county as the military would not provide new ones if they were lost. You may have done this but if things are handed down thru generations in your family, ask relatives if anyone would have letters, etc. that your grandfather may have sent home or to other family members. There would likely be a return address, with unit info, on something like this. Since you have his service number, hiring a researcher at the National Personnel Records Center, in St. Louis, may be your best chance to find his unit. Several of here have used Golden Arrow Military Research over the years and been satisfied with their work. You can go to their website, fill out a request for WWII service member research, and they will send a cost estimate prior to doing any work. Keep us informed as to your progress, and hopefully someone can provide more ideas if you hit a roadblock. Steve
Thanks to a member here on the forum, I found out about a website called Fold3 that has military records. I have a membership for the month on it and looked your Grandfather up. All I found was basic information, stuff you already probably have... :-/ This is what I got: Full Name: Samuel F Pyle Army Serial Number: 33066067 Enlistment Place: Ft George G Meade Maryland Enlistment Date: 6 Sep 1941 Army Branch: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA Service Branch: Army Race Or Ethnicity: White Residence: Harford County, Maryland Source Of Army Personnel: Selective Service within 3 months of Discharge Army Component: Regular Army (including Officers, Nurses, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men) Level Of Education: Grammar school Occupation: Janitors and sextons Marital Status: Single, without dependents Birth Date: 1918 Birth Place: Maryland Source Box Number: 0605 Source Film Reel Number: 2.269 Conflict: World War II I also contacted the NPRC in St. Louis about one of my Grandfathers and got the same news, that his records may have been destroyed in the fire in the 70's... when I search for him on Fold3, I get basic information too. I wonder if lack of info on Fold3 is because of that fire? That's what I assume... Luckily I have things of his that he kept. So I have some sort of record.