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How can I discover information regarding my father's Bronze Star from WWII?

Brian Trusdell

My father, Albert J. Trusdell, fought in the U.S. Army in WWII from 1943-1945. Upon his death in 1993, my mother gave me a small box of his "Army stuff" which included a Bronze Star medal, his dog tags, several good conduct medals and campaign ribbons. There was nothing among the material my mother gave me to indicate how or why my father was awarded the Bronze Star. From conversations with my father before he died, I know he was an anti-aircraft gunner and infantryman attached to the 439th AA Battalion, mostly included in Gen. Mark Clark's Fifth Army, which fought in the North African and Italian theaters. It also reached southern Germany by the end of the war.

Previous attempts to research any records were met with the explanation that a fire in or near a St. Louis, Mo., warehouse in 1973 destroyed my father's records.

https://www.va.gov/records/get-military-service-records/reconstruct-records/

Is there any way to learn what my father did to earn the Bronze Star?

Thank you,

Brian Trusdell

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    Brian,  If you can get a copy of your father's separation paper, it would show the general order number, the unit that awarded it, and the date. If his permanent records were burned in the fire at the archives, there might be other ways to obtain a copy.  When these soldiers were discharged and mustered out, everyone was told to record this important document at their County Auditor's office in case the original was lost (and in many cases, burned at the archives). Almost every separation document I've seen had the Auditor's file number stamped on it. Also, if he was given a VA funeral service with the VA furnished memorial, the cemetery would have a copy because they needed it to order the memorial from the VA.  Also, if he went to a VA facility for any benefits-GI Bill, hospital care, etc, they should have a copy with his file.  The separation document is the Holy Grail for so much information..

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    This previous post has lots of information on how to find Bronze Star information:  RE: How to look up Bronze Star awards 

    Please be advised that there are two types of Bronze Star medals, one for Valor which would have a "V" device on the ribbon, and one for Meritorious Service. The one for Valor has an individual citation. The one for Meritorious Service just has just a standard two line entry. Here are examples: For Meritorious Service

    For Valor

    Lisa Sharik

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    Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

    We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the World War II Operations Reports, 1940-1948 in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1917 - 1985 (Record Group 407) that includes General Orders of the 439th Anti Aircraft Artillery Battalion for the years 1942, 1944 and 1945. The general orders announced awards granted by the battalion during those years. For more information about these non-digitized records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RR2R) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.

    We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!

    Sincerely,

    Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)

    RR2RR 23-35532-LR

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    I don't know if this helps and not being critical, but I believe the Bronze Star Medal (without "V" device) was awarded by the thousands during WWII simply for being an infantryman with qualifying service for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).  My father was awarded the BSM in that fashion along with literally every man in his Regiment (60th Inf).  There's no citation, but simply a short order with long lists of unit personnel awarded the medal, based on the CIB.  This may easily be the case with your father.