Seeking WWII service records for Herbert W. McQuown, USAAF DOB 11/30/1915

Question

My father, Herbert W. McQuown, retired as a Lt. Col from USAF after 30+ years of service. During WWII in the USAAF, I think he flew out of North Africa for at least part of the war (Tunis?). I believe he mentioned flying missions to Italy. I do not know which aircraft, but I believe at least one was a fighter plane. He was wounded at some point and separated from his squadron, but made it back to base later. He did receive a Purple Heart among other decorations. He passed away in 2000 and is interred at Arlington National Cemetery. I will try to find more information, but I am not sure how much I have.

Textual Reference Branch, Archives II · Answer

mizcebe 
 Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! 
 Your inquiry concerns your interest in obtaining &ldquo;service records&rdquo; of your father, Lieutenant Colonel Herbert W. McQuown, who served with the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. 
 Military service personnel files and individual medical reports for the period in which you are interested are in the custody of the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. You should complete a GSA Standard Form 180 and mail to the Military Personnel Records, National Personnel Records Center, 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. You may also apply online . Please be aware that there was a fire at the Records Center in 1973 and some records were destroyed. 
 Selective Service records for individuals who served after World War I and born before 1960 are in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis, ATTN: RL-SL, P.O. Box 38757, St. Louis, MO 63138-0757; Phone: 314-801-0850; Fax: 314-801-9187; email: stl.archives@nara.gov . There are two types of records: the ledgers and the cards. The ledgers are in the public domain and not restricted by privacy. The cards are considered personal information and written permission for release, a death certificate, and/or an indication that the information is requested for genealogical purposes should accompany the request for copies of the cards. Please use the enclosed form to request a search of these records. 
 World War II U.S. Army Enlistment Records are in the custody of the Electronic Records Division (RDE) and are available via AAD (Access to Archival Databases) on the National Archives website at: https://aad.archives.gov/aad/ . Click on "World War II" under the category section. A list of the databases relating to WWII will appear and select the first database to search the WWII U.S. Army Enlistment Records. 
 U.S. Army Air Forces combat mission reports for the World War II period are among the textual records in our custody. This series consists of the original mission reports pertaining to specific targets. These reports were filed by the units and sometimes include encounter reports by pilots, aerial photographs, and loading lists. The reports are arranged by units, and identification of the group or squadron and a date of interest are necessary before a search can be conducted. We do not have a name index to these records. 
 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 is helpful. Best of luck with your research! 
 Sincerely, 
 Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR) [23-52825-PBB]

Seeking WWII service records for Herbert W. McQuown, USAAF DOB 11/30/1915

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