Seeking service records of my great uncle who served in WW2.

jwestbrook 

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

Unfortunately, there are no copies of Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) which were destroyed as the result of the fire that occurred at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in July 1973.

The Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR) has custody of the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1917- (Record Group 407) and the Records of U.S. Army Operational, Tactical, and Support Organizations (World War II and Thereafter) (Record Group 338).  Military unit files among these records consist mostly of historical reports, after action reports, unit journals, and general orders. These records do not include personnel information, nor do we have a name index to these records.

General orders, as referenced above, do include information about the official bestowal of medals on individual service personnel. However, these records are arranged by unit, thereunder by date and thereunder by general order number. We would need this information to search our records. If you have a copy of his discharge certificate, this information might be included therein.  

Morning reports for U.S. Army (and U.S. Army Air Force) units (from November 1, 1912, to 1959) and U.S. Air Force units (from September 1947 to June 30, 1966) are in the custody of the National Archives in St. Louis, MO. Please contact them for access to these records. The address is the National Archives in St. Louis, 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO  63138-1002 and the email address is stl.archives@nara.gov.   

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; the email address is 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.   

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)
[24-57491-PBB]

The date on the letter that he wrote home from New Guinea was 14 MAY 1944 and unit of assignment shows Co. B 34th INF.  The letter was written on Japanese stationary that he recovered after completing an invasion mission.  The voucher recovered from the archives has a discharge date of 12 DEC 1944 from the Detachment of Patients Station Hospital at Camp Croft, SC.

It appears he was also in the NY Army National Guard before the war.  I found  this card documenting that service. 

jwestbrook -

Just for your awareness, there is a two volume book set  "United States Army 1940 - 1945 34th Infantry Regiment - A journal account of the 34th Infantry Regiment with an emphasis on the 1st Battalion and 'B' Company " written by Jonathan J Ott.   I don't have the books, but given they cover the exact unit your great uncle was a part of, they might be worth purchasing or requesting via inter-library loan.  

I've seen that NY ANG enlistment record a while back.  Between that card and then the discharge voucher is the only information I could find from the archives.  The only information I have obtained recently from family was a couple of letters from New Guinea, an authorization record to keep a captured Jap rifle, and a letter from the VA about disability rating.

Should be getting some copies of more letters that he wrote home which will help narrow down some service dates.

I didn't know about the book detailing the 34th Infantry Regiment and will have to look for a copy of that.

I've seen that NY ANG enlistment record a while back.  Between that card and then the discharge voucher is the only information I could find from the archives.  The only information I have obtained recently from family was a couple of letters from New Guinea, an authorization record to keep a captured Jap rifle, and a letter from the VA about disability rating.

Should be getting some copies of more letters that he wrote home which will help narrow down some service dates.

I didn't know about the book detailing the 34th Infantry Regiment and will have to look for a copy of that.