Researching my grandfather's WWII service, never talked about it in his lifetime and died of cancer in 1977. I learned that his records were probably destroyed in 1973 NPRC Fire, but I did manage to learn he was assigned to the Quartermaster Corp under the Panama Canal Dept. If anyone knows the record group I should look for it'd be much appreciated. He enlisted in July 1940 and left in September of 1945
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series World War II Operations Reports, 1940-1948 (entry NM-3 427) in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office (Record Group 407) and the series Unit Histories, 1943-1967 (entry 37042) in the Records of U.S. Army Operational, Tactical, and Support Organizations (World War II and Thereafter) (Record Group 338), which may include records related to your grandfather’s unit. Both of these series include records related to various Quartermaster units. Please note that these records generally do not include details about individual soldiers; rather, they contain information related to the activities and engagements of the unit as a whole. These records have not been digitized. For more information about these and similar records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RR2R) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov. Be sure to include as much information as possible in your inquiry, such as your grandfather’s unit designation and any specific dates or locations of interest.
If you know which unit your grandfather served in, you may wish to review the Muster Rolls and Rosters, 11/1/1912 - 12/31/1943 and Morning Reports, ca. 1912 - 1946 for Army units, which might include rosters and morning reports of your grandfather’s unit. For more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at St. Louis (RRPO) at stl.archives@nara.gov. Please note that rosters for units serving in World War II from 1944-1946 were destroyed in accordance with Army disposition authorities. For more information, please see Access to Morning Reports and Unit Rosters | National Archives.
In addition, the administrative records of the Panama Canal Department for the 1940s are located in Record Group 548: Records of the U.S. Army Forces in the Caribbean, 1939–1999. You may also explore Record Group 92: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985. Without more details about your grandfather’s service, it is difficult to gauge how relevant anything in these record groups might be. In general, though, the series in Record Groups 407 and 338 listed above are more likely to have information related specifically to your grandfather’s unit. Most of these records have not been digitized, but you may browse descriptions of the available records using the National Archives Catalog link provided. If you identify any records of particular interest, you may contact the National Archives (NARA) reference unit listed in each Catalog description for more information about those records.
Finally, we suggest that you contact the U.S. Army Center of Military History or the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, which has a large collection of published unit histories, directly for further assistance. You may also wish to search their websites for additional information and resources.
If you are able to share more information about your grandfather, such as his full name, his date and place of birth, his date and place of death (if applicable), and/or his unit designation, then someone may be able to provide you with more specific resources related to his service.
We invite you to continue the conversation with community members on History Hub, but should you have follow up questions for the staff at Archives II, please email us at archives2reference@nara.gov so that we can assist you further.
We hope this assists you with your research!
Sincerely,
Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)
[RR2RR 23-41411]
Greetings, thank you for guiding me in the right direction, here are some additional details about him that may be useful.
His name is Timothy(NMN)Gregory. He was born on February 23rd 1923 in Alabama, his draft registration states 2/23/1919 making him exactly 21 years old when he enlisted July 30th 1940.
He was African-American and under his enlistment records his Branch:Alpha Designation was Cavalry and Branch Code: Quartermaster. When I received his Certification Of Military it states his last rank was Staff Sergeant.
Although he was born in Alabama his family moved to Pennsylvania in the 1930's and that's his resident state on the records I have found. One thing I find strange is his place of enlistment "West Point, New York" which was some 300 miles from New Kensington, PA. As far as I know he was never a cadet. If someone could enlighten me I'd be very grateful.
Thank you for sharing this additional information on History Hub!
Since you have a copy of Timothy Gregory’s Draft Registration Card, you may also wish to request his Classification History (SSS Form 102). These records were not affected by the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center. The Classification History may contain: name; date of birth; classification and date of mailing notice; date of appeal to the board; date and results of armed forces physical examination; entry into active duty or civilian work in lieu of induction (may include date, branch of service entered and mode of entry, such as enlisted or ordered); date of separation from active duty or civilian work; and general remarks. Please complete a Form NA-13172 to request a search of these records and email it to the National Archives at St. Louis (RRPO) at stl.archives@nara.gov. We recommend that you attach a copy of the draft registration card, as it includes information which will make it easier to locate his classification history. For more information, see Selective Service Records.
