I'm looking for personal or unit records pertaining to a WW II Hero that was killed on D-Day,June 12. 1944.  His records were apparently destroyed in the fire of 1973.  His name is Frederic H. Hersh and was born in Collegeville, PA on 7/20/1921.  His date

Dear Mr. Ciaccia,

Thank you for posting your question to the History Hub.

There are several resources which may provide further information on Frederic H. Hersh. First, you mentioned that his personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. Unfortunately, that is the case for many World War II-era service records; however, the staff at the NPRC have sometimes been able to reconstruct a soldier’s basic service information using other resources. You can find more information about the fire and recovery efforts here. You may wish to contact the National Archives at St. Louis to see if they can offer you any assistance in reconstructing Hersh’s Official Military Personnel File (OMPF).

Since Hersh was killed in action, another potentially helpful resource would be his Burial Case File, later known as the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF). Burial case files from 1915-1976 are also in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis, ATTN: RL-SL, P.O. Box 38757, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. You can contact them via email at stl.archives@nara.gov for both types of records..

Finally, if you would like to learn more about the actions of the unit Hersch served in, the Textual Reference Branch at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland (Archives II) has custody of the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1917- (Record Group 407) and the Records of U.S. Army Operational, Tactical, and Support Organizations (World War II and Thereafter) (Record Group 338). Military unit files among these records consist mostly of historical reports, after action reports, unit journals, and general orders. Because the files are arranged hierarchically, identification of the specific unit (i.e., division, regiment, and battalion) and date of interest are necessary before a search can be conducted. They do not include personnel or medical information, though, and we do not have a name index to these records. You can contact the Textual Reference Branch at Archives II directly if you have questions about these records. Their email address is archives2reference@nara.gov.

Thank you, again, for sharing your question with the History Hub, and best of luck as you continue your research.