Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: branch37 on June 27, 2018, 11:39:06 AM
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Anybody know a good place to start looking for old records of somebody that served in the US Army around 1917-18?
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That's a tough nut to crack. There was a huge fire at the federal military records facility in Missouri in the early 70's, and huge chunk of history was lost. You can still research by hand what they have left, but there's not much left from 1912 to 1960.
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I’m looking for information on my great grandfather to be exact. All I know is that he was in action in France sometime in 1918, and that he never talked about it to anyone. He died in the 70s, and Both of his kids are dead. As far as I know, nobody has his discharge papers or anything like that.
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I’m looking for information on my great grandfather to be exact. All I know is that he was in action in France sometime in 1918, and that he never talked about it to anyone. He died in the 70s, and Both of his kids are dead. As far as I know, nobody has his discharge papers or anything like that.
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PM me Branch. I chase this stuff for fun. lots of resources :)
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PM me Branch. I chase this stuff for fun. lots of resources
And proven performance.
- oldman
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Yes,I ran into this problem while researching my Grand Fathers Navy service in WW2 :uhoh He never talked about it really. Only for about 10 minutes, then he would look off and change the subject. All I know is that he was a Machinists Mate on a boat and was at some of the action in Solomon Islands. Never knew his boat or which Solomon Island fight. I do remember VERY CLEAR...the reaction he had when my Dad drove to his house in a Toyota Tercel in 84'. Wasnt till some years after that, but his hatred faded after his heart surgery. He told me that he couldnt see going to heaven if he carried the hate there with him.
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Check PM’s Guppy.
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Check PM’s Guppy.
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Dan (Guppy) has some very good connections. He also has a pretty impressive track record when it comes to acquiring information on people and craft.
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The hunt is off to a good start.
He belonged to C Company, 141st Infantry (First Texas), 36th Infantry Division. Appears to have been wounded in action. More to come hopefully.
A bit of background on where he served and fought overseas.
OVER THERE: The regiment sailed from New York on July 26, 1918, after intensive training at Camp Bowie. Arriving in France on August 6, it was assigned to the 13th Training area near Bar sur Aube. After moving into support positions in September, it was assigned to prepare to relieve the 2d U. S. Division in the Epernay-Chalons region. With the 142d Regiment, they took over the positions of the 9th and 23d U. S. Infantry regiments.
IN THE LINES: On October 8, 1918, the regiment began participation in one of the great chapters in its combat history, the Meuse-Argonne campaign. On that day, along a line extending four kilometers east to west, the 141st and 142d regiments attacked German positions, resulting in a "substantial gain of ground" but suffering casualties to sixty-six officers and 1,227 enlisted men. After being relieved by the 72d Brigade (143rd and 144 Inf), the unit side-stepped to take a place at the east end of the line of the 72d Brigade several days later. On October 27, the unit took part in the assault on "Foret (Forest?) Farm", and then was relieved on October 28th, taking no further combat action in the war. The unit returned to the United States after six additional months in France and was mustered out July 3, 1919.
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The hunt is off to a good start.
He belonged to C Company, 141st Infantry (First Texas), 36th Infantry Division. Appears to have been wounded in action. More to come hopefully.
First Texas <S>
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Holy crap Guppy you have found more in a day than I’ve found in a few years. Very nice job sir. That picture of him and his wife that you sent me is one I have never seen. I only have 1 picture of them and it looks like it was taken at the same time but from a different angle.
I’ve known where he was buried, but I’ve never been there. That cemetery is way off the beaten path.
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Holy crap Guppy you have found more in a day than I’ve found in a few years. Very nice job sir. That picture of him and his wife that you sent me is one I have never seen. I only have 1 picture of them and it looks like it was taken at the same time but from a different angle.
I’ve known where he was buried, but I’ve never been there. That cemetery is way off the beaten path.
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Hoping to find after action reports for the Meuse Argonne stuff. I'd guess he was among those 1277 casualties, many who were sent home to convalesce which would explain his getting home Feb 1, 1919 and the early discharge on the 22nd. Might take a little bit, but I think it's doable. And if we're lucky his Army Records survived the 70s fire at the Records Center in St. Louis. I'll let you know when I find out.
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Guppy Sir, Your findings give me hope that the records could be out there :rock When you get Branch taken care of..would like you to see what you can find about my Grand Fathers service in WW2 :pray
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Anybody know a good place to start looking for old records of somebody that served in the US Army around 1917-18?
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www.USA.gov US Army Records can be requested online.
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Guppy Sir, Your findings give me hope that the records could be out there :rock When you get Branch taken care of..would like you to see what you can find about my Grand Fathers service in WW2 :pray
I'd be happy to. Just PM me the details you have. It's a fantastic hobby for me. I learn more stuff this way :)
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Dan maybe you could tell people how you go about doing this research.
I did some research on my Canadian granduncles (8) from WW1 starting with Archives Canada. Even found a video, tho couldn't pick one granduncle out.
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Hoping to find after action reports for the Meuse Argonne stuff. I'd guess he was among those 1277 casualties, many who were sent home to convalesce which would explain his getting home Feb 1, 1919 and the early discharge on the 22nd. Might take a little bit, but I think it's doable. And if we're lucky his Army Records survived the 70s fire at the Records Center in St. Louis. I'll let you know when I find out.