If you have not done so already, we suggest that you request a copy of Timothy Gregory’s Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). OMPFs and individual medical reports for enlisted men of the U.S. Army who were separated from the service after October 1912 and before 1960 are in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. In many cases where personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire, proof of service can be provided from other records such as morning reports, payrolls, and military orders, and a certificate of military service will be issued. Please complete a GSA Standard Form 180 and mail it to NARA's National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. Veterans and next of kin of deceased veterans also may use eVetRecs to request records. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. If there is any information requested by the form that you do not know, you may omit it or provide estimates (such as for dates), but the more information you provide, the easier it will be to locate the correct file if it survived the fire. For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests.
For a complete copy of a personnel file, in Section II, on the line for "Other" (Specify), write "Complete copy of every page of personnel file - not an extract."
Archival OMPFs may also be requested by visiting the Archival Research Room at the National Archives at St. Louis. Please see the linked web pages for more information. Please email stlarr.archives@nara.gov for further assistance prior to making an appointment.
Next, we searched the National Archives (NARA) Access to Archival Databases (AAD) and located the World War II Army Enlistment Records database that includes one file related to Gregory, Timothy (12002014). You may use the information in this file when requesting a copy of his Official Military Personnel File or other service-related records.
In addition, the Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been digitized and is available on Ancestry.com as the U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010. Please note that there may be a fee for using Ancestry. The BIRLS information is also available free of charge (with registration) on Fold3 as the Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File. You may also wish to check for access to Ancestry and Fold3 at your local library as many library systems subscribe to these sites, making them free for their patrons. We located one BIRLS entry for Timothy Gregory (born 23 February 1919) and have included it below for you.
Plus, some veterans registered with their state or local veterans service agencies after they separated from service, so we suggest that you contact the state or county veterans agency where Timothy Gregory lived for additional assistance. Please review the NPRC web page Other Methods to Obtain Military Service Records for more information. Please note that registering discharge papers with local and state authorities was optional, so we cannot guarantee that these types of organizations will have his records.
Since Timothy Gregory was African American, you may wish to review National Archives Reference Information Paper (RIP) #105: Records of Military Agencies Relating to African Americans from the Post-World War I Period to the Korean War. There may be some general information related to African American service in the Panama Canal Zone, for example, that might be of interest to you. If you identify any specific records of interest in RIP #105, you may email the Textual Reference Branch at the National Archives at College Park at archives2reference@nara.gov for further assistance with those records.
We hope this is helpful for your ongoing research!
Sincerely,
Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)
[RR2RR 23-52507-RS]
BIRLS Entry for Timothy Gregory
|
Name |
Timothy Gregory |
|
Gender |
Male |
|
Birth Date |
23 Feb 1919 |
|
Death Date |
23 Oct 1977 |
|
SSN |
577384656 |
|
Enlistment Branch |
ARMY |
|
Enlistment Date |
30 Jul 1940 |
|
Discharge Date |
14 Sep 1945 |
|
Page number |
1 |
Thank you for sharing this additional information on History Hub!
Since you have a copy of Timothy Gregory’s Draft Registration Card, you may also wish to request his Classification History (SSS Form 102). These records were not affected by the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center. The Classification History may contain: name; date of birth; classification and date of mailing notice; date of appeal to the board; date and results of armed forces physical examination; entry into active duty or civilian work in lieu of induction (may include date, branch of service entered and mode of entry, such as enlisted or ordered); date of separation from active duty or civilian work; and general remarks. Please complete a Form NA-13172 to request a search of these records and email it to the National Archives at St. Louis (RRPO) at stl.archives@nara.gov. We recommend that you attach a copy of the draft registration card, as it includes information which will make it easier to locate his classification history. For more information, see Selective Service Records.
