WWII X-ray Techs

Dear Nancy,

Thank you for sharing your question on the History Hub.

If you haven’t already done so, you may want to request the soldier’s personnel file. Unfortunately, many of the Army personnel records from that period were destroyed in a fire in 1973, but if the record still exists, it would give medical information about the soldier, information on training that the soldier completed, and would probably have information about his unit, which could be helpful for further research. If you would like to submit a request for his personnel file, you may do so on NARA’s Military Personnel Records website.

If you know the unit that the soldier you’re researching served in, you might be able to find a unit history or similar information at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. You can email the Textual Reference Branch for further assistance.

A search of the National Archives Catalog offers several series that may contain information you’re looking for. The series General Orders, Annual Reports, and Photographs, 1943-1945, for example, was created by the Army School of Roentgenology, which was part of the Office of the Surgeon General.

This series of Air Force Central Decimal Correspondence Files, 1919-1950 includes several file units related to the certification of x-ray equipment, laboratories, and technicians. From the catalog entry, you can search within the file units list of this series to see what is available.

Additionally, the history page for Fort Sam Houston includes their museum’s contact information; they may be able to offer you more information regarding the fort.

Finally, you might also find useful information from organizations like the American Society of Radiologic Technologists  and the U.S. Army Medical Department's Office of Medical History or from articles like The First Fifty Years of Military Radiology, 1895-1945  and WW2 Medical Occupational Specialty "MOS" Definitions, which provides a description of the Radiology Technician position.

Best of luck with your continued search, and thank you again for posting your question to the History Hub.

This post was authored by Rachael Salyer with contributions from Megan Dwyre and Marie Taylor.