This is the second time I’ve used Golden Arrow. The first time, on my uncle they found a couple of key documents that somehow the Federal Records Center missed. So I decided to have them pull data on my father who was in the Army Air Corps. The Federal Records Center sent me his file in 2006, but i decided to see what Golden Arrow might find. It was money very well spent because I’ve struck gold twice, Golden Arrow sent me an AMAZING amount of information. Easily DOUBLE the amount of documents than i received from the Government’s free service.
Gold Arrow help piece together a part of my history – without their amazing and timely service, I may have never have found out more about my WWII Navy Veteran Grandfather. Geoff and his team are quick to respond and go above and beyond!! Definitely would recommend working with them!!
Well it’s been a long 2 year road since I first contacted Golden Arrow for help in researching my family member’s military records, but thanks to their research, which we used as proof of the original discharge reason, we just now received a replacement DD-214 with the discharge upgraded to Honorable. I gave Geoff next to nothing to try to find anything – just the dates and stationed base. He was fast and thorough, and honestly this would not have been possible without his research! Highly recommend!
Records I couldn’t have found on my own; what amazingly detailed information. Highly recommend Geoff; well worth the $$
I would absolutely recommend Golden Arrow Military Research to anyone wanting to find more information about a particular veteran. My husband had been trying to find information about his grandfather’s service in WWII, but the official records were lost in a fire at the National Archives. Despite starting with little more than a name, birth date, and some anecdotes about locations (and the wrong ID number! long story), Geoff was able to find him! His research answered the family’s questions and fleshed out the picture of Grandpa’s time in the war. We definitely recommend Geoff’s service, and intend to use Golden Arrow Research again in the future!
After having recently been told by two army archive units that my uncle’s WW II records had been lost in a fire, Geoff and Golden Arrow came through with enough basic information for me to know where my uncle served and why he was awarded a bronze star. Information once thought gone forever is now preserved! I don’t know how Geoff did it other than sheer tenacity along with a lot of knowledge and experience, and it was worth every penny (even though it was way less than expected). Professional, competent and highly recommended.
I couldn’t be more satisfied with how quickly and efficiently Geoff scanned my great grandfathers Navy records. Everything was well organized and detailed. Geoff was extremely polite and professional as well!
I highly recommend Golden Arrow Military Research for anyone looking to know more about a family member who served our country. Geoff did an AMAZING job finding info on my great uncle who was MIA in WWII. I am an avid research hound; yet, Geoff was able to gain access to info I couldn’t otherwise find online (or readily gain access to from the National Archives due to travel distance). He filled in blind spots in my research and answered questions I’ve been searching for for over a decade. He can even reconstruct military files lost in the 1973 Fire. I was expecting only scans of his findings and nothing more; but Geoff provided high-quality images of documents, history on both the Bomb Group and Squad of my family member, while also constructing a typed summary of gathered information. He went above and beyond! I will be using Golden Arrow again for other family members from WWI and the Korean war. Geoff is quick to respond, professional yet personable, and just an all-around great person to work with. Thank you, Geoff!
Working with Geoff was the best decision I made. I had him pull my grandfathers navy service record after getting his separation from the navy paper work from the national archives left more questions than answers. I got the answers to most of my questions with some new questions. it is incredible to have a scanned copy of his file that is super easy to read and also looks presentable as well. it was also amazing to get the photo as we only have one picture of him from his time in the navy. I would give golden arrow a 10 star rating and am so thankful for his work. from the bottom of my heart thank you for what you did. I will definitely be working w them in the future.
I’m so thankful that I found this company (and Geoff)! I’ve wondered for years about my father’s experience after landing in Normandy in June of 1944. I now have a much clearer understanding. Very responsive and thorough! I never would have been able to do this research on my own.
I am writing to you – long over due to update you on my case with the VA. I received my ” official” decision letter only yesterday on 1/23/2020.The VA has conceded on January 14, 2020 that my late husband’s death was military service connected. Three of the diseases that he suffered and died from are presumptive to Agent Orange Exposure. I will start receiving compensation on February 1 as his surviving widow. I wish my husband were alive to have received the validation and victory. I have been waiting well over a year for a decision and the Procopio vs Wilkie court case sealed the deal last year for my husband’s blue water Navy service in the waters of the Republic of Vietnam. The deck logs I obtained from you were also used in the VA making their decision. They were very helpful in winning his case and gave much supporting evidence. Thank you so much for the service you provide. Very grateful you are out there and that my Veteran’s Claims Worker had told me about the research and service you do. many thanks,
Thanks for the data and I appreciate your efforts. Actually the key piece of information I was looking for was included in the file you sent. it contains the original citation for his silver star, which has more information about my uncle’s death than does the “official” citation. The key information is that he was attached to the 2nd battalion, 413th infantry regiment as part of a Forward Observer team and that he crossed the Mark River with the advanced infantry units. And that he was killed at 0300 hours on 3 Nov 1944.
Million thanks — the medical report you recovered will win my VA Appeal. Thanks for helping me again. Putting feet on the ground on Vietnam qualifies me for some additional VA benefits.
Just wanted to thank you for getting the most complete 201 file that I’d seen yet ..again thank you..
I have researched the military service of several family members, and have used Golden Arrow each time. Geoff is great to work with and is always willing to answer questions. I highly recommend Golden Arrow!
