Seeking records for PFC Sherlie R. Dent

Michael,

If you would like to confirm if he was KIA during the Normandy invasion you will want to check out the IDPFs. If he was KIA he would not have been issued any discharge papers. But I suggest starting checking using information below. You will need to provide as much information pertaining to your relative.

Burial case files (later called the Individual Deceased Personnel File or IDPF) from 1915-WWII are in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis (RL-SL), P.O. Box 38757, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. For access to these records, please contact RL-SL via email atstl.archives@nara.gov.

Thanks,

Elliot Schneider

Dear Mr. Dent,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

In addition to the IDPF that Mr. Schneider suggested, you can also request his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) and any medical records that might be available. OMPFs and individual medical reports for enlisted men of the U.S. Army who were separated from the service or died while in service from October 1912 and prior to 1957 are in the custody of the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. These records are archival and may be requested by anyone. In many cases where personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire, information about a soldier's service can be provided from other records such as morning reports, payrolls, and military orders. Please complete a GSA Standard Form 180 and mail it to National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO  63138-1002. Alternativly, you can request the records online or visit the Archival Research Room in St. Louis. For more information see https://www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center/military-personnel/ompf-archival-requests.

We searched the World War II Army Enlistment Records in the Access to Archival Databases and located a record for Sherlie R Dent. We also searched the National Archives Catalog and located a series titled Headstone Applications for Headstones, 1925-1963 that includes an application that pertains to your uncle (see below).

We also searched the World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel from West Virginia, also from the Catalog, and located his name in the Boone County listing. The term DOW is often used to indicate that a soldier wounded in action and later died of those wounds. Sometimes determined after reaching a medical facility. See this explanation of World War II Casualty Codes.

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

Hi,

Here is your Uncle's Find a Grave page just in case you do not have it. Lots of information about him and a photo

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24125792/sherlie-ray-dent

Alice