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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
Peg,
Which route did you utilize in order to obtain his records? If you used evetrecs then you should have had to print out a form sign and date and fax to their number for processing. If you did not send that signature page back chances are after 30days if not received your signature the request is cancelled.
Hope this helps,
Elliot Schneider
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
For some reason when I posted with evetsrecs that page did not come up. I tried to back up one page but everything was gone. I imagine I have to start completely over with the request. Also you mentioned posting his information, where do I do that at? Thanks
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
Peg,
Yes you will need to start over if you did not print that section out and fax or mail back. Chances are it is no longer in their system. When you use evetrecs you need to look in the upper left corner of the screen after filing information out and make sure you click "print". This will give you two copies with request numbers one for your records and the other one you would have to fax or mail in.
If your still on the hunt I would suggest resubmitting but you will now need to wait because NPRC is only processing "Emergency requests" home loans verification, and education.
Hope this helps,
Elliot Schneider
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
I guess I keep missing where you need to print our the form but I will keep trying until I get it right. Thanks
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
1 person found this helpfulPeg, you might want to consider posting information about your father (ie, name, DOB, place of birth, branch of service) as there are some on this forum who might be able to help. Based on previous posts from the Archives staff, they are currently only able to respond to emergency requests from veterans. Hope this is of some help. joan
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
Joan, where do you post something like that. I'm not very good with this stuff but I'd really like to know where he was and what medals he had. I don't know why it is so important to me but it is. Thanks
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
1 person found this helpfulPeg, you can do that here. Only his name, date/place of birth, and if you know his army service number and branch of service. Any decorations or awards would be on you father's separation papers from the service.
The Archives does have an online database of enlistment records (https://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-list.jsp?cat=WR26). Also, some veterans registered their separation papers with local state or county veteran's services after the war. Both are places to start.
I understand what you mean. I spent a lot of time searching for information on my dad's service. joan
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
I have his separation papers. I would like to know what path he took from induction to separation. I know he was in North Africa and came up the boot of Italy. He has two different Units I have found in his papers that were different. One was the 353 Inf and the other was 362 Inf 15 August of 1944. It does list a few of his medals there. I would like to have those replaced. Most were lost in moves as well as his ribbons.
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
Peg, Just to add to J. Andrew's response, morning reports are the best source for where your father might have been during the war. These are available at the St. Louis Archives, which unfortunately remains closed to the public. Prior to the pandemic, I made several trips to the Archives to search MRs and it is definitely worthwhile. The MRs list changes in personnel (transfers, hospitalizations, etc), daily activities, as well as where the unit was stationed and how they traveled.
If your father received a Purple Heart for his injuries, the General Order for that award might be listed on his separation papers. Sometimes the Purple Heart was given while in hospital, so the hospital might also be listed. For example, on my dad's papers, his Purple Heart is listed as "Purple Heart Medal GO 6 HQ 83 GH 44". So, it was under general order 6, awarded at the 83rd General Hospital, in 1944. A GO might also be listed for other individual awards. I requested replacement medals for my dad (as listed on his separation papers) via the Archives website (https://www.archives.gov/veterans/replace-medals.html). I believe I sent a copy of his separation papers with the request.
And transfers were common, so your father was likely in several different units. If his service records were lost, there still might be other information available at the Archives (when they are able to reply), such as hospital admission index (also on Fold3 I believe, but is not complete) and final pay vouchers. And, as J. Andrew suggested, general internet searches (Archive.org and the Hathitrust.org are very useful) for unit histories or yearbooks, as well as websites/social media pages dedicated to the units can be very helpful. Stanton's Order of Battle is a good source for what campaigns a unit was in; it is on Archive.org. Below is information on 362 Inf from Stanton's. I could not find a 353 Inf, but there was a 363. Hope this is of some help. joan
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
Peg, one more bit of information. I found this publication on the 91st Infantry Division (see link below), which includes the 362nd. Hathitrust.org also has a book on the 91st Division with roster (link below). If it's the correct unit for your father, it might give you some background information. Hope this is of some use to you. joan
https://www.custermen.com/ItalyWW2/Units/Division91.htm
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049794764&view=1up&seq=5
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
Joan; Thank you so much for all the information. I did take a peak and the Arno mission was one that Dad was involved in according to his Discharge papers. So I'm anxious to set down and read them with a map in front of me. He was involved in Rome, Arno, and Rhineland (Germany).
My husband, Derald, was in Germany and Hungary during the Korean War as an Engineer Depot Maintenance. He was a mechanic and repaired a lot of the heavy equipment they left in Germany for the restoration of the country. He has an interesting story too.
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
My father was JD Gier, which he had no middle name and his first name was only initials with no periods after them, (gave him a lot of trouble with the government). He was born Sept 3, 1921 (his discharge papers have 1920) in Seneca, Nebraska. He entered the Army at Fort Warren Wyoming in July 1942. He was discharged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on 15 January 1946. He spent time in the hospital and Chignom, (sp) France I believe with pneumonia and collapsed lungs. He did Guard work at the hospital when he was well enough to.
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
Thomas Richardson
Nov 3, 2020 1:25 PM
1 person found this helpfulDear Ms. Wolfe,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NPRC was closed from March 23 through June 23, 2020. As of June 24, the NPRC entered into Phase One of a gradual reopening process. On October 5, NPRC entered Phase Two. The center currently is only servicing emergency requests associated with medical treatments, burials, homeless veterans, VA Home loan guarantees, and employment opportunities. Routine requests for full copies of personnel, medical, and clinical records and awards information received before the closure and during the phased reopenings will be answered in the order in which they are being received once the center resumes full operation.
If this is an emergency, please see Emergency Requests and Deadlines. We apologize for any inconvenience.
We hope this is helpful.
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
Thank you for your help sir. I understand what the covid is doing to everything.
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
Just to give you a heads up, according to https://www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center/ompf-background "Detailed information about the veteran's participation in battles and their military engagements is NOT contained in the record." The OMPF may indicate the units he was assigned to, and you'd have to research that unit's history separately to get an idea of what campaigns/battles that unit as a whole participated in.
Also, there is a strong possibility that his OMPF was destroyed in the 1973 fire. https://www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center/fire-1973 so be prepared for the chance that you'll end up being disappointed.
If the medical portion of his record did survive there might be confirmation of his time in the hospital as well as the nature of his injures. Something else that might be useful is the U.S., World War II Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954 on Ancestry. I'm not sure how comprehensive that record set is so if you don't find something it isn't proof he was never in a hospital , but if you do find something it may be of interest.
If you can identify his unit, you might want to look at unit morning reports (which are at the National Archives at St. Louis) and the unit operations reports (which, if they were preserved, are at the National Archives in College Park). Another thing you can do is look for websites and books about the unit. What can be really great is if unit members published a unit history shortly after the war which many did but then again many did not. When such histories exist, they can sometimes be found online, particularly in digital libraries like digital libraries like https://archive.org/, https://www.hathitrust.org/ and Google Books.
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Re: Seeking father's military records and list of medals
Your information is also very helpful. Now to find the time to follow up. Thank you. I will let you know how it comes out.
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