Question for our Army Veterans

[TxMedic]

My grandfather served in WW2. He was 11th Airborne, 188th and served in the occupation of Japan. I am wondering how to go about finding his army records, awards, etc. He never talked much about his service. I do have a bunch of pictures, his paratrooper jump wings, dog tags, etc. Any help would be appreciated!

[waterdog]

see if https://www.military.com/ can help.

[randtx]

https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records

[jessBsemple]

For a records request you will need to fill out a Standard Form 180 and get a DD214, also. Getting information may take a while. You might try ancestry.com and get records much quicker. If you have an e-copy, it can help the process with the SF180. You might try and match the ribbons/medals in picture(s) and go to surplus store, AAFES (PX/Bx on post/air base), and eBay. You might be lucky enough to find dog tags with the "dent" (old style). Best of luck with your search!

[lck90]

I'm going through this with my grandfather's records for the same reasons. Send a request to the link posted above. They receive thousands of requests daily If I remember correctly, so it may take a while to receive a response. There was a fire in 1973 that destroyed a huge portion of military records from WWI to the 1960s. I requested records two weeks ago and have not received a reply yet.

[rberg]

See if that division has a website
sometimes that has useful information

[Jmh05]

https://www.archives.gov/veterans/mi...ervice-records

This is a good way to start.

[curtintex]

Good advice above, but I'm afraid you're going to run into the same issue I ran into when looking for my grandpa's.


On July 12, 1973, a fire broke out in the National Personnel Records Center at 9700 Page Avenue in St. Louis, MO. It destroyed approximately 16–18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs). At the time, the General Services Administration—then the National Archives' parent organization—owned the building.

[Razorback01]

Good advice above, but I'm afraid you're going to run into the same issue I ran into when looking for my grandpa's.


On July 12, 1973, a fire broke out in the National Personnel Records Center at 9700 Page Avenue in St. Louis, MO. It destroyed approximately 16–18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs). At the time, the General Services Administration—then the National Archives' parent organization—owned the building.

Same issue I had with my dads records, in service mid 50's- mid 60's.