Golden Arrow helped piece together a part of my history – without their amazing and timely service, I may have never have found out more about my WWII Navy Veteran Grandfather. Geoff and his team are quick to respond and go above and beyond!! Definitely would recommend working with them!!
Couldn’t ask for amazing results from working with Geoff and Golden Arrow Military Research!!
They do excellent research, are very honest and fair. They helped me find the unit of my grand uncle (and my grand uncle) with only hints and his ID serial number.and my uncle telling me “he served in Burma.” I would give them 5 out of 5 stars.
Outstanding work on my project with the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines at Tarawa. Highly recommend them!
They researched my Pop’s military records from WW2 when he was on board the USS INDIANAPOLIS. They did a excellent job. Very impressive.
The best research company on the planet
I’ve had them research my father and my uncle and have recommended them numerous times to others.
They did a great job finding my father’s WWII service information. Fast and reasonably priced—-far better than I could do myself!
If I could give more than 5 stars I would. The records Geoff found on my father were surprising in their number. My whole family has been thrilled by them. I can’t recommend Geoff and his services highly enough.
I’ve turned to Golden Arrow on a handful of projects now and have had nothing but the most positive experience. Geoff found more information than I ever expected and helped at least two families I’ve been working with answer some long standing mysteries. I look forward to working with Golden Arrow again soon!
They did a fantastic job finding the information I wanted about my uncle who was KIA in WW2. I put a recommendation on my Facebook page for anyone who needs Military research. This is the first time I’ve ever recommended anyone so you know how pleased I am with their results.
Golden Arrow Military Research is an excellent resource for anyone researching individual veterans or particular actions. Over the years, I have used them to obtain multiple individual Marine Corps and Navy service records and IDPFs for World War II veterans, as well as US Army morning reports. Geoff is responsive and professional, quickly providing high quality digital images of all records. This service is an outstanding value that I recommend to anyone who is seeking more information about a veteran’s military service.
Geoff was very professional and filled in the information I was missing on my father. In addition, he is working on others for me. I highly recommend this group. They really know what they are doing and are extremely thorough.
Geoff helped to track down my dad’s Marine Corps and Air Force records. He worked quickly, was very responsive to e-mails, and the price was much less than I thought it would be. I highly recommend his services!
This is great, thank you so much! Oh Geoff, I have been reading a lot of this. Morning reports and such what they did that day how many were shot and killed including the enemy. My dad did so much. I read that his CO said a couple of times that my dad was a very brave man. In fact he mentioned 3 of them and my dad being one of them. My mother was the one who told me about my dad being shot. My grandmother was the one who got the call about him being shot. That he was in the hospital and it was not serious. My dad did not marry my mom before he left, because he was not sure if he was going to come back, and he said he did not want that for her. This is wonderful so far, and I love it. Thank you so much!
I’m very pleased with what you discovered. I’m still going thru it and digesting everything. I want to thank for your in-depth research! This is amazing and your research quantifies what we have been told and shed light on thing we didn’t know! I will be reading through these morning reports for a while! But, it will help me with the story of my uncle.
Excellent work, thank you so much! This will be very helpful for my research. Bummer that the separation papers make no mention of his injury at Bastogne or any purple hearts. I will go back to the family to try and understand the story better.
Thank you Geoff! I”m surprised that you were able to do your research so quickly! I’m certain that it will provide me with valuable information regarding my father and his World War II experience. Thanks again for all of your research!
I just showed my husband all that you send, and he is thrilled! I really appreciate you gathering all this information for us.
Good morning Geoff, This is great stuff, thank you so much! I have at your comment, requested full records from the VA so we will see where that goes. Anyway great job, I will let my friends know if they are interested in the parents’ military life.
Hi Geoff, thank you for all the amazing facts and details about my great grandfather.
Thank you so much for the information you provided Patrick, my father would never talk about the war so this is all new information to us except for the little knowledge we had about his Silver Star. One comment in your email caught my eye; “He also has a pension claim file which has not yet been retired to the archives.” Unfortunately my father passed away in 1984 and now I am concerned my mother might be missing out on some benefits. Any advice or thoughts you have would be appreciated.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I can’t wait to dive into this with my family. I greatly appreciate the research and the additional suggestions below. I will let you know if I have any questions as I go through it. Thank you!
Hi Geoff. Thanks for all your effort. Very sad to hear of how my uncle’s demise came about.
I’ve finally completed reviewing the records and the information has been invaluable. The first thing I did was input the location coordinates into Google Earth. This alone answered a number of key questions I’ve had and cleared up a few mysterious. For example, I finally determined the exact location of a series of photographs my father had taken, including a particular hill they had taken in combat, but which I had been so far unable to locate. In addition, my father took a number of photographs of the men he fought with but had only identified with last names, sometimes spelled incorrectly/phonetically it turns out, and not easily matched to an official record. The morning report information enabled me to take a major step in identifying the men, if not exactly, then with at least one or more viable candidates. With the hope of reaching out to them or their families to provide them a copy of their photograph.
You did such a great job on what you was able to find I think we will just live knowing what we know now, which is a tremendous amount more than before. Thanks again for everything.
Thank you so much! I’ve already looked through the PDF with details on his wounds and will really dig into the morning reports later today. The family lore was he was one of the only or the only member of his company to survive that battle. Having a more detailed breakdown might help clear up that story. And I just love to know more about what he endured since I was too young to ask him about his service (although from what older family members have said, he refused to talk about most of it). We have a number of photographs he took that were from after he was wounded showing lots of downed Nazi planes and destroyed cities. There was also an Air Force patch for the 9th Air Force in with some of his medals. I’ve attached the image. We thought maybe he was involved in the disarmament that would happen just after battles, but that was only a guess from the few stories we did hear.Thank you again for your hard work. I can’t wait so share it with my aunts and uncle and look forward to exploring those other reports.
