Burial record of my uncle

You would know more than I, but I would think Patrick Joseph Cullen is a relatively common name.  Can't really be sure, but the one interred in LI National that I think may be him shows up in a number of records, for instance:

1940 Draft Card - the WWII draft began on 1 Oct 1940.  He was living in Detroit where he registered as required on 16 Oct.  He was 34 at the time (the draft law required all men 21- not yet 36 to register), and had a wife, Ann Cullen.

1940 Census - living in Detroit, wife Ann and two children, Patrick Jr (4) and Margarite (2)

1950 Census - Still in MI but now Dearborn, four children, Patrick Jr (14), Margarite (12), Carol Ann (8), Mary (2).  However, states under "Veteran", NO

I believe Ann, his wife died in 1960.  Perhaps His daughter, Carol Ann is the Ann De West in the cemetery record?  She would have been 27 and maybe she went by "Ann", and De West was her married name?  But then she definitely would have been an NOK, hmmm??

Didn't see anything so far on parents or siblings.  Also, I'm thinking he ENLISTED in 1942 as they were not drafting married men at the time, especially 36-year-olds with two kids!  1944, yes!

OH, just noticed, his 1934 marriage cert indicates Father's name - Hugh Cullen, Mothers maiden name Ellen Burns!  Does that help?

Perhaps others can add more, or comment.

The issue is, why did he enlist in Pennsylvania in 1942 if he was living in Detroit in 1940? 

Why does it say "No" for Veteran?

Where does it list place of birth? We know the one we are looking for should say "Ireland."

If the Carol Ann listed as a daughter is the Ann De West, why would she list "none" for relationship if she was his daughter?

I think this individual is the wrong person. The information appears to be a match but doesn't withstand close scrutiny.

Liz:

I've looked over the forms. Some of the fields are blank because the information wasn't available, I believe. Those fields are blank. The fields where they withheld information are those that are marked (b) (6). That is a code indicating information exempt from automatic disclosure from the Freedom of Information Act.

I looked it up, and here is the definition of that code:

Exemption (b)(6) permits the government to withhold all information about individuals in "personnel and medical files and similar files" when the disclosure of such information "would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

It appears that the information they are withholding is third party information--the name of the NOK, who wasn't related to him. The signature (and name) of the cemetery director. 

The Social Security Number is blank because they probably never collected it. In about 1969 the Department of Defense stopped using Service Numbers and went to Social Security Numbers instead for ID purposes. Now we've moved back to a "DoD ID Number" because of identity theft.

But because the service number matches that on the PA claim form, and that form says he was born in Ireland, and the dates of entry and discharge match, we can assume that's where he was born--plus the draft card and the PA form both list Dr. Dunne as a POC and Ireland as the birthplace as well.

This just cements even further that he was your uncle.

The duplicates of the forms are probably the originals of the forms, and then the automated versions of them. And I see they included the request for a headstone that I talked about last week.

I'd be careful about the "Married" field, though. It could have been a typo; it could have been misreported. We know he was single when he filled out his draft card; we know he was single when he was discharged; we know he was single when he filed his claim with Pennsylvania in 1950; we know that the person who reported his death to the VA wasn't a relative. So did he get married--and divorced--between 1950 and 1967, as a Roman Catholic? It doesn't seem to fit. I would distrust it. But you could try searching New York marriage records between 1950 and 1967 and see if there's any record of him getting married, knowing he wasn't married in 1950, and if you do find a marriage record, search for a divorce record form the date of the marriage until the date of death. Of course, being Catholic, they might have been estranged but not divorced.

I also note there was no chaplain present at the burial, so I wonder if there was a graveside service. I've found no listing for a funeral announcement.

His final pay worksheet said "MD" under his name. I speculated that it meant "Medical Department." A convalescent center was a type of hospital where patients who were eventually going to return to the fight, but would require more than six months of rehabilitation to recover, would be sent for physical therapy and reconditioning (if they would recover in less than six months, they held them in theater until they returned to duty). I'll try to do some research to see if I can identify where, exactly that unit was--but they gave it a weird designation, not one the medics would have used.

You may not believe it, but this is great progress. It's him, I'm convinced it's him.

Most of Dad’s family emigrated to England.  Several of them divorced and remarried or lived with someone. Thanks reply. 

