Need help researching my Grandfather

My Grandfather was a Private First Class in the 7th Infantry Division, 17th Infantry Regiment. He was involved in the Battle of Kiska and Attu, He was rewarded the purple heart for a injury on Attu. His name was George Edward Gibson, he was born in Highland Kansas on February 20th 1917, he enlisted in Hiawatha Kansas in 1941.

I am wanting to learn more about what company he was with, what they did in the war and just as much as I can, I've been trying to learn as much as possible over the past 10 years, My plan is to have a full history of his service for my mom this Christmas, I know thats alot to ask, but if I can even get this info at all, Id be overjoyed.

Here is all other info I know with some documents.
As far as I know, His Military number is 20733920 (I think, This number came from family that got it from ancstery, I have nothing proving that to be his number, It could also be that 1410 in one of those documents) , He enlisted Dec 23rd 1941 in Hiawatha Kansas, He did basic at Fort Leonard Wood, He first enlisted via the National Guard then got activated into the 7th Infantry, He landed on Massacre Bay and was in some of the heavier fighting in the battle, and accoridng to the first doc he left sometime in 1945. His highest rank was Sergeant before having it taken by a general for the general not knowing the base password.
All other into is also listed in those documents, Thank you all for the help. - Jay.

 

I did, They didn't keep records on that kind of stuff, they suggested the National Archives, I know I'll make a break through at some point

 

I live in South Centeral Kansas, Just a few minutes north of Ponca City Oklahoma. I tried filing ditagally but I alwaysh ave back luck doing that.

 

E Vet Recs always come back asking me for more info I dont have, I might try making a call tomorrow

 

Just had alot of info confimred on WW2Talk, This might help with the Archives

 

I heard back from the national archives, but to get some confusion, The other docs said he enlisted DEC 23rd 1940 but what I got from the Nat archives says June 20th 1940.


Is it possible for someone who is national guard to have the same service number as someone who is active?

 

No, it isn't. He enlisted in the Kansas National Guard 35th Division on 20 June 1940. He entered service, i.e. he and the division were Federalized on 23 December 1943. See Executive Order 8530, "Calling Out the National Guard", dated August 31, 1940.

He may have been transferred to the 7th Infantry Division, but that would likely have been in 1942. He also was not part of the 7th Infantry Division when he was discharged. His unit of record when he was hospitalized before discharge was the 349th Engineers. It was a California Organized Reserve General Service regiment, activated 13 May 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. It moved to new York 27 July 1942 and then departed New York 5 September 1942, arriving at Seattle 10 September 1942. On 27 September 1942 it arrived at Fort Mears, Dutch Harbor, Alaska, then to Adak on 3 February 1943, where it stayed until 28 June 1944, when it moved to Fort Glenn Army Air Field, Umnak Island, Alaska. It returned to Seattle 6 November 1944, then back to Fort Claiborne on 14 November 1944, where it was disbanded 12 March 1945. That of course was after he transferred out.

If you wanted to trace more info on him you would need to pull the Morning Reports for Company E, 349th Engineers from 26 February 1945 back to try to find when he transferred into the 349th. His transfer record may or may not tell you which unit he was in before that, which would allow you then to pull that units Morning Reports and so on. Given he was transferred into an Engineer outfit I would guess he originally enlisted in the 110th Engineers (Combat), Kansas National Guard, which reorganized to form the 111th Engineer Combat Battalion and 2d Battalion, 176th Engineers on 31 January 1942. It is quite possible that around that time he was transferred as part of the cadre for the activation of the 349th Engineers. That is speculation, but matches how the Army mobilized and the dates track fairly well. The other possibility is he was transferred to the 2d Bn, 176th Engineers, but it never served in the Aleutians, but was rather in central Alaska.

 

Makes sence, its odd though becuase from the stories I do know he was with the 7th durring their Light mech training in the mojave and fought on Attu and Kiska, Some some of the stories I hear fro my mom he might have landed on Massacre bay and might have been at Engineer Hill, If thats the case then that limits my search down to 2 Combat Egineer Bats, Just gotta see which one landed on massacre bay. But thank you for clearing up my hunch there that it was infact a transfer durring or after Kiska.

I tried to get his DD214 (Or Seperation papers in that time) from Vet Recs but it seems that was lost in the 1970s archives fire and his personal copy was lost in the family as well as his medals and unifroms, so im starting to feel im running on the end of my trail here.

Do you know where I can locate these Morning reports? - Never mind, seems I can request them online via the National Archives

 

You can request them from the NPRC but it can take a while. If you want a quick turnaround at a reasonable cost then Geoff Golden Arrow is your best bet.

Research a Person ~ Genealogy & Military Records Research ⋆ Golden Arrow Research

 

How much do thet charge? I cant find anyhting about it on their site.

Edit: I found where its mentioned, seems I have to wait to see a qoute for it. I just put a request in.
Hopefully I can get just enough put together I can get my mom a great present, I also want to try to find what medals he had but that might prove tricky if I cant find his seperation papers, I also cant find anything out about the 349th Engineers

 

Have you made an inquiry with the Kansas State Guard Bureau or the State Bureau of Records? Also try his County of Record from when he was discharged. Often they kept duplicate copies of the Record of Separation for residents. The Veterans Administration has also been recreating personnel files lost in the 1973 fire and it may be worthwhile making an inquiry there.

BTW, the only Engineer unit I can find that participated in the assault phase on Attu was the 50th Engineers, so if he was in the battle that was most likely his unit. They were activated at Camp White, near Medford, Oregon on 1 September 1942. They moved to Fort Ord, California on 7 January 1943 and then assaulted Attu on 11 May 1943, minus the 1st Bn, which had been redesignated the 50thEngineer Combat Battalion. They moved to Kiska on 15 August 1943, then Camp Earle, Alaska on 10 December 1944, where they left for Seattle, arriving 20 December 1944 before going to Fort Riley, Kansas on 26 December 1944 where they were inactivated on 1 February 1945 and reorganized and redesignated the 205th Engineer Combat Battalion. However, if he assaulted Attu assigned to the 50th, he was probably transferred to the 349th Engineers before the 50th returned to the States, otherwise he would have shown the 5oth as his unit of record when he discharged.

 

When you're following a tale on two forums... each with slightly different angles & knowledge bases.
Great stuff.

 

Huh?