Thank you so much for the information! It is so awesome to be able to read through the material and trace his steps. Amazing stuff, thank you!
My wife and I have been reviewing the info you researched regarding her father’s military unit experience. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Geoff. We look forward to going through the records. To put a face to the name of the man you researched, I’m attaching a photo of Ed D, taken in Hersfeld, Germany in June of 1945. Also attached is a very poor photo of Remagen Bridge.
Thanks again for your great work.
Now that you have done all the heavy lifting I was able to do some light research and really piece things together this weekend. The map coordinates and translator were extremely helpful, as were the Army abbreviations. My dad was wounded Aug 10, 1944, and rejoined Company G on Jan 10, 1945. In between that time he was apparently with the 79th replacement battalion.Thanks for everything!
Thank you for all of this information. I am currently in the south of France but what I am trying to get details about is the battles and towns of the battles so I may “walk in his footsteps” next spring.
I quickly looked through the material and am very impressed and pleased. Can’t wait to spend more time going through them. Thanks again!
I just wanted to thank you again for all the research you did into my Grandfather’s military service. I can’t wait to sit down and really look through all the records and track his movements through Italy.
Thank you so much. I was hoping to find a record proving he was a POW. Hopefully the VA will accept these records and give his wife survivor benefits.
I’ve finally had a chance to go through the material you provided and just wanted to give you a big “Thank You” for your great work. The material in my Grandfather’s file as well as the Morning Reports have yielded tons new insights for me, particularly the bronze star witness statements and his deferment paperwork. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the Morning Reports were even legible! Anyway, great work. If I need further assistance on my project I won’t hesitate to hit you up again.
Thank you so much for the records you sent me from your research on my father’s time in the service. It was really interesting reading.I have taken your suggestion and am writing to the VA Regional Office requesting my father’s Complete Veterans Affairs Claim File.
I am still pouring through all the documents you have sent. Fascinating stuff…
Thanks for the great information. Looking forward to going through all of it! I will definitely keep your number handy as I know other family and friends will be interested.
Hi Geoff, Thanks so much for the info. It is a lot to look at. Interesting to see what the Co. B did. I look through other names in the reports (not done yet) to see if I recognized any. Haven’t. To think all the names listed were men who were just a small part of all those who fought,died,wounded in WWII. I will contact the VA also about his file. Thanks again for the work you do for everyone.
Your research basically confirms the allegations that Mr. Siddell made of my Dad. We felt we needed an independent researcher to look. We have no idea why Dad would have represented that he was in the unit longer and jumped into Normandy and Holland. It will always be a mystery to us, particularly since he walked the grounds in Carentan, St. Mere Eglise, and that area with others who knew the lay of the land and he was able to point out and discuss the happenings he experienced. Thank you for looking back into 1943. We will further have the mystery of why he would have an incorrect jump certificate in his possession. We are curious as to what his assignments were after he left the hospital with trench foot. Is there a way to know why he would not have rejoined his unit for combat? Or where he served out his time in the Army?
Thanks again for all your hard work on this. I’m slowly going through the Morning Reports…have just about reached the point where they’re in NJ waiting to head overseas. I had a list of dates that my Grandpa had kept, so hopefully these Morning Reports will help flesh that out a bit as there’s not much detail in the list once they’re overseas. I’ve found some images of a blank morning report form online, and also have the book Finding Your Father’s War….those, in addition to the resources on your site, should prove very helpful as I go through the reports. Appreciate the tip on the map coordinates in the reports. That will be very interesting if I can plug things into Google Earth and see exactly where they were! I will have to send away for that VA pension file, was unaware of that
Thank you so much for what you have sent. I’ve gone through it all and greatly appreciate being able to get a better picture of my dad’s time during his time in the ELO. I will be sending for the claim file, thank you for detailing what I need to do. I’m very happy with Golden Arrow Research and what you have accomplished! I’ll be posting on your Facebook page. I’m going to France with a much better understanding of that time.
Good morning, I’ve been combing through these military records for the last couple days and I am completely blown away. I cannot thank you enough for the work you’ve done. My family truly appreciates this.
I have downloaded and started to review all of the documents you found and sent. Everything I have looked at so far is legible and clear enough to read. As stated in the summary, I would like for you to continue the research for all OPS Reports, Combat Reports, and AARs that exsist for A/38th. I am hoping to find out if my Grandfather is mentioned in the AARs or combat reports for the actions on March 29th 1945 at Kerchain, Germany for which SSG Robert H. Dietz recieved the Medal of Honor, and for anything covering Dec 16-22, 1944 at St Vith. I greatly appreciate all of your work and time so far.
