Reason my Father Robert E Davidson serving with Co "A" 194th Tank Bn. 47th Inf Div. Camp Rucker, Ala. received a Bronze Star during the Korean war. Records were lost in 1973 fire. Is there any way to get anymore information?

How can I find any information about why my Father received the Bronze Star in Korea? 

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  • Than you so very much for trying to help me. Unfortunately for me I have very little to go on. My father died at age 52 in 1984. According to my mother her never told her why or the circumstances that led to him getting the medal. Didn’t talk about the was at all. The only scrap of info she knew was that he was a “Forward Observer” whatever that means on the front lines. He was drafted in 1951 and he was discharged as a Staff Sargent after serving in Korea 18 months. The only thing that has a date is his DD214 and a newspaper clipping dated Nov 23 1952 showing the pinning of the medal at Camp Rucker. Any hel or suggestion you could give would be greatly appreciated. I had one reply but the man wanted 400dollars to help me. Sorry for the long post and thank you again for responding! 

  • A "Forward Observer" is someone who is assigned to an artillery unit (usually they are a team of two or three) who are attached to another unit for the purpose of directing artillery fire. They get told the target by the unit they're on the ground with, they get on the radio, and they issue a "call for fire" to the artillery unit they're assigned to. When the artillery fire hits, they then adjust it by giving directions to the artillery unit until it's getting the maximum effect. Then they have the artillery unit shift fires as needed until the target is destroyed.

    They're called "Forward Observers" because they're forward--on the front lines with the unit they're supporting--and they are observing the artillery fires and adjusting the fires for maximum effect.

    Officers and noncommissioned officers in other branches (infantry, armor, etc.) are trained on how to call in artillery, but they're not as good at it as a trained artilleryman is. So a forward observer is like gold to a supported unit, especially when things are going really, really bad.

    It looks like he may have been discharged as a Staff Sergeant, but only have been a Sergeant in Korea. That's not unusual; my father Corporal and was discharged as a Sergeant First Class (but he was on a 3-year enlistment). And the 194th may have been the unit he was assigned to "run out the clock" on his enlistment; I found this clipping from the Alabama Journal dated 17 June 1952 on Newspapers.com:

  • Wow, thank you. I can't thank you enough for giving me these tidbits of information. Please let me know of any other sites I can search for information. I was heartbroken when I received conformation that his entire record was destroyed in the 1973 fire. I was 27 years old when my father passed away he never told me anything and I failed to ask. In fact I was a teen before I ever even saw the medal. I will be searching the general orders link you sent to me. Again hank you for even taking the time to reply. God Bless!