my grandfather passed away this year. we as a family didn't know much about his service record. he was in the 11th airborne in the south pacific, and we know he was a jump school instructor in japan. he has his jump wings and glider wings, but didn't get those until 1946. he re uped till 1949. so he would have been over there from 1943-1949 his name was Conrad Huntington, any information would be greatly appreciated as his records were destroyed in a fire in 1973. thanks
Sorry for the loss of your grandfather and that I'm unable to help. Welcome to the site, I'm sure somebody will be along to point you in the right direction to obtain his service records. Wishing you all the best in your research. Cheers - Maria
I can't help much either but there are people here who can. Starting a thread in the information request or Genealogy subforums with a title that's a bit clearer on what type of help is wanted will get you a faster response. I'll report this one to the admins and they may be able to move and retitle it. There's also a thread or two in one or both of those subforums that describes how to get military records.
Welcome to the Forum, ikbader. My condolences as well for the loss of your grandfather. I believe I have found his Memorial page at Find-a-Grave.com: Conrad W. "Connie" Huntington Also, his NARA Electronic Enlistment record. The NARA record indicates his enlistment date is 18 Feb 1946. However, that may be misleading. I believe that it may be he was discharged after the war and immediately re-enlisted resulting in a later enlistment date. You can try the website www.ww2-airborne.us/18corps/11abn/11_overview.html. For some reason, I can't connect to their website right now. They may have a roster that will help you identify more specifically which unit he served with. You mentioned that his records were affected by the 1973 fire. Did he have a copy of his discharge in his personal papers? If not, you can try checking with the county records office in the county where he would have lived after his left the Army. Soldiers were encouraged to have them put on file at their county of residence. Another thing you can do is to track his service through unit Morning Reports. That will likely involve hiring a researcher, so it will depend on how much information you want and if it is worth paying to get it.
View attachment 25534 found this it helps some, but a lot more questions. found this tailored over coat. I cant identify the jump oval, its neither 503rd or 11th airborne. and why both patches on jacket the 503rd wasn't attached to the 11th airborne. my grandpa enlisted in1943 and relisted in 1946. one more question he has 2 combat infantry badges was that normal? all this history the things they were up against and prevailed they were the greatest generation and true American heros....
Why the two patches? The left sleeve is his "current" unit & the right sleeve is his previous unit. I finally got a chance to try the 11th Airborne link I referenced in post #5. If you look in the teal green band at the top, it says 503rd PRCT. Put your cursor over it and there will be a link to the 503 PIR page. If you go to the end, it says the following: So, he likely served with the 503rd PIR during the War and was reassigned to the 11th Airborne Division in November 1945. It's not surprising that he might have more than one Combat Infantryman Badge, assuming you are referring to the actual badge and not documentation of an award. He may have had more than one uniform, or he may just have had and extra as a back up.