Thank you so much for your assistance with all of this. I have really dug into this and it’s been a very interesting journey. I’ve used the station conversion tool and the morning reports to follow my Uncle’s journey from the US to and through Europe. Also helpful was the IDPF file. I was always told that my grandmother was never convinced that it was really my Uncle’s remains that were returned as she was not allowed to view them. The chain of custody in that file cleared that family history up. Also none of my family ever knew that my Uncle was interred at the American Temporary Cemetery in Foy, Belgium. I went to a family reunion in June just prior to you contacting me with the results of your research. At the reunion I was given several letters that my Uncle wrote and sent home. One of them was dated November 25, 1944. With the morning reports I could determine that on that date he was in Perl, Germany. In the letter he discusses a couple of his friends, one of whom was injured earlier but was rumored to be returning to the battalion shortly. When I looked in the morning reports I found where this person was injured in September and then found he returned two days after my Uncle’s letter was dated. My Aunt has told me that she knows more about her brother now than at any other point in her life. We have you to thank for that. I apologize for this wordy email, but I wanted to say thanks for the assistance and I looking forward to hearing back from you.
Dear Geoff:
I have downloaded the files and browsed through them a little. Already the military records have provided me with great information about the movement of my father’s company to Korea in July 1950. Exactly the kind of thing I was looking for! Thanks for all your hard work.
Thanks again. I really appreciate it. Thanks for the info about the pension claim file; I will look into getting it. He had been getting his meds through VA at the time of his death after they had changed the law on that, but that was the only benefit he was receiving to my knowledge. My sister had filed for a flag. But I will ask for the file; I had previously requested his personnel file from St. Louis, which of course was part of the material destroyed in the 1973 file. I know Baltimore is not the easiest RO to deal with!
I may circle back after our trip to ask about operational/after action reports. We are doing a tour with a company who also provides some research and I’ll see what they have to tell me in June when we are in France. Separately, as I may have mentioned in my initial request for assistance, I am a veterans attorney of almost 30. I used to do a lot of VN stressor research for cases at NARA in College Park, but I have zero experience with WWII research, which is I why I hired you. Thanks again for all you have done, I am so happy to have this information.
Your webpage resources are fantastic! Your opinion that he butted heads with superior officers is most likely what happened but I think there could be more to his suddenly leaving the Army. His USMC Service Record Book notes marks, scars on his legs and back. I also knew that he had small scars on his head which would have been hidden by his hair. And after having previously been sent on a 3 month COM COURSE at Ft. Benning, he may have been getting additional training and experience in the division for future promotion to be a communications officer. But something happened to change all of that. Thanks again,
I hope all is well and thank you very much for the info! This is great stuff and I have been looking through it over the last several days. One of my big goals with this is to help get a Bronze Star awarded posthumously to Lt. Harris and the notation that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge is exactly what I need. But there is a lot of other very interesting information in here. I had been reading through his division’s history book under the assumption that he was in Company I during his entire time with the 81st Infantry Division, so the information that he was in Company K during what was likely his entire time in combat was a big surprise and will give me a reason to have a look again at that book. Thanks again for all of your help!
Thank you so much for the information. You commented on several things that we did not know about our dad. Once again thank you for the information which is very helpful in allowing us to piece together our fathers Army service.
Thanks again Geoff. This is great information for me and my family. I know he was wounded a couple days before armistice day, and was in a French hospital. In the future I might have you do my grandfathers for WWII.
Wow! I am so excited to see all this information! I was able to access it on my phone while in Italy, but of course it’s hard to digest so much information on that tiny screen. I am looking forward to reading through on this on a bigger computer screen!I have Burhan’s book and it gives some good information on their combats in Italy. And on the tour, our guide was very knowledgeable about where they were and what they did as regiments. When we went to the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, I was a little disappointed because I had the row, plot and grave # where he was previously buried there.Thank you for all your help! I am so pleased you were able to find some records!
I’ve been going through the records you sent which are really fascinating. I wanted to ask you for some help with notations. Oct 10 1943. My uncle Frank is listed on the daily report. The notation states “ 3 EM hosp. LD to dy” Am I correct in interpreting this as 3 Enlisted Men who were in the hospital with a line of duty injury are now returning to full duty? Dec 10 1943 “Above 8 EM dy to LWA not hosp sc 14 Nov.” I couldn’t quite figure this one out. Jan 4 1944 “ Dy to hosp LD” Does this mean Frank went from an active duty position to the hospital due to a line of duty injury or illness. In
WOW! Lots of pages to go through, so far only on page 40 of 187 of the unit records. Looks like Jim was in Gela, Sicily when he was busted and also a change in MOS. Curious. I know he was hospitalized some time in Dec. 1943 (approximately) for jaundice according to the records I sent you. This stuff is pretty fascinating. I think I can make out most of the abbreviations, or google them if not, but I sure use your resources list as well.
Thank you so much for this! Mr. Johnson was my paternal grandfather and I can’t wait to pass this information on to my Dad, aunts and uncles. Despite the injury he sustained in the war (which pained him for years until his leg was eventually amputated in the 1970s) Grandpa went on to marry, have eight kids, obtain his masters degree and become a superintendent of schools in Tomahawk Wisconsin. He even returned to Europe to visit us in Germany when my Dad was stationed at Zweibrucken. It was like pulling teeth to get him there but, in the end, he was really happy he made the trip. There’s never been any doubt that he lived a full life, but this piece of it has always been a little blurry due to his reluctance to talk about the war. The information you’ve provided will help us know a beloved father and grandfather a little better–so thanks again for your help!
What a treasure trove of information you sent me regarding my late father’s military service. I have filled in many gaps in his career and have a better understanding of his experiences.I look forward to the additional items you are working on. Thank you again!
Thank you for access to all the info you researched, it will give me great insight into my father’s life during the war.
