Question: Obtaining Military Records

[THL]

I have a question for all of you, maybe only some of you:

My grandfather was in the Army during WWII. I have copies (photocopies of photocopies) of some of his papers. What I want to know, is how do I go about getting copies from the Army of all, or as many as possible, of his records? He had no SSN as he was a Mexican citizen and after the war had stayed in the US as a Mexican citizen.

I will check when I get home which papers I have, but I only have maybe 4 or 5 papers; a statement from him about how he was treated as a POW in Germany, some paper with a listing of his service medals, and a few others.

I am going to look around on the internet today to see if I can find anything, but if there is one central point that I can call or write to that anyone knows off the top of their head, that would be helpful.

[Dreadnought]

I have a question for all of you, maybe only some of you:

My grandfather was in the Army during WWII. I have copies (photocopies of photocopies) of some of his papers. What I want to know, is how do I go about getting copies from the Army of all, or as many as possible, of his records? He had no SSN as he was a Mexican citizen and after the war had stayed in the US as a Mexican citizen.

I will check when I get home which papers I have, but I only have maybe 4 or 5 papers; a statement from him about how he was treated as a POW in Germany, some paper with a listing of his service medals, and a few others.

I am going to look around on the internet today to see if I can find anything, but if there is one central point that I can call or write to that anyone knows off the top of their head, that would be helpful.

THL ,
There are several sites in which you can retrieve military records for a family member. I had to do it for my aunt who was a navy wave. You download the documents, fill them out and them send them to the specific address. You will need some information though such as years served and such I will look also for an Army page. Below is a few that I have found.

http://www.militarysearch.com/
http://www.archives.gov/
Hope these may help you.

[THL]

THL ,
There are several sites in which you can retrieve military records for a family member. I had to do it for my aunt who was a navy wave. You download the documents, fill them out and them send them to the specific address. You will need some information though such as years served and such I will look also for an Army page. Below is a few that I have found.

http://www.militarysearch.com/
http://www.archives.gov/
Hope these may help you.

Dreadnought
After all this time, I had assumed that his records were completely lost in the fire that the record building had. Thursday I got a call @ work from one of the TWO (only 2!!) people that they have working on retreiving these old records from the piles of burned papers that are left. She found partial records of my grandfathers. Part of his records were destroyed completely and part she was able to piece back together and are therefore not in the best of condition. In any case, they were found. Whatever she has that she will be sending to me is probably more that what I have now as I only have a letter he wrote regarding how he was treated as a POW, a listing of the awards/medals he earned and part of his discharge papers. She is also going to order duplicates of all his medals.

Thank you for referring me to the links above. My aunt has his boots, uniforms and the letters he wrote to my grandmother during the war, my father has his flag and with as much of his records and medals that I am able to get, it has kind've added some closure to this piece of my grandfather that we all did not have before.

Just wanted to tell you thank you.

[Horrido]

THL,

On a side note, did your grandfather ever participate in a US election, or did he intentionally reject US citizenship?

The reason I ask, is an odd quirk of legal processes my grandfather ran into. He was an immigrant from Norway, and as a surgeon trying to enlist in the Army during WW II, he discovered he had actually never officially become a US citizen. Because of the mass-influx of immigrants, a ruling was cast that any immigrant to the US with intent to permanently reside here, who had cast a ballot in good faith for a US election, was afterwards a citizen of the US.

[THL]

THL,

On a side note, did your grandfather ever participate in a US election, or did he intentionally reject US citizenship?

The reason I ask, is an odd quirk of legal processes my grandfather ran into. He was an immigrant from Norway, and as a surgeon trying to enlist in the Army during WW II, he discovered he had actually never officially become a US citizen. Because of the mass-influx of immigrants, a ruling was cast that any immigrant to the US with intent to permanently reside here, who had cast a ballot in good faith for a US election, was afterwards a citizen of the US.

I am not sure if he ever participated in an election here - I would have to ask my aunt. I am also not sure why he never became a citizen (he very well may have I suppose, and I may just not be aware of it. It is my understanding that my grandmother was pregnant with my father when my grandfather went to war, so when he came out, there was the older sister and my father so they decided to just stay here in the US.

