Would love to know...

My dad died over 40 years ago. I tried once to find some of his service records, but I was told they were destroyed (along with many other service records) in a fire in St. Louis.

He served in WWii, first in the Army and then the Air Force (Army Air Corps?) as a B17 pilot. According to his Certificate of Service, he flew over Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe. He received the following medals and ribbons (they were buried with him by his second wife). It's typed like this on his Certificate:

Air Medal w1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters Dist Unit Badge American Defense Ribbon EAME Theatre Ribbon w/4 Bronze Battle Stars 3 Overseas Service Stars Victory Medal

And at the bottom of the Certificate itsays:

ASR Score (2 Sept 45) 124
Lapel Button Issued
On Terminal Leave From 14 Jul 46 to 30 Aug 46 Inclusive
American Defense Medal Issued Oct 6 - 47
Victory Medal issue Oct 6 - 47

If there's a way to find out what he did and what the medals and ribbons were awarded for, I'd love to know so I can tell my sons and grandsons.

Thanks for any help you can lend... - OldCoot

 

Do a freedom of information request from the DoD anyone can do it on anyone. Do you have his SSN? go to the DoD website and get a request in. no way all the records were lost.

You'll get his complete dd214 and it will tell you a ton. then you can request more information on the medals..etc

 

Thanks. I was studying that before I posted.
I'm reading about the battles and campaigns during his time of service overseas. Very interesting stuff. I wish I had been smart enough to ask him about his service and made some notes. What little I heard I'm afraid I don't remember accurately.

 

Thanks. I've filled out the form, but it seems very similar to what I did 30 years ago. I hope things have changed, but at the top of this page it says:

"On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF)."

 

Damn, I hope it didn't get lost. The good news is us Military guys keep our dd214. we have too.

Did you search all his stuff? I have my dd214 all over and my records.

 

I don't know if the dd214 is the same thing, but I have a copy of his Certificate of Service from 1945... I'd like to find out more about the missions he flew and the reasons he received the ribbons and medals. I'll keep hunting... thanks again.

 

the dd214 and attachments will tell ALL OF THAT. that's how we prove what we did, what we earned, combat hours...everything.

Now obviously I'm a modern era soldier, but I'm sure they had dd214's back then and it would have told it all.

 

like this, see how it shows all. (not mine from google, but from that era)

 

Yeah, that's the same thing I have. Thanks.

 

It helps that you have his discharge paper. I have researched 4 different WWII veterans in my family and did not have a discharge paper for any of them.

If you are willing to go to the effort and expense, you should be able to put together a reasonable history of his service. It will not be a day-to-day account of exactly what he did, but it will be as close as you can get. Essentially, you would be doing a research paper.

First, hire a researcher to get the Morning Reports for the unit(s) with which he served. With the MRs, you will know where he was throughout his service. They should also tell you when he was promoted, transferred, sick or wounded.

Then you need to research, as much as possible, the unit(s) with which he served. Hopefully the unit(s) will have a published history shortly after the War. If not, unit records can be obtained from the NARA at College Park If there is an active unit Association, they can sometimes be a good resource. I would also recommend resources like the US Army in WWII histories, aka "The Green Books", as well as individual soldier memoirs for a more personal perspective. Depending on the unit(s) involved, there may be a number of other histories and resources to check.

It can be a lot of work, but it is also very rewarding when you finish.