I can’t wait to explore these military records in more detail. Just this summary is fascinating. Will probably have to look at the larger file after I get home on the 28th and can view on my PC screen instead of an iPhone. Happy to reimburse you for the time you didn’t invoice me for. Send a follow up invoice and will pay it. We were told he was the commander for the 4th wave of the Invasion of southern France and at some point was reassigned to Fountainbleu France as a heavy weapons instructor. At that point his fighting days were over. Thank you so much!!!!
First, thank you very much. This information allowed me to build a detailed timeline of his where abouts while in service, and we learned several new bits of info. I am now speaking with my wife about having you possibly do the same research for her two grandparents. One was in the Navy in the Pacific, and the other was an Air Force mechanic in the Pacific as well.
Thank you very much for the information! It fills in a whole bunch of holes in what we knew about my uncle’s service. We knew he had been in the various places in the records but we did not know why until now, thanks to knowing the name of his unit. It also gives us information we did not know. What you have found makes me a very happy Customer! I am curious about what you say in the last paragraph about After Action Reports. According to Wikipedia, while in the Continental USA and Hawaii, the 305th Fighter Control Squadron was involved in training aircraft control units for P-47 and P-51 groups heading overseas. While in the 891st Chemical Company on Tinian Uncle Russ said they were in charge of the bomb arsenal and loaded bombs into B-29’s. Would there be After Action Reports for units engaged in these “behind the lines” activities?
Thanks so much for your hard work. I have a lot of information to wade through and digest now, but I hope I won’t have too many questions for you. Obtaining the VA file sounds like an arduous process; what kind of information is typically found in a claim file? Am I likely to find out anything related to Charlie’s service, or just his medical issues?I’m hopeful that my finances will eventually allow me to hire you to research another relative who served in ww2, as well as possibly my father-in-law, who served in Vietnam. Thanks again!
Thanks for all your help in this research. I have found the information interesting and informative.I was reading through the company reports that you sent me regarding my father. I noted a number of hand written letters in the code column. I was wondering if you knew what they referred to. The letters A,G,M,T,E,and X. were common. His wound was listed as a non battle casualty. Is there any way to find out how he got shot but was listed as a non battle casualty? Thanks for all your help in this research. I have found the information interesting and informative.
First of all I just wanted to THANK YOU so very much for thisincredibly detailed report!! I and my entire family are extremely grateful forall of your work! I am really enjoying being able to go through myGrandfather’s day to day life during the war! And I cannot believe you foundhis Discharge papers. If you don’t mind me asking, how or where did you findthem, since the NPRC responded that they were burned in the fire? This wasquite the surprise that I wasn’t expecting!!This is all extremely fascinatingto me and it indeed confirmed a lot of family stories, especially the one thathad Paul receiving the Purple Heart for wounds suffered on July 24th 1944. Iknow that he would have received a certificate for the Purple Heart; is theresomewhere I can find that record or get a copy of that? Geoff, a millionthanks to you for all your efforts! And thank you for taking the time to answermy questions.
Fascinating military records, thank you so much! I know I will be looking through these for weeks!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. With a busy job and two small kids I’ve been going over the papers in bits, and referring to my grandparents about what you found. So much has been confirmed with the documents, and the background check showing the DUI was the key to everything falling into place. No one in the family (still alive) knew anything about that. I have a friend who’s writing a book on the 506th PIR that already has all the After Action Reports from Normandy, but I’m always open for anything else that can provide information. I’ll start requesting my uncles VA documents with my senator now. Thanks again,
Thank you for all the info and the help in navigating everything and the tip on the VA will save me a lot of time and frustration. The service you provide is truly one of a kind and in the case of my Grandfather priceless. It wasn’t until after he passed away that I came across the German Iron Cross Medal that he had in a box and it started me on this journey. We had zero information on his time in the service during the war and growing up he never talked about it and over the last year I have had no luck finding any information other than the very basic so I figured I’ve reached a dead end and the only thing I would have is a Medal and a mystery that was until I came across Golden Arrow Research on a web search so thanks to what you do there is now a window open to finally look into his past and learn about that chapter in his life that I thought was going to be lost forever for this I can’t thank you enough.
This is crazy to see. Thank you so much. Gus passed away in 1993 and his wife and kids have also passed away. My grandmother was his sister and she passed away too.
I appreciate all of this. It’s amazing. I can’t even imagine what they went through.
Thank you for all the information you have gathered! This is impressive and does allow me to get a better sense of his involvement in the US Army during WWII. I am so happy to have hard proof of his whereabouts and units
This information is pretty amazing, given that I knew absolutely nothing of my father’s military career other than when he enlisted and was discharged and that he served in Iceland. I will definitely follow up on your suggestion that I contact my senator regarding his claim file. I’d also appreciate an amount for the work you’ve done already, and an estimate for the further work you suggested.Thank you very much for this insight into my dad’s military career.
First of all, thank you for all you have done; I don’t think I can thank you enough. I’m still going through the information, but I am so happy to now have military records on where my grandfather was and at what time.
Thank you very much for this! I’m so glad you were able to find this information, especially about his injury during the war! I’ll dig through it in more detail in the coming days and we’ll talk later about after action reports.Thanks again! I can’t wait to share the info with family!
Thank you Geoff ,I was in Normandy to honor his grave for the d-day anniversary, he was awarded the Silver Star!
Thank you so much for sending this on. I’m amazed at what you have found. I’m on a work trip this week but I cannot wait to get home & pour over each page of these military records! Thank you again,
Thanks a million for the research, Geoff. I will not hesitate in recommending your services and expertise to any interested party.
