BTTT
It’s not much, but I hope this helps you on your way:
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/foia-info.html
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/public/veterans-and-next-of-kin.html
My dad, who served in New Guinea, kept his dress uniform when had his unit and division insignia on it. Also, with his discharge papers he had some old copies of orders. Although he has told me a few stories, his papers he had told more. Did you have any papers or pictures of him in uniform? Insignias will help you. In the early 70’s there was a major fire at the Saint Louis, Mo. records building and many records were lost including my Dad’s
DOD has streamlined this process somewhat in recent years, what you want is a form known as DD-214, or certificate of release from active duty or discharge. It will have listed his awards and decorations, units served in, etc.
You’ll need his military service number or, social security number, dates of service, branch, etc. The DOD has a website for requesting this, as I understand it, a written request is no longer necessary?
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/get-service-records.html
You might try some of the genealogy sites. Most include birth records, which is a place to start, and many of them include draft and census records. If you can determine your father’s service number (not his SSN), the Veteran’s Administration might be able to offer further assistance.
How to Request Military Service Records or Prove Military Service
I have an uncle on home care in North Carolina who also served in the Phillipines motor pool. He doesn’t speak to me any more because I didn’t go to my aunt’s funeral (my daughter was born at the same time). He once told me about how they dumped equipment over the sides of ships coming back to San Francisco so they didn’t have to account for it.
Ping
If you will freepmail me I will try to help you get some information.
Follow the links to the St. Louis archives. All WWII military records were moved there. Good luck!
A heads-up - my sister did a similar search and discovered that there had been a fire in the St. Louis (?) archives and many servicemen’s records were destroyed. So, if they can’t find the records, this is probably the reason.
If you have any problems in getting info from the Military Personnel folks in St. Louis, contact your Congressman or Senator. St. Louis may tell you they don’t have any records because of the fire they had, and if so, try going through your elected officials. Also, some States kept copies of military records...DD214’s, etc. Contact your State Archives. If you know the unit your father served with, check online for any organizations that might exist for that specific unit. The National Archives may have your father’s unit records in their collection. You can also try contacting the V.A. to see if they have a copy of his DD214 or any other records pertaining to his service or medical records. If your father has a military headstone, you can try contacting the funeral home that he was buried from. They may have a copy of his DD214 on file. And remember, even if a funeral home changes owners and names, they tend to keep the records from previous owners.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XIV_Corps_(United_States)
I did this with my dad. Turns out he was with the 66th infantry division. I have his division patch on my hunting vest. There is a group in Carlisle, PA that has company year books, etc. They sent me there ONLY copy for the 66th provided I returned it! I have it all coppied. The 66th even had a book about it.
On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at NPRC (MPR) destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files. The affected record collections are described below.
Branch Personnel and Period Affected Estimated Loss
Army Personnel discharged November 1, 1912, to January 1, 1960 80%
Air Force Personnel discharged, September 25, 1947, to January 1, 1964 (with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.) 75%
No duplicate copies of the records that were destroyed in the fire were maintained, nor was a microfilm copy ever produced. There were no indexes created prior to the fire. In addition, millions of documents had been lent to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the fire occurred. Therefore, a complete listing of the records that were lost is not available. Nevertheless, NPRC (MPR) uses many alternate sources in its efforts to reconstruct basic service information to respond to requests.
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html