Help me to find more about a soldier

Hello, i got a Dog Tag 3 months ago, and i want to know more about the soldier.

His name is William H. Schaffer

His number is 33511025.





Best regards


YD

 

You probably know this, but I find it fun to check on these cold cases.

Here's his partial enlistment record:

NARA - AAD - Display Full Records - Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records)

I checked the graves listing here with no result:

American Battle Monuments Commission

Hard to track him down without a unit (not much easier with one).


I hate to distract you with speculation but given his late enlistment date it seems probable he was in the infantry. If you knew where the item was found and if it was away from the towns and roads (that is: out in the woods or fields), it might possible to narrow which units to search.

Just a thought...Good Luck

 

Thanks, for the answer.
Indeed i already looked on NARA.


I will try to find where the Tag have been found.

 

Yankee--Some interesting things on dogtags. In July 43 the next of kin was no longer placed on the dogtag because it might provide information to the enemy. So the information after that date was Line 1: Name. Line 2: Serial Number,Tetanus inoculation, blood type. Line 3: Religion. I'm not sure what the "44" represents, Usually the T-shot date was the date a soldier entered the service because he was given his first shot then. But we know he entered after July 1943.

The NARA database helps a lot, but the first two, or three digets do represent something. If the first number is "1" it means he enlisted (or volunteered) and part of the Regular Army. A "3" means he was drafted and part of the Army of the United States. National Guard's number begins with "20". The second number after 1 and 3, and the third number after 20 represent the Service Command boundries where the soldier entered the Army. There were 9 command areas- later known as Corp Areas. 1st-ME,VT,NH,MA,CT,RI 2nd- NY,NJ,DE 3rd- PA,MD,VA,DC 4th-NC,SC,GA,FL,AL,MS,TN 5th- OH,IN,KY,WV 6th- IL,MI,WI 7th- MO,KS,NB,CO,IA,MN,ND,SD,WY 8th- AR,LA,TX.OK,NM and 9th- WA,OR,CA,ID,MT,NV,UT.AK.

So we know his name, know he was drafted (in 43? ) know he was from third Command Area, PA,MD,VA or DC (he was actually from PA according to NARA) he was blood type "O" (they did not indicate positive or negative blood types in WWII) and was a Protestant. Unfortunately, without further records that's about all that can be gleaned from the tag. Prior to July 43 the next of kin would have been listed which would help finding family.
Two Myths about dogtags. The notch was to keep the tag aligned while printing--not for any other reason.
Tags were not removed from the body until Graves Administration ID'd the body and removed the corpse. Once ID'd, one tag remained with the body and the other nailed to a cross as a tempmorary grave marker.
Dave