Geoff, this is simply amazing even with the parts that are difficult to make out! Thank you so much. I am going to share with my siblings and get their feedback. I have a connection with my Senator’s office, so perhaps I can use that to get his VA record!
Thank you for all the information. I am sorting through it. It might be fun to plan a trip that follows all of my dad’s actual travels in the war! For now, since we will only be in Northern France this July, I am only hoping to visit a few of the towns he was stationed in. I do have a question. For some reason, I assumed that he landed on Utah Beach but in perusing the records, the first town mentioned in the morning reports was St. Laurent which is much closer to Omaha Beach. Thank you again!
Thank you so much for the services you provide. You help keep history alive as well as the memories of our lost loved ones.
This is really great stuff. Certainly a lot to digest and go through and examine and I can’t wait to do so. Can’t thank you enough! Going to try and understand all the abbreviations, connect a few dots and put a package together to give to my father for his birthday in April.
Thank you so much. I have found that apparently Edd Czarney received his Silver Star Medal in General Order No. 20 in 1946, but have hit a brick wall as to how to locate that document. If you could locate that or have any insight on it. I would most appreciate and be happy to compensate you for your time. I have also been in contact with my Senator to locate the VA file. I really appreciate all of your hard work.
Many thanks for your great job : it’s the first time I have obtained info about Robinson almost 20 years after I found his helmet on the WWII Battlefield !!!
I reviewed the 1343rd’s morning report for 23 January 1952, which places their location at DT232351 in the Punchbowl. The plane in the photograph, which I determined to be from VMF 323, Modex # 23, was reported to crash land that day in the vicinity of DT2335. This does in fact 100% support my findings and helps round out that story. I’m very pleased, thank you again.
Awesome stuff, Geoff!I have some follow-up questions if you don’t mind helping(see below).Also, I would like to commission some additional research. You mentioned that battle reports could be available?Thank you again,
ACRONYMS ON PLATOON ROSTERThere are letters at the end of each line… SS/RA/NG. What do they mean?Also, for the COs, Platoon Commander & Troop Commander are easy… but what are: “Troop Exec” and “Troop Ln”? ACRONYMS ON MORNING REPORT (some I couldn’t find in your list) KIA – Killed in Action,MIA – Missing in Action, SWA, SLD, LWA, LIA (LTA?), DUTY (perhaps there is an online resource/list?)014,345,348,503,504,505,532,542,607 <– I see this a lot
745,776 <– I see this a lot,813
Thank you Geoff, There is so much information. This is another project for me. I just copied your abbreviations and downloaded the files. I am more than pleased.
Thanks! Some excellent information we never had before.
Hello Geoff! It is great to hear from you! I’ve looked through the records and must say I am amazed by what you’ve found, I must admit I was unsure if there was much else that could be found, since I had been given so little from the veterans center compared to other relatives. I’d also like to thank you for all the work you’ve put in on this, these are fantastic and with the coordinates put in I’ll be looking through these a lot in the coming weeks.Thank you so much again for all of this, since I started doing this off and on I’ve spent a lot of time and work just to get what I have pieced together about these individuals. But since I contacted you it is clear to me that you and your company are professionals at this. I hope I’ll be able to get more help from you soon.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR RESEARCH – NOW WE KNOW AS MUCH AS WE WILL EVER – I HAVE THE AFTER ACTION REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 1945 – HOWEVER THERE WAS A CHANGE IN COMMAND AT THE BEGINNING OF FEBRUARY AND THE RECORDS ARE VERY SKETCHY FROM THE FIRST THRU THE 10TH – UNFORTUNATELY THAT IS THE TIME PERIOD I WAS SEARCHING!!! THANKS AGAIN.
Geoff, I just wanted to thank you again for the outstanding job of retrieving these military documents. These military documents are a real treasure that help give clarity to the day to day activities of my Grandfather’s unit during the war. I will definitely have you complete the research in the future on a great uncle I had during the war as well.Thank you again
Wow, this will take some time to process. Great work Geoff! I looked up the MOS for Dixon. 021 is a bandsman. I had understood he played drums in either the division or regiment band, so this makes sense. You were correct with the other MOS, 675 is a messenger. One thing I would like to verify, around mid-June 1942, it shows he returned to duty from a furlough. I believe this may have been when he moved to my hometown to live with his brother. From what I had originally read, this happened during a furlough in June 1943. I believe they just had the year wrong. The daily reports you sent to me for June 1942 start on the 11th. Is it possible to determine when he was granted the furlough? I have some major additions to do for my Dixon’s story. Still have much more to read from all the files you sent. Very much appreciated for all the hard work!
Thank you for your work on this, Geoff. I’m a little surprised at what you have found, because it tells a very different story from what my mom has told me. It raises more questions for me, but the records don’t lie. As crazy as it may sound, I was really sort of hoping to learn that he had been in combat. That’s the funny thing about family history — you think you know, but that’s not always the case. I do have just a few follow-up questions, if that’s alright. Please let me know if this is outside the scope of your service. I don’t want to be a pest. I’m giving my mom these records for Christmas, but I will make sure to spend a lot of time reviewing and understanding them. Thank you again. Hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you for the information…all that you provided answered the questions I had. I will have more projects for you in the future as I just discovered your service. Thanks again
Thank you for your work on this, Geoff. I’m a little surprised at what you have found, because it tells a very different story from what my mom has told me. It raises more questions for me, but the records don’t lie. As crazy as it may sound, I was really sort of hoping to learn that he had been in combat. That’s the funny thing about family history — you think you know, but that’s not always the case. I do have just a few follow-up questions, if that’s alright. Please let me know if this is outside the scope of your service. I don’t want to be a pest. I’m giving my mom these records for Christmas, but I will make sure to spend a lot of time reviewing and understanding them. Thank you again. Hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you for the research that you did on my father T. Macon. I was wondering how long does it take to receive copies of the medals that your report showed that he received.
