Hello all I am new here and interested in the pacific theater, specificaly Luzon where my grandfather served. I have been researching his unit and have not been able to come up with anything. But my grandmother has been helpfull in finding photos, discharge papers and even some of his old patches.
Welcome aboard !! Hope you have a great time on the forum. Have you filed for a record from NRPC ? That would be my first action. You can prepare the request and have your grandmother sign it. Next of kin gets more info then a regular FOIA request. Andrew
Do you have a link to the form?? i am actully going to see her this weekend?? What type if information do you generally recieve by doing this??
Here's the link: Military Personnel Records Records depend on what they have on file, and whether or not it was destroyed in the fire. It can give you information on assignments, rank, medals, etc. You (or rather your grandmother) can also request a set of replacement medals if she doesn't have them. Andrew
Hey i will have to ask her for the paperwork i think she has done that already because she just had his medals reissued within the last 3 years!!! What type of records do the VFW and American Legion keep on file?? both of my grandparents were verry acitve members in each.
Why don't you tell us what you already know? That way, we might be able to fill in the blanks. Photos of his medals, etc. would also go a long way toward an answer.
ok when i get home from work i will try to upload my copies of his discharge papers and a couple of pictures
Here are all of the papers that i have recieved so far from my grandmother. Basically i want to find information about some of the photos that i have where they are, who is in them and maybe if they are still alive??? i hope my attachments work.. View attachment 12070 View attachment 12071 View attachment 12072 View attachment 12073 View attachment 12074
I hope that i have submitted enough information for some one to help me get started?? Tonite i am going to post up more pictures, i have one that shows landing craft comming ashore its pretty cool i think
I'm not much help (waiting sucks, doesn't it?!), but I thought you might find the video below interesting. I know that the dates would put the battle prior to his arrival, but still shows some pretty great footage of the area, etc. YouTube - (1/5) Pacific Lost Evidence Luzon World War II
Here's what I can tell you so far (by the way, you are very fortunate to have this paperwork. Keep it safe.): Your grandfather joined the service in January 1945. He evidently was originally in the infantry for 4 1/2 months as a private., but was moved into a Harbor Craft Company. Here is a description of what he was involved with: HARBOR CRAFT COMPANYThe harbor craft company is organized for the purpose of ferrying to shore cargo from freighters and transports arriving in theaters of operation. The vessels may either be riding offshore at anchor in the open sea or more likely, anchored in a harbor. Cargo from the ships is loaded by Transportation Corps port company personnel onto barges. Then tugs, tow boats, or marine tractors propel the barges to the shore for unloading. Any cargo too heavy for the vessel's gear to lift is handled by a 60-ton floating crane. Wapedia - Wiki: List of World War II vessel types of the United States He was promoted to Staff Sergeant and was the operator of one of these boats for 17 months as well as an engineer on the boat. He served in the Pacific and was awarded the following medals: Asian-Pacific Theater Medal The Philippine Independence Ribbon World War II Victory Medal Good Conduct Medal He earned a Marksman award on the M1 To learn more about the criteria for these awards, check this site: http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/service_campaign.aspx He also was awarded the Honorable discharge pin (the "Ruptured Duck"), when he left the service in 1946. I'm still searching for what larger unit his company was attached to. With luck, someone else will have that information for you. Good luck in your search, and please post more of the pics.
Here are some more of his photos that he took. I am going to scan a bunch more of photos at grandmas house on saturday. View attachment 12094 View attachment 12095 View attachment 12096 View attachment 12097 View attachment 12098
The photo of him sitting on the rail is the only one that is labeled it say "By tent Balangas" View attachment 12099 Alcatraz!! View attachment 12100 View attachment 12101 View attachment 12102
Based on what I see in the Separation papers, he did not arrive in the theater until September, 1945 (he left in August). He spent the previous eight months in the US. That would mean he was not involved in any of the fighting in WW2, since he didn't arrive until after the Japanese surrendered. It appears he was there as part of the American occupation following the US recognition of Philippine Independence. I'm not sure what unit he would have been part of, though. I believe, based on the photo description, that he was based in Batanga.
Some of his stories that he told me when i was young conflict that statement. He told me when i was in grade school that he saw action in the pacific?? He also told me that the bomb was the best thing that happened because he was prepairing to land in japan. This is why i really want to find information about his unit and see if i can identify his buddies in the one photo,and with any luck i might find them.
This could very well be true. He joined the army in January 1945 while the war was still on. He was probably in training until Germany surrendered in May, and he probably was targeted to go to the Pacific for the planned invasion of Japan. When the bombs were dropped in August, that was no longer necessary, and he didn't have to worry about it. As for finding names of his buddies, that's a real long shot, but you never know.
Welcome to this fine forum, I hope you'll find some useful information here, I see Lou is already helping
