Military Monday - WWII Military Personnel Records

Speedy turn around! My mother signed and mailed the next of kin signature verification form on Thanksgiving weekend. Last week she received a thick brown mailing envelope, containing Bubba's World War II service records, from the National Personnel Records Center. That's less than two months start to finish. 


We used the online ordering system eVetRecs through the National Archives website, which has changed somewhat. The first thing I notice is that on the main page for Military Service Records, it states "Most veterans and their next-of-kin can obtain free copies of their DD Form 214 (Report of Separation) and other military and medical records several ways". When we placed the request we did not remember seeing anything about potential charges, so my parents were surprised to receive in late December a bill for a fee of $60 in order to receive the records. The letter did not indicate the reason for the fee. If you know in which cases a fee is assessed, please comment. Thankfully this was for my parents. If I were doing this for a client, I would like to be able to better advise them about cost in advance. 


It seems that many more people might soon be interested in ordering World War II service records. Dick Eastman posted here about the formation of the Society of Sons & Daughters of World War II Veterans Hereditary Society by the Admiral Nimitz Foundation. The foundation is very broad in its membership options, offering lineal (direct descent), collateral (any other relationship including marriage) and memorial (includes friendship) memberships. Proof of service is required in the society application.

http://www.sonsanddaughtersofww2veterans.org/S&D_Application.pdf

Next on the list is ordering my paternal grandfather's records and asking my parents if they would like to join the society. In the meantime, there are lots of goodies in Bubba's records to share.


Thanks for reading. 


Scrappy Gen

Military Monday - Grandfather - Army Man

Bubba was a sailor man, but my Dad's father was a career army man. He entered my thoughts frequently in Germany. He was stationed there several times. The first time was just after World War II when my Dad was very young, not even yet school age. This is Stanley: 

He passed away when I was just four years old. I wish I had had a chance to get to know him, but he made sure of one important thing....he wanted to be the first man to give me roses. 

Yes, two dozen red and yellow roses brought to two year old me by my grandfather, the first man to give me roses. How sweet was he? 

Scrappy Gen

Military Monday–Searching for Bubba’s PT Boat Part 2

My sister and I found two photos in the stash at my parent’s home on our visit home for an early Thanksgiving with Bubba’s descendants on Sunday. We dove into the stacks looking for photos from Bubba’s time on the PT boat. One of the photos shows PT 163 and must have been ordered from PT Boats,Inc..

If Bubba was in indeed a member of PT RON 23, then this is not a photo of his boat. PT RON 23 encompassed PTs 241-244 and 277-288.

This is the other photo we found. It is hard to make out, but shows PT 328. See my photo edit here.

Bubba may or may not have taken this photo, but I am betting on the fact that he did because he brought his camera everywhere and taught my sister and me to do the same. The photo I have is an old blow up. Someday I hope to go through the literally thousands of slides we have to see if he kept the original. Meanwhile, my Aunt will be looking through the photo stash at her house for photos taken on his boat with his crew mates. My secret wish is that the boat number will be visible in one of the pictures she finds.

Happy Hunting!

Scrappy Gen

Military Monday–Searching for Bubba’s PT Boat

Here is the patch I told you about yesterday.

It represents Patrol Torpedo (PT) Boat Squadron 23. My grandfather continued to feel a strong connection throughout his life to his time with the men who served in this squadron. Each new grandchild upon entering the family received a t-shirt or a sweatshirt with the words PT Boater emblazoned across it, Bubba’s message to each that this was significant to him.

As the oldest grandchildren in the family, my sister and I were privileged (although at 15 and 13 we felt more burdened than honored) to travel with our grandfather to the National PT Boat Museum at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. He wanted to share this significant part of his life with us. As the family photographer, he made sure to document the trip as well. That’s my sister and me posing under the big guns.

One of the many things I loved about my grandfather is that he always asked us to take pictures of him. Did he know how much we would someday appreciate his forethought in handing his camera over to us?

Of course, I was thrilled when my son as a Cub Scout went and slept on one of the ships at Battleship Cove. My husband, MJ, pointed out the displays for PT Boat Squadron 23 and our son dutifully acknowledged them. Some day he will appreciate it, just like I do now.

We don’t know on which boat in Squadron 23 Bubba served. My mother as his next of kin can order his Military Service record through the National Archives. That is our next step in the hunt for his p.t. boat.

Happy Monday!

Scrappy Gen

Technorati Tags: World War II,Military