I want to thank you for the military records you have found! They are indeed a great addition to the documents I have. From first glance they fill some important gaps I had in my research.
From what you have send me I take it his military service record was not to be found (perhaps burned in 1973?).
Thank you for all your work. I have enjoyed reading through these military records and tracking the towns where my dad was.
Thanks for your help! The information has been very valuable for my family.
Wow. I’ve only just skimmed all the information you sent and thankfully, it jibes perfectly with what we already knew. I plan to use the data to map the exact path he took, eventually. What I didn’t know, and what this data seems to indicate, is that after what they saw at Dachau it appears that the Army determined he’d had enough and transferred him to the 48th to return home. By that point, he had been in a war zone for three years. I can’t even imagine the horror of what he encountered at Dachau, but I’m sure whatever it was was enough.Thanks again, Geoff! My family appreciates the solid work.
Good work as always Geoff. I have a question, my grandfather seems to
be the only one out of this company to be alive. Given they are all in
their 90s now. Why is it that most of the men in this company were
older? Most of them were born in the 1910s even the 1900s. Could it be
due to pre-war service and they just stayed in the unit?
Thanks for these military records. They have enlightened.
This is fantastic – thank you so much!! FYI – My uncle (Bill, son of Earl Lee) may be contacting you to do additional research. I gave him your contact info.
Geoff, Excellent. I scanned through the docs and read what I could before leaving home today. The big military personnel file certainly documents the main event, his accidental shooting, in much more detail than I would have imagined. I doubt anyone else in the family has seen these records. Don’t know if you know but his birthday was 9/2/1924, so Uncle Charlie enlisted when he was barely 16. He was guilty by reason of being a teenager. I’ll have a couple follow-up questions on record searches next week including whether it’s worth going after a 3rd great-grandfather’s Civil War records, who probably lost a leg at Chancellorsville, considering what I already know. I appreciate doing business with you, Geoff, and will not hesitate to recommend you to everyone.
Thank you so much. This more than I could have hoped for. Its amazing after all this time that I could trace him day by day, sometimes within miles of where he was. Also, one last thing, I found a great website on the 28th Infantry regiment, showing their history, regimental AARs and casualty reports. However, they are missing December 1944 AAR. I have contacted the NARA at College Park to see if they can supply it, didn’t know if there was another avenue. Anyway, thank you again for all that you have done.
Thank you for all of your hard work. There is a lot to digest here so I am going into it with a deliberate slowness. It looks as if this will answer many questions that I have sought for over 50 yrs.Thanks again. I am very pleased with your results & pleased with the price. You delivered everything you said you would & I certainly appreciate the data & dealing with you. If I run across any questions I may contact you. Thanks again!
Really great work. Thanks Geoff. This will mean a lot to my uncle’s relatives. I was able to track down my wife’s uncle, who was killed on his first day of combat, in the battle for St. Lo in July of 1944. His battalion commander wrote a really interesting history, complete with pdfs of the daily reports.
Geoff– finally got through all of the files you sent and paired them up with what we had already. Great information! Really pulls together his story.
Thank you for your work finding info about my dad. I have gone over those reports at least 6 times and keep finding more info each time. My sons and grandsons have gotten more interested in the family history since looking at your research.
One big thing was made clear by the daily reports; when I first sent you what I knew about my dad’s service, I said he participated in the liberation of a POW camp. I thought the camp was Stalog Luft III in Zagan Poland. Your work shows that he was never near there. Well, it turns out that the POW my dad knew (Joe Brlansky) was transferred to Stalog Luft VII A and on April 30 dad’s group were in Mossburg, where the camp was located. Pretty strong evidence that he participated in the liberation.
I have to tell you that this is one of the best things I have spent money on doing my family research. Dad did not say much at all about the war. He had nightmares for the rest of his life. Seeing what he went through via the daily reports make me understand why he turned to alcohol to mask some of his memories.Thanks again for your work. I will recommending your service to everyone I know.
I know I am responding to this email quite late, but I wanted to thank you for the digging for these records. You found way more information than we could have hoped for. So, thank you!
Thank you so much. I can’t stop reading. Anyway I appreciate this. The pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. Thanks again,
Geoff: I had bits and pieces of each of the documents that you provided. However, the complete documents give a fuller picture of Spencer’s career. You explanations are invaluable. I have filed a FOIA request with the VA per you suggestion. Do you know where I would begin to look for any CIP records? Any suggestions to the questions raised would be greatly appreciated. I am very grateful for what you have already provided.
Again thank you!I have given everything a cursory read. On first blush I see some dates and details I did not have, a lot more operation information than I expected and more dates and circumstances on other men in the unit. I have been at this long enough there are enough familiar names and names of dad’s friends that the additional info helps flesh out Company info.I really like the one for 19 Nov on third Platoon going past the outpost to the German line. I have given your info to a PhD doing some Civil War research.
