3 Replies Latest reply on Mar 1, 2022 2:12 PM by Elliot Schneider

    Seeking records & citations for Mason Condon

    PAULA MCNULTY Newbie
    PAULA MCNULTY Mar 1, 2022 6:27 AM

      Hi! Going through a box of my dad's things and found the following note: Far Eastern Theatre of Operations; Dutch East Indies, to Okinawa and Japan; Member of USAAF combat flight crew-heavy bombardment squadron; Received 3 Presidential citations, 10 battle stars, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Soldiers Medal, Personal Citation for Bravery- Island of Luzon, Phillipines.

       

      I would love to know more about these "medals", and love even more to find any sort of documentation about them. As with many of his generation, my father did not speak much about the time he spent in World War II. His name was Mason J. Condon. I did find a picture of 8 guys on the tarmac in front of a plane with a shark jaw painted on the nose, and a little dog. If we could learn what group he was in and what missions they flew, with what success, that would be amazing! Thanks! Hopeful that we can learn something

        • Re: Seeking records & citations for Mason Condon
          Elliot Schneider Guide
          Elliot Schneider Mar 1, 2022 9:49 AM (in response to PAULA MCNULTY)

          Paula,

           

          The Air Force has Award Index Cards that are digitized Records Group 64. I did not find him on the DFC Award Index, or the Soldiers Medal, or the Air Medal, bronze star, purple heart, or commendation. That dose not necessarily mean he did not receive any of those awards.

           

           

          Special Orders: He is listed 4th down on the left

           

           

          I found this obituary

           

          Obituary for Mason J. CONDON -

           

          Name:Mason J Condon
          Race:White
          Marital status:Single, without dependents (Single)
          Rank:Private
          Birth Year:1925
          Nativity State or Country:Massachusetts
          Citizenship:Citizen
          Residence:Middlesex, Massachusetts
          Education:3 years of high school
          Enlistment Date:14 Feb 1944
          Enlistment Place:Fort Devens, Massachusetts
          Service Number:11139363
          Branch:Air Corps
          Component:Reserves - exclusive of Regular Army Reserve and Officers of the Officers Reserve Corps on active duty under the Thomason Act (Officers and Enlisted Men -- O.R.C. and E.R.C., and Nurses-Reserve Status)
          Source:Enlisted Reserve or Medical Administrative Corps (MAC) Officer
          Height:00
          Weight:000

           

           

           

          Also Found Masons Fathers stuff

           

          1 person found this helpful
          • Re: Seeking records & citations for Mason Condon
            Elliot Schneider Guide
            Elliot Schneider Mar 1, 2022 2:12 PM (in response to PAULA MCNULTY)

            Paula,

             

            This was also from a newspaper article dated June, 19th 1975

             

            BOSTON, June 18 (AP)—The chief engineer of a state agency died early today after he shot himself in the head in front of a jury that had convicted, him of extortion.

            Mason J. Condon, 49 years old, was seated at the defendants' table in Federal Court when the jury announced its verdict last night. He reached into his briefcase, pulled out a pistol and shot himself before Judge Walter J. Skinner, the jury and several spectators.

            The jury had convicted him on 19 of 20 counts charging conspiracy with two other Metropolitan District Commission officials to extort money, materials and services over a seven‐year period front companies doing business with the commission.

            The M.D.C. is a separate state agency with its own police force. It is responsible for a number of parks, and parkways in the greater Boston area, some of the Boston Harbor islands and the Quahhin Reservoir system, which supplies most of greater Boston with water.

            • Re: Seeking records & citations for Mason Condon
              Rebecca McCormick Adventurer
              Rebecca McCormick Expert Mar 1, 2022 3:12 PM (in response to PAULA MCNULTY)

              Dear Ms. McNulty,

              Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

               

              We suggest that you request a copy of his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). OMPFs and individual medical reports for enlisted men of the U.S. Army who were separated from the service after October 1912 and before 1960 are in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. In many cases where personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire, proof of service can be provided from other records such as morning reports, payrolls, and military orders, and a certificate of military service will be issued. Please 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 form 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 if it survived the fire. For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests.

               

              Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NPRC will continue servicing requests ONLY associated with medical treatments, burials, homeless veterans seeking admittance to a homeless shelter, and those involving the VA Home Loan program. If your request is urgent, please see Emergency Requests and Deadlines. Please refrain from submitting non-emergency requests such as replacement medals, administrative corrections, or records research until NPRC returns to pre-COVID staffing levels.  Please check archives.gov/veterans for updates to the NPRC operating hours and status. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

               

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