How can I find out which ships my grandfather served on in WWII?

Looking to find out which ships (i believe mutliple) my grandfather served on in the Pacific during world War II. His name was Alfred Henry Horton from Massachusetts 

  • Hello JulesMastro,

    Thank you for posting your question on History Hub!

    We recommend that you request his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). In general, OMPFs for military personnel who were separated from the service between 1912 and 1999 are serviced by NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. 

    You may use eVetRecs to submit your records request online. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. Alternatively, you may complete a GSA Standard Form 180 and mail it to NARA's National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. If there is any information requested by the forms that you do not know, you may omit it or provide estimates (such as for dates), but the more information you provide, the easier it will be to locate the correct file. For more information see Request Military Service Records

    If fewer than 62 years have passed since the veteran’s discharge date (to include any reserve time), certain information in the records is not available to the general public without the written consent of the veteran or the next of kin the deceased veteran. Please note that next of kin of a deceased veteran must provide proof of death of the veteran such as a copy of death certificate, letter from funeral home, or published obituary. For more information, see  Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Non-Archival Holdings.

    Response times from NPRC vary depending on the complexity of your request, the availability of the records, and their workload.  The NPRC staff works actively to respond to each request in a timely fashion, but keep in mind they receive approximately 4,000 - 5,000 requests per day. If your request is urgent, please see Emergency Requests and Deadlines.

    Archival OMPFs may also be requested by visiting the Archival Research Room at the National Archives at St. Louis. Please email stlarr.archives@nara.gov for further assistance prior to making an appointment.

    We hope this information has been helpful!