OMPF or IDPF???? Plus many more questions. Please help!

Hello all, just looking for some insight and direction. You all seem very knowledgable, super friendly and willing to help others. I pray you can help me.

I have spent many hours, not unlike many of you on this site I would assume, researching my grandfather's service in WWII. I have spoken to older relatives, researched online, read several books, and sat down with many a veteran to obtain as much information as I could.

My grandfather was in the 2nd Infantry Division, 23rd Infantry Regiment, Company K and was killed in action on December 17-18, 1944, the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge. I assisted my father (next of kin) in requesting the replacement medals and obtaining the military file from the NPRC.

I was fortunate enough to find a couple of books which directly and indirectly documented the last hours of my grandfather's unit before they were overrun by the Germans, namely, Company Commander, Charles B. MacDonald, who commanded Company I in the same 3rd Battalion as my grandfather; as well as The Battle East of Elsenborn & The Twin Villages, William C. Cavanagh; A Time for Trumpets, Charles B. MacDonald; and The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge, Hugh M. Cole. My grandfather was awarded the Silver Star for his actions during the last hours of his life. Through these books I was able to, with a high degree of certainty, pin down the hour of the day he was killed and the location of his death within a mile or two.

Through reading other books and documents, I was able to get a general idea of his Battalion's movements from September 1944, the month I was told he entered the conlict oversees, until his death in December '44.

After many months, we received a list of medals he was eligible for from the NPRC. The list omitted his Silver Star, for which I thankfully have a copy of the Citation, and a Presidential Unit Citation, for which I sadly do not have a copy of the Citation, which I am now making the Review Board aware of. (As a side note, I have the listing for the PUC under the War Dept. General Order 58-45. Anybody know where I should look to get a copy of that??)

[Another side note, while I am at it. I found Dept. of Army General Order 43-50, where my grandfather's Regiment was awarded the Belgian Fourrage (sp?). Where would I go to find that order? how do I go about getting a replacement fourrage, if I actually can?]

We were advised by the NPRC that for a fee we could get a copy of the Official Military Personnel file (OMPF). We sent in the fee and received back very little (5 pages). Since he was killed in action, there was no Report of Separation only a Report of Death. We also received copies of documents pertaining to death benefits/compensation.

I called back inquiring about his Individual Deceased Personnell File (IDPF) because I thought that this was the file to ask for if the veteran was killed in action, as opposed to a Report of Separation. I was advised that there was no such thing as a IDPF and there was only a OMPF. And if the veteran died in action, he would only get a Report of Death.

My grand uncle served in and survived the War, and I have a copy of his Report of Separation which has a fantastic wealth of information. Sadly, the Report of Death for my grandfather has very little, if anything, contained within it.

I am aware of the notorious 1973 fire, but I am hoping that there may be other information and/or documents out there that I am unaware of and don't know where to look. My questions are:

(1) What is the difference between an OMPF and a IDPF? And where do I look for the IDPF if it does exist?

(2) I had asked the NPRC where I could look for the information that would have been contained in the Report of Separation had my grandfather survived the War, and they had no answers. Is there a file out there that I am just missing?

(3) I see members discussing Missouri (NPRC) and Maryland on this site. I gather I have obtained all that I can from the NPRC, where should I turn from here? And what is in Maryland?

(4) I see members discussing unit Morning Reports. What exactly are these and where do I look for them?

(5) Where can I find information pertaining to when he actually was shipped overseas?

My father was 2 years old when his father was killed. My father is 67 now and I am rushing to provide him a full record of his father's service and death. I have been able to provide my father much more than he would have ever known about his father, but I am looking to complete the package. (The shadow box is next, only if the TACOM can replinish its supplies fast enough.)

THANK YOU FOR ANY AND ALL ASSISTANCE YOU CAN PROVIDE. THIS HAS BEEN A LONG ENDEAVOR, BUT I WANT TO MAKE SURE THE MEMORY OF MY GRANDFATHER LIVES ON FOR MANY MANY MORE GENERATIONS.

 

(4) I see members discussing unit Morning Reports. What exactly are these and where do I look for them?

Help reading a Company Morning Report
519th Andrew

http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/morning-reports-and-unit-rosters.html

 

Thanks for the link. Would you know where I could look to find the General Order authorizing the fourragers? Thanks again.

 

Thanks Sniper. The site you gave me no longer works, though. Are they searchable on the National Archives site? I have never looked for them. Never knew they existed. I'll try searching on that site and see what i can find. Thanks.

 

Your second link mentions foreign awards but not really how to go about getting proof of authority. Any idea about obtaining a copy of the General Order? How helpful are county veteran associations in these efforts?

 

Sniper, I found the correct page on the site. Thanks again for your help.

 

See this thread:

http://www.ww2f.com/military-service-record-genealogical-research/32780-index-general-orders.html

Your grandfather's IDPF can be requested from the Army Human Resources Command.

NARA II, College Park, MD, is repository of virtually all of the Army's Operational records
from the war. After Action Reports, Bn Journals, etc., are available at cost from the NARA.

Morning Reports are available from NPRC, St. Louis, at modest cost.

Commentary: The Daily Morning Report: Taking The Pulse of WWII


Dave

 

Dave, thanks for the help. I'll be doing that next. These reports, did every unit have them? What size units filled them out? Were they for divisions, regiments, companies or smaller? I can probably answer my own question after i check the site out, but I was just wondering. Thanks again.

 

your welcome..
from the 519th link..