I was talking to a relative at a family reunion tonight and turns out he wasn’t technically wounded, but hospitalized with a severe case of Spanish Flu during the 1918 outbreak. Apparently severe enough to warrant a discharge.
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How do you find current data, or specifically Vietnam data? I'm kind of curious as to what medals I got (if any), in the Air Force, I don't have a clue.
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How do you find current data, or specifically Vietnam data? I'm kind of curious as to what medals I got (if any), in the Air Force, I don't have a clue.
Hey Kenai
This webpage has the address for the archives in St Louis
National Personnel Records Center
1 Archives Drive
St. Louis, MO 63138 or
https://www.archives.gov/veterans/replace-medals.html#air-force
guess it helps to put the link in
and a link for online requests. Your dd214 should show awards up to when you seperated, but sometimes some unit awards get added afterwards. I had to get all mine replaced when lost in a move (Army) and they even replaced the Purple Heart with the name engraved like the original.
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Thanks Redctchr. :salute
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Thanks Redctchr. :salute
No problem sir, good luck with your search. :salute
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Dan, mind if I PM you stuff as well? Just let me know what information you need to help you out sir!
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Dan, mind if I PM you stuff as well? Just let me know what information you need to help you out sir!
No problem :aok
Branch, today I got in the mail a reprint copy of the 36th Division in the World War, written in 1920. Author is H. Ben Chastaine. I got it for five bucks on abebooks.com. Fascinating book. The roll of honor in the back is frightening when you see how many guys died in just 2 days in October 1918. Still waiting to hear back on whether any of his records survived the St.Louis fire
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Think about how horrific the first day in combat his C Company endured on October 8, 1918. They had 41 KIAs. A Company is 80-150 guys. So they lost 1/3rd to a half of thier strength on the first day. I can’t imagine what that must have been like.
I wonder if his sickness in the end saved him?
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From the history it says there were 160 cases of influenza in the division. This was post armistice so it’s possible grandpa was there on the 8th. C Company was in the first wave of attackers and got held up in the wire and hammered by machine guns. The regimental commander was leading them and was one of the first killed by a shell burst.
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On casualties
The Royal Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel in the Somme battle, of 780 men who went forward only about 110 survived unscathed, of whom only 68 were available for roll call the following day.
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Think about how horrific the first day in combat his C Company endured on October 8, 1918. They had 41 KIAs. A Company is 80-150 guys. So they lost 1/3rd to a half of thier strength on the first day. I can’t imagine what that must have been like.
I wonder if his sickness in the end saved him?
It will blow your mind, WHEN you consider all the forces involved with YOU BEING HERE today! Through out all of history...Black Death, wars, plain ole stupidity, the list is too long to comprehend! I thank God EVERY day, that you guys are here! It sure does inspire me to live with purpose. Saw a quote from Mark Twain..."The most important days in one's life, are the day they are born...and the day they understood WHY". WOW :rock Well one reason why...was to give me purpose to carry on :salute
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One of the joys of hunting for stuff like this is learning about stuff I don’t know. Mailman dropped off another book today
“They called them Soldier Boys” by Gregory W. Ball. It’s the history of the 142nd Infantry Regiment in WW1. Not grandpas 141st, but they were right next to them throughout the war. Sadly no luck on a specific 141st history.
The definitive work on the 36th is a bit out of my price range right now with the lowest price being $200.
The Ball book gives a good accounting of the formation of the Texas regiments as well as more specifics on the combat in WW1, with good maps to go with accounts of the fighting. Might be worth your while if you want some good background on grandpa’s war.
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Think about how horrific the first day in combat his C Company endured on October 8, 1918. They had 41 KIAs. A Company is 80-150 guys. So they lost 1/3rd to a half of thier strength on the first day. I can’t imagine what that must have been like.
I wonder if his sickness in the end saved him?
That is umfathonable. My infantry company strength was ninety and in one firefight in May 68 we had three KIA and nine WIA. They rolled the remaining guys to merge with another under strength company. I can't imagine the effect 40-60pct losses in one firefight. The casualties in WW1 with the open charges I have read about are horrendous.
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That is umfathonable. My infantry company strength was ninety and in one firefight in May 68 we had three KIA and nine WIA. They rolled the remaining guys to merge with another under strength company. I can't imagine the effect 40-60pct losses in one firefight. The casualties in WW1 with the open charges I have read about are horrendous.
EXACTLY. AND they KEPT ON and ON. No quit in them, its simply amazing to me.Bond of brotherhood or whatever kept them going...THAT is what is amazing to me. The fact that they KNEW FULL well what was waiting in the days to come, and STILL forged on. All you guys are my HEROES :rock
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I’m about halfway through Peter Harts’ “The Last Battle” that focuses on the last year of WW1, basically from when American troops arrived in numbers, to the end. It’s fascinating just how near the end of their rope all the major countries were. Not really surprising after the style of offensives, initially involving 500,000 plus men, bogging down and turning into a 6 month slugfest producing roughly a million casualties on both sides. Then doing it over and over again for years.
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Howdy boys, long time.
All of us to have served are forever archived.
Any records are obtained at nationalarchives.gov
<S> Oz
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Howdy boys, long time.
All of us to have served are forever archived.
Any records are obtained at nationalarchives.gov
<S> Oz
Was a bad link,Sir :uhoh
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https://www.archives.gov/veterans
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https://www.archives.gov/veterans
Thanks.Sir :rock