T.  So much withheld. I understand the privacy issue if he was married. I really just wanted to know if that Patrick was Irish. And where he lived when he died. They sent 3 pages explaining why they would not give information. They accepted I was not going to publish or misuse his.details. So why withhold them. Feeling defeated. Liz

I agree. You'll also see that it refers to "Army Branch NPRC" "NPRC" was the National Personnel Records Center, the infamous building that had the fire in 1973. They built a new building which is now the National Archives at Saint Louis. It's actually a bit more complicated than that--some records may be in service custody in the same building before being turned over to the Archives.

Liz:

They don't have a choice. The Federal Privacy Act requires them to withhold certain information--it plays a tug of war with the Freedom of Information Act. but from what you've posted, I don't see where they withheld his address. There's a block for address on the computer screen capture, but it only provides for the county he was living for--because that's all they were concerned with, to determine if he should be buried in Long Island or some other National Cemetery without a waiver. And that block wasn't redacted, just blank--because it doesn't have an exemption code in it. Which likely means they didn't need the information (probably because all of New York City falls within the cemetery's catchment area).

If you have other pages with redacted information--or blank spots that don't have codes annotated in them, like (b)(6), post them and we'll see if we can make sense of them. But I think you're getting overly discouraged about something that they never recorded in the first place.

Liz:

From what you've posted, I see very little information withheld and nothing withheld that would give you any new information about your uncle. It appears that some information was not available or not collected.

The Patrick buried in L.I. National WAS Irish. We proved that with his military and immigration records that match your uncle's birthplace.

Have you applied for a NYC Death Certificate yet? That MAY list his address at time of death, but if he was hospitalized for a long period, maybe not. It will at least narrow your search so you can check newspapers and neighborhood directories.

No need to feel defeated! You have made great progress in the past few weeks. Your original question of "Is this my uncle?" has been answered with a big YES. I don't think anything else you find will change that, only add more perspective to your findings.

Specifically, what would make you feel like you succeeded?

I don't know if this is YOUR Patrick. Elmont and Valley Stream are both on Long Island, NY near where he ended up living in 1950. (Credit The Nassau Daily Review as found in NYS Historic Newspapers)  I have also found references to "Brookside" about a baseball team and fire company in the Nassau/Queens county areas in the 1930's. There may have been a small area that went by that name, but I couldn't find anything relating to that name and horses.

I'm wondering if his planned career as a jockey worked out. At 5' 6", 148 pounds he was on the large side.

Liz (and T, and Trajan):

Another document I received from St. Louis today.

The same Patrick J. Cullen, identified by Serial number (33293459). In December 1943, he's stationed at Camp Lee (now Fort Gregg-Adams), Virginia, assigned to the Station Complement (nowadays we call it the Garrison Staff). His was in the Quartermaster Corps--if you recall his final pay calculation, it had "QMC" printed on it, but that was crossed out and "MD" was handwritten in, likely indicating that he had been reclassified.

On 17 December 1943, he was admitted to the Station Hospital at Camp Lee for some sort or nose and throat infection, and was discharged 10 days later.

BUT THAT'S NOT THE IMPORTANT PART!

Look at Block 10: NATIVITY

It says "Ireland."

Now we have a document prepared while he was on active duty, probably by a clerk who actually asked him the question, and was told "I was born in Ireland"

And in block 8, it says he was 37. 1943-1906=37.

So now you have the missing piece. You have the draft registration card that says "Ireland." and lists Dr. Dunne. You have the enlistment record that says "Ireland." You have this record, prepared while he was on active duty that says "Ireland," and you have the PA Claim form that says "Ireland," and lists Dr. Dunne. All of them have the same serial number except the draft registration card, and it and the claim form list Dr. Dunne, and address upon induction also match. This is about as solid as you can get. There are a lot of people who would kill for a document trail this solid, given the fire in St. Louis.

And the birth date, date of induction and date of separation, as well as the serial number, all match the Patrick J. Cullen buried in the grave in the Long Island National Cemetery.

It's him!

CullenPatrickJ-QMC-33293459.pdf

For whatever it’s worth, Belmont Racetrack is in Elmont.  Many of the tracks workers live in the area.