On 12/3/2018 at 7:32 AM, Walt's Daughter said:
You have mentioned a silver star, but I see no indication of it on his DD record, nor see it on any of his jackets. Guess I am confused. I only see campaign stars. If he received a silver star it would be duly noted on his record of service.
His uniforms bear a ribbon for a silver star, in addition to the campaign stars on his European-African-Middle Eastern campaign medal. The other discrepancy being the 2 campaigns listed on his DD record (Northern France, Rhineland), but the 4 campaign stars on the uniforms. I was always told there was a corresponding 'star medal in a blue box' which was donated to the historical society with the uniforms. It was stolen before I was born, but the ribbons on the uniforms corroborate with it being a silver star.
The best way to find out is through morning reports.
Just for personnel records, you can also check with his county. All returning soldiers were supposed to file a copy of their discharge records with the county in which they resided. Also the local (state) Veteran's Admin would have a copy of his records on file. That is how I retrieved my father's DD's.
4 hours ago, Walt's Daughter said:
Just for personnel records, you can also check with his county. All returning soldiers were supposed to file a copy of their discharge records with the county in which they resided. Also the local (state) Veteran's Admin would have a copy of his records on file. That is how I retrieved my father's DD's.
Unfortunately no success with the town clerks office or state Veterans office.
On 12/4/2018 at 1:26 PM, Walt's Daughter said:
The best way to find out is through morning reports.
Through just a bit of research, that seems like a fantastic resource. Accessing these reports can only be done in person or by a hired researcher, is that correct? Some of the researchers offerings seemed very enticing for gathering these reports as well as any unit rosters, etc to try and piece together my great grandfathers day-to-day, month-to-month.
I hired a great guy who was very reasonable. Just got my morning reports within the last year. They were helpful and exciting for me. My dad passed when I was twelve, so every little tidbit is a blessing. I can give you the researcher's name if you wish.
On 12/5/2018 at 5:56 PM, Walt's Daughter said:
I hired a great guy who was very reasonable. Just got my morning reports within the last year. They were helpful and exciting for me. My dad passed when I was twelve, so every little tidbit is a blessing. I can give you the researcher's name if you wish.
That would definitely be helpful to have. Right now I am waiting on a medals and citations request with the national archives. I am told I should have a verdict by January 1st on whether or not they located appropriate documentation. Once there is a verdict on that, I likely will go the morning report route to learn more.
Sounds great. Keep me updated and Merry Christmas. Good luck!
Update after quite some time.
My medals and citations request through the national archives was responded to a few months back and replacement medals will be issued!
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WWII Victory Medal
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American Campaign Medal
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European-african-middle eastern campaign medal
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American Defense Service Medal
Unfortunately, the Silver Star still remains a mystery. I need to reference the National Archives letter to see how many campaign stars they are issuing on the replacement European-african-middle eastern campaign medal as well, since that was another discrepancy between the paperwork and the uniform. It seems like morning reports may be the best bet now!
Hey Brendan,
I missed this string before and am just catching up. I notice that you have been focused on his time in the engineering unit. He only started that in early summer, 1944. Until then, he was with artillery units as he was, actually, a trained artillery officer. Your Record of Separation (ROS) mentions Construction Engineer in block 27, but he wasn't trained as such - at least not by the Army or officially. He may have been a civil engineer in civilian life (as was my grandfather before the war) but he went through artillery school in 42-43 (58 years before I did). Even prior to that, he was serving in Field Artillery (FA) units. I would do the same research but with the 172nd FA (Regiment) and the 941st FA Battalion and see what you get there. He only did the engineer thing for the last 5 months of the war. The ROS just recorded his last known gig, if you will.
I noticed he would have been in his forties during the war. They must have thought of him as the grand old man of his artillery battalions! In my battalions (very different time and make up, of course) there were maybe only a handful of folks over 40. CO, SgtMaj (maybe) and some of the master sergeants/first sergeants (E8s) (maybe).
And what did he do in Honduras? (Block 12 on the pink form). Seems he spoke a smattering of Spanish (block 18), so that ties back into spending so time in Honduras. Was there a job there he did?