What sort of information do you have of his service? Do you have his War Department discharge papers (WD-AGO form) or if he stayed in until after 1950, his DD-Form-214? How about any awards he may have received? Many citations are online and can help to identify both unit and location.
Do you know any unit in which he may have served? Anything from battalion to Army would help narrow your search (Battalion, Brigade, Division, Corps, Army). How about years of service, theaters, locations, etc.
A lot of information can be gleaned from even the smallest detail.
I must tell you that many veteran's paper service records were lost in a tragic fire at the Army's facility in St. Louis in the 1970s. If veterans didn't have any records, there is very little that the Army can do to recreate them.
I just helped a lady find records about her father whom she had not known for 40 years due to a divorce. All she knew was that he said he was chasing after Mussolini over mountains in Italy and he was in a ski patrol and was wounded in the leg.
Of course, that lead directly to the 10th Mountain Division, the only mountain unit trained to use skiis. I contacted a 10 Mtn Div Vet who had a detailed account history and records. We identified his company and regiment. The post-war history broke it down to Platoons and mentioned his platoon and the date he was wounded by an artillery round.
It was really quick and fun. First Recommendation: go ask your family members for any records, letters, V-mail or anything that might have his name rank and serial number and possible Unit referenced.
Steve
PS: Oh, her info about chasing Mussolini was accurate, too. His regiment crossed Lake Garda and captured Mussolini's residence on the last 2 days of the war.
Originally posted by sullivan013: What sort of information do you have of his service? Do you have his War Department discharge papers (WD-AGO form) or if he stayed in until after 1950, his DD-Form-214? How about any awards he may have received? Many citations are online and can help to identify both unit and location.
Do you know any unit in which he may have served? Anything from battalion to Army would help narrow your search (Battalion, Brigade, Division, Corps, Army). How about years of service, theaters, locations, etc.
A lot of information can be gleaned from even the smallest detail.
I must tell you that many veteran's paper service records were lost in a tragic fire at the Army's facility in St. Louis in the 1970s. If veterans didn't have any records, there is very little that the Army can do to recreate them.
Sullivan013
I disagree with you,my father served In 1946-1949, and varo did have the records and evidence of record ,I have the qriginal varo records,that prove the records were at varo,In 1973,plus varo used in soc his sick days in air force 6 months In hospital occ japan,I used those records for cue,final decision,made In 1994,was a cue, for I hade evidence of qriginal medical disabilty,adjudicated ,va clamed records were In fire,not true,st Louis, has a lot of those records plus sgo, used In the 1940,s ,smr were not used until after 1950, there Is a lot of Information,va stated ,and a lot of veterans accepted ,as a true fact
you will need his WD 53 discharge papers these were used In ww2 also his medical records would be In S G O, there were used,In the ww2 ,these are medical records,after 1950, SMR,were used and dd-214 were used, WD 53,records can be found In ST Louis
after my father,left the air force 46-49 he joined the navy 52-56 ,on 4-25-1952,the uss wasp my fathers ship ,sunk the uss hobson,the hobson was cut In half,179 men went down with the hobson,62 surivor.s ,my father saw the whole accident read about this accident,It Is listed as the worse ,accident ,of the last century for non war
