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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
Andrea,
Do you have any additional information pertaining to your grandfather? Such as a Name, DOB, place of birth.
Thanks,
Elliot Schneider
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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
Hobert Caudill was born on 9/21/23 in Letcher County, Kentucky. His military ID number was 35653212. I just don’t have any information as to which unit he was in or where he was a POW. I have his Purple Heart medal, and thought that meant he was a POW.
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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
Andrea,
Here is some information below. There are some questions I have look at the headstone application everything looks correct name of individual sent to a Mrs. Cora Back in Blackey, KY in Latcher County says on record DOB was 7/14/1907 and service number of 35435965 and the other records below showing the other service number with same individual living in Latcher County. Is it me or is this odd and the government has the wrong information because the headstone of individual says he died in 1944.
This Application for headstone i think is not your grandfather because I cross referenced to the AAD site at NARA and they actually have two individuals listed and the below is your grandfather and the other is someone else with the exact same name also living in Kentucky with the same last name this is crazy very confusing are they related?
View Record ARMY SERIAL NUMBER NAME RESIDENCE: STATE RESIDENCE: COUNTY PLACE OF ENLISTMENT DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL YEAR OF BIRTH 
15046937 CAUDILL#HOBERT########## KENTUCKY PERRY FT KNOX KENTUCKY 40 Civil Life 19 35653215 CAUDILL#HOBERT########## KENTUCKY LATCHER FT THOMAS NEWPORT KENTUCKY 43 Civil Life 23 
Name: Hobert Caudill Race: White Marital status: Single, without dependents (Single) Rank: Private Birth Year: 1923 Nativity State or Country: Kentucky Citizenship: Citizen Residence: Latcher, Kentucky Education: Grammar school Civil Occupation: Farm hands, general farms Enlistment Date: 12 Mar 1943 Enlistment Place: Fort Thomas Newport, Kentucky Service Number: 35653215 Branch: No branch assignment Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men) Source: Civil Life Height: 96 Weight: 070 Name: Hobert Caudill Gender: Male Birth Date: 21 Sep 1923 Death Date: 30 Nov 2000 Branch 1: ARMY Enlistment Date 1: 12 Mar 1943 Release Date 1: 17 Dec 1945 
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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
That is bizarre! I can’t imagine that there were 2 men from Letcher County Ky with the same name both in the war. Blackey, Ky is a very small place in rural eastern Ky, and I’m sure it was much smaller nearly 100 yes ago. I am going to get in touch with some family members that still live to see if they know anything about this. One thing is for sure, the government has the county spelled incorrectly! It is spelled Letcher!
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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
Andrea,
Do you know from the Application of headstone for Hobert Claudill this is very bizarre, do you know if the cemetery listed is correct on where Claudill is buried. I do know many men during WW2 actually faked their DOB and other items to get into the military when they were 17. Keep me posted.
Elliot Schneider
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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
I do not know the people listed on the application for headstone. His DOB and serial number are different from my grandfather, hobert Caudill. My grandfather died 11/30/2000 and is buried in Crestlawn Cemetery in Georgetown Ky.
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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
I have found out that hobert Caudill was a very common name in this area, so it’s safe to assume there was no mistake made.
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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
Hi Andrea, I did not find any relevant information for you. But your grandfather's Purple Heart award means that he was wounded (or injured) in the line of duty. The link below describes the history of the award. Hope this is of some interest. joan
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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
Thank you for the link. I read the information and searched for his name but it was not found. Do you know a reason for that?
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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
HI Andrea, most of the websites with name lists for the Purple Heart are self- or family-reported. As far as I know, there is no complete list of recipients; there were so many men wounded in the war. Likely when your grandfather received the award he also had some paperwork citing the General Order for the award. It should also have been listed on his separation papers. Did your grandfather save anything from his service? Such as papers, photographs, uniform patches or insignia?
You might want to contact the local county or state VA benefits office where your grandfather lived. Some veterans registered with the VA when returning home. Hope this is of some help. joan
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Re: Looking for grandfather's military information
Jason Atkinson
Dec 16, 2020 11:47 AM
Dear Ms. Jones,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
We suggest that you request a copy of his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). OMPFs for those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during most of the 20th century are in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. In many cases where Army and Air Force 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. Navy and Marine Corps OMPFs were not affected by the fire. 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 which you do not know, you may omit it or provide estimates (such as for dates), however the more information you provide, the easier it will be to locate the correct file if it survived the fire. If this is for family research purposes, please mark “Genealogy” as the purpose for your order and for the items you are requesting check “Other” and write that you want his entire file.If he separated from service less than 62 years ago, certain information in the records is not available to the general public without the written consent of the veteran or his next of kin. The next-of-kin is defined as any of the following: the unremarried widow or widower, son, daughter, father, mother, brother or sister of the deceased veteran. To access the full file, next-of-kin must provide proof of death of the veteran, such as a copy of the death certificate, a letter from the funeral home, or a published obituary. For more information see Access to Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) - Veterans and Next-of-Kin.
If his date of separation was more than 62 years ago, the records are open to the public and no proof of death is required to access the records. For more information, see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Holdings.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NPRC is closed except for emergencies. Currently, NPRC will continue servicing requests ONLY associated with medical treatments, burials, and homeless veterans seeking admittance to a homeless shelter. 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 any inconvenience.
We searched the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) and located the 11 databases relating to prisoners of war. Please search the databases for your grandfather's name.
We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!