[Bill]

I have a question for all of you, maybe only some of you:

My grandfather was in the Army during WWII. I have copies (photocopies of photocopies) of some of his papers. What I want to know, is how do I go about getting copies from the Army of all, or as many as possible, of his records? He had no SSN as he was a Mexican citizen and after the war had stayed in the US as a Mexican citizen.

Dayum, you got some latin love goddess in ya miss?

I looooooooooooooove latin love goddess.

YuMmY.

PS: Odds are, you wont be able to get the records. Immediate next of kin/PoA only.

[Lunatock]

Well I asked Bluesman if he could help with a similiar dilema, and now just waiting to see if his search pans out.

[TopHatter]

Dayum, you got some latin love goddess in ya miss?
I looooooooooooooove latin love goddess.
YuMmY.

OK, all I'm going to say to that is

[Captain Drunk]

THL, if I'm not mistaken, in order to get your grandfather's military records from the Army locker, you would probably need a high court order, although you may show enough proof that you are his granddaughter, it is not enough - for the government.

Hence you would need a lawyer / high court advocate or law firm to help you out. They would probably be able to get you not only your grandfather's papers, but perhaps much more concering his military service.

[Bluesman]

Well I asked Bluesman if he could help with a similiar dilema, and now just waiting to see if his search pans out.

I left a message for my guy a few days ago. No call-back, so I'll call him again next week.

[THL]

Sniper and Cpt Drunk
You are both correct. One does need to be a next of kin. OR have a next of kin write a letter which states that the grand-daughter can have the records and medals - Which my father did. So I should have the records in two weeks and the medal in a few months.

Dayum, you got some latin love goddess in ya miss?

Latin Love Goddess? ROFL I am half Mexican, yes.

OK, all I'm going to say to that is

I am not really even sure what that means, but I am pretty sure this is not the thread for it.

[Dreadnought]

Dreadnought
After all this time, I had assumed that his records were completely lost in the fire that the record building had. Thursday I got a call @ work from one of the TWO (only 2!!) people that they have working on retreiving these old records from the piles of burned papers that are left. She found partial records of my grandfathers. Part of his records were destroyed completely and part she was able to piece back together and are therefore not in the best of condition. In any case, they were found. Whatever she has that she will be sending to me is probably more that what I have now as I only have a letter he wrote regarding how he was treated as a POW, a listing of the awards/medals he earned and part of his discharge papers. She is also going to order duplicates of all his medals.

Thank you for referring me to the links above. My aunt has his boots, uniforms and the letters he wrote to my grandmother during the war, my father has his flag and with as much of his records and medals that I am able to get, it has kind've added some closure to this piece of my grandfather that we all did not have before.

Just wanted to tell you thank you.

My pleasure THL was glad I could help you in your quest

[THL]

My pleasure THL was glad I could help you in your quest

I got his records today. It really means so much to me to have these. He did not talk much about the war to my father and aunts and so there is a lot that we did not know. None of us ever knew for how long, when or even where he had become a POW since he did not speak much of it. We were not sure if he ever accepted the militarys offer to become a citizen (which I now know he had accepted it a few months after they made the offer to him). Even a copy of the telegram sent to his sister when he was captured is in there. It is all just...I don't even have a word for it...it is just...awesome. It's definitely something to see in print.

One last time...Thank You.

[Dreadnought]

I got his records today. It really means so much to me to have these. He did not talk much about the war to my father and aunts and so there is a lot that we did not know. None of us ever knew for how long, when or even where he had become a POW since he did not speak much of it. We were not sure if he ever accepted the militarys offer to become a citizen (which I now know he had accepted it a few months after they made the offer to him). Even a copy of the telegram sent to his sister when he was captured is in there. It is all just...I don't even have a word for it...it is just...awesome. It's definitely something to see in print.

One last time...Thank You.

Your quite welcome THL. : )

[Lunatock]

I left a message for my guy a few days ago. No call-back, so I'll call him again next week.

Next week then. And is it just me or are you twice as demanding, ask about progress every seven days?