If you have not done so already, we suggest that you request a copy of Timothy Gregory’s Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). OMPFs and individual medical reports for enlisted men of the U.S. Army who were separated from the service after October 1912 and before 1960 are in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. In many cases where personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire, proof of service can be provided from other records such as morning reports, payrolls, and military orders, and a certificate of military service will be issued. Please complete a GSA Standard Form 180 and mail it to NARA's National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. Veterans and next of kin of deceased veterans also may use eVetRecs to request records. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. If there is any information requested by the form that you do not know, you may omit it or provide estimates (such as for dates), but the more information you provide, the easier it will be to locate the correct file if it survived the fire. For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests.
For a complete copy of a personnel file, in Section II, on the line for "Other" (Specify), write "Complete copy of every page of personnel file - not an extract."
Archival OMPFs may also be requested by visiting the Archival Research Room at the National Archives at St. Louis. Please see the linked web pages for more information. Please email stlarr.archives@nara.gov for further assistance prior to making an appointment.
Next, we searched the National Archives (NARA) Access to Archival Databases (AAD) and located the World War II Army Enlistment Records database that includes one file related to Gregory, Timothy (12002014). You may use the information in this file when requesting a copy of his Official Military Personnel File or other service-related records.
In addition, the Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been digitized and is available on Ancestry.com as the U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010. Please note that there may be a fee for using Ancestry. The BIRLS information is also available free of charge (with registration) on Fold3 as the Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File. You may also wish to check for access to Ancestry and Fold3 at your local library as many library systems subscribe to these sites, making them free for their patrons. We located one BIRLS entry for Timothy Gregory (born 23 February 1919) and have included it below for you.
Plus, some veterans registered with their state or local veterans service agencies after they separated from service, so we suggest that you contact the state or county veterans agency where Timothy Gregory lived for additional assistance. Please review the NPRC web page Other Methods to Obtain Military Service Records for more information. Please note that registering discharge papers with local and state authorities was optional, so we cannot guarantee that these types of organizations will have his records.
Since Timothy Gregory was African American, you may wish to review National Archives Reference Information Paper (RIP) #105: Records of Military Agencies Relating to African Americans from the Post-World War I Period to the Korean War. There may be some general information related to African American service in the Panama Canal Zone, for example, that might be of interest to you. If you identify any specific records of interest in RIP #105, you may email the Textual Reference Branch at the National Archives at College Park at archives2reference@nara.gov for further assistance with those records.
We hope this is helpful for your ongoing research!
Sincerely,
Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)
[RR2RR 23-52507-RS]
BIRLS Entry for Timothy Gregory
|
Name |
Timothy Gregory |
|
Gender |
Male |
|
Birth Date |
23 Feb 1919 |
|
Death Date |
23 Oct 1977 |
|
SSN |
577384656 |
|
Enlistment Branch |
ARMY |
|
Enlistment Date |
30 Jul 1940 |
|
Discharge Date |
14 Sep 1945 |
|
Page number |
1 |
Hello, thank you so much for the recommendations, I have already requested an OMPF but all they could provide was a certificate of military which is where I learned his final rank.
I did find a compensation form from PA which details the duration of his active domestic and foreign service which might help with narrowing down a unit.
I've since found the AAD enlistment records, but looking at it again made realize something the branch alpha designation and branch code are two different things Cavalry and Quartermaster. What does that mean; and when looking for a unit what should I look under?
I appreciably value the through and quick responses.
Tim G.
Thank you for posting your question to History Hub!
"Greetings,
I finally requested a DD Form 214 for his service record, but I was informed that it was destroyed in the NPRC fire. Instead, I was provided with his final payroll, which was not particularly helpful because he was discharged from the 1010th AAF Headquarters (Redistribution Center #1) on September 14, 1945.
It only listed his rank and pay information, without any details about his unit assignment.
From research I've come to understand a detachment of the 9th Cavalry was stationed at West Point from 1907-1947.
In 1940 it was reassigned to the 2nd Cavalry and eventually sent to North Africa where it was disbanded sometime in 1944. Looking at his pension form from Pennsylvania he had overseas service which seems to correlate with when the 2nd Cavalry left for Africa.
