Seeking military records of Sergeant Thomas J O'Leary

Ms. Mulqueen,

Here is some information to get you started.

Dear Ms. Mulqueen,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We suggest that you request a copy of his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). OMPFs and individual medical reports for enlisted men of the U.S. Army who were separated from the service after October 1912 and prior to 1958 are in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. In many cases where 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. 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. For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests.

If the information that Mr. Schneider located for you is for the correct person, please be sure to use 400610 as the service number, 1 March 1918 as the “Date Entered” and 7 June 1918 as the “Date Released”. Since social security numbers (SSN) did not exist during World War I, if you do not know his social security number or he never got one when those were introduced in the 1930s, you may omit the SSN without causing any difficulty. Also, 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. 

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located Records of Engineer Regiments and Battalions, 1912 - 1921 in the Records of U.S. Regular Army Mobile Units (Record Group 391) that may include records of the 33rd Engineer Regiment. We also located Historical Reports of the Chief Engineer, 5/26/1917 - 8/31/1920 in the Records of the American Expeditionary Forces (World War I) (Record Group 120) that includes the files titled Histories 1-33rd Engineers and Operations Reports, 29th-33rd Engineers. For more information about these records, please email the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) at Archives2reference@nara.gov.

Morning reports from November 1, 1912 to 1959 and copies of most of the monthly rosters from November 1912 - 1943 for Army units are in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis (RL-SL). For information about these records, please contact RL-SL via email at stl.archives@nara.gov. 

We also located Photographs of American Military Activities, ca. 1918 - ca. 1981 in the Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (Record Group 111) that includes 4 photographs relating to the 33rd Engineers. There may be additional photographs of the unit which have not been digitized. There may be additional photographs of the unit which have not been digitized.  Please email the National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures (RDSS) at stillpix@nara.gov for information about non-digitized photographs.

Next, we located the series Historical Films, ca. 1914 - ca. 1936 in the Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (Record Group 111) that includes the file BASE SECTION NO. 5 (BREST), UNLOADING SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT. This file includes brief digitized footage of personnel of the 33rd Engineers unloading supplies. See listing for scene 36 on image 7 of the scene list, and image 10 for the motion picture. There may be additional motion pictures of the unit that have not been digitized.  Please email the National Archives at College Park - Motion Pictures (RDSM) at mopix@nara.gov for more information about non-digitized motion pictures.

The passenger list Mr. Schneider located for you is from the Lists of Outgoing Passengers, 1917-1938 in the Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General (Record Group 92). We are attaching a copy of the full page to the end of this reply.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2, RDSS, RDSM, and RL-SL. Also, 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.

Finally, we searched online and located the 33rd Engineers mentioned in The US Army In World War I: Orders Of Battle and Combat and construction: U.S. Army engineers in World War I.

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