Thanks so much for all of your work on getting a great report on my father’s whereabouts during World War II. His brother DOW on July 16, 1944, so I can only assume that is why he had an emergency leave in October of that year. Thanks again, Geoff, and I plan on ordering an I.D.P.F. for my uncle. You have a great and helpful site and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in acquiring military records.
Thank you for this work and insight. I knew that he was hit in the ear by shrapnel and that it was a close call. (I have understood that his replacement was killed in action in the next day or so, so it was a close call in more ways than one.) I also knew that he left the unit in March, 1945, as you described. I appreciate your insight and look forward to learning even more and establishing a better timeline, etc. I may be following up with further questions and future research requests. Thank you, again, for your assistance!
Fantastic! lots of additional info here.Thanks for the time and effort, as this helps in my “quest” in reconstructing his WW1 experience.
Thank you again for all of your work! Over the holidays, I presented all of your research to my father along with a Book I found called With the 102nd Airborne Through Germany. Everyone was amazed by the information and story they told. It inspired one of my father’s cousins to look through a box of items that her mother (PFC H’s sister) had left to her when she died. Inside was PFC H’s purple heart and close to 200 letters he had sent to his sister and parents. I am currently reading through all of these lost letters. It is my intention to write a book and publish them.
There are many things you have mentioned that confirm things that you already knew, although you have also included material that you did not know about. So thanks for the work! I have quite a few questions that I will ask as I read in depth, so far I have only glanced over the documents. If they are too many questions do not overwhelm, answer when you can. The first question I think is complicated: until now no one is known to answer me with certainty, I have only been able to launch hypothesis. Why was July 16, 1944 notified as MIA and July 28 as KIA? Did he really die in the time span of 16 to 28? Or was it day 28 as it indicates? Or the 16th? Thank you again for the effort and dedication you provided in this research.
Thanks so much Geoff for all this information. If only you had been around 23 years ago, that’s how long we have been trying to get ANY information. Will certainly be recommending you.
Thanks for responding so quickly, I wanted you to know that I just returned from Italy where I “retraced” my father’s steps for the 4 mo. he was there before he was KIA. It was remarkable! And I have you to thank for helping me with the location of his Division & Regiment because I used those documents to develop our itinerary. What a great trip!
So let me get this correct. My Dad waited for an assignment from July 15 1944 until September 24th when he joined L Company of the 135th Infantry Regiment and 72 hours later he was wounded? Wow! Dad mentioned several times that he spent time in North Africa. I seemed to remember him saying he was there first and then went to Sicily and then Italy.
This is great information and addresses key questions we have had. I’m really glad I came across your service! I do have a couple questions for you. I am interested in learning some more about the operational/combat reports and after action reports. Are those specific to a unit (e.g. Headquarters Company) or are they recorded at a higher level such as a battalion? In your email, you stated, “The APO is also given which will tell you exactly where he was stationed before joining the unit.” I can’t seem to figure out how to determine that? How do I determine his location before joining the 232nd using the “APO”? Sorry for all the questions. I greatly appreciate your help!
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK.
THIS IS A TRUE BLESSING. YOU HAVE MY FAMILY’S GRATITUDE.
Perfect!! Thanks for your great help! We are very pleased with your work on this project…
Thanks so much, Geoff. I look forward to looking through all this information in more detail, but even the high level information is great. My mom was an only child and she’ll be delighted to learn this about her dad.
Thanks for the great report and all the extra information. Wonderful job!
First off, I cannot thank you and Golden Arrow enough for this. These records have filled in so many voids that we were sure would never be answered. I had spent years trying to find even a single record on my grandfather, and always turned up with nothing. This has all totally blown me away. I had always been under the impression that my grandpa never actually fought in any battles, but my mom and aunt insist he did. He seems to have been in the town of Arbrefontaine during a fight in the Battle of the Bulge. A KIA roster of the 75th Infantry shows that 20 men from the division (four from his company) died in Arbrefontaine during the time frame that he was there, which leads me to believe that he was involved in the battle that took place there. Two more men in his company were KIA at the end of March while approaching Marl, Germany, also. He also seems to have been in the same area when this happened.
Much more than I expected, Geoff!! Can’t thank you enough for your excellent work. Have not yet begun to read through it all but can’t wait.
Thanks again for the research and advice. I believe Jack’s unit was in reserve most of the time until late December. They got hit with Nordwind in January 1945 and pretty much wiped out the 3rd BN to which he was assigned. As best I can tell, they saw no further action until mid-March 1945 as they were being re-outfitted with replacement troops and equipment. Mid-March 1945 they crossed the Siegfried Line and ran into heavy resistance in Aschaffenberg, Germany. From there, they went on to Nuremberg and eventually Munich where they liberated Dachau at the end of April 1945.
Thanks very much for your help, Geoff. This has been an extremely informative and thought provoking exercise.
I’m having a great time reviewing the records you discovered on my grandfather – thank you very much for your work on this!
Thank you very much. E. is my father and I was born on Jul 1, 1945. My mother lived in Tidworth during the same time period so I was most like conceived towards the end of September 1944. I have a DNA match to his granddaughter so I think this confirms time and place.
Thanks for your research. It is comforting to finally see how my cousin was wounded and died in combat. The Montfort Woods campaign was a precursor to the Bulge and there were great surprises for our forces as to the Wehrmacht they were facing at that point in time. The only thing I see missing is that he should have been awarded a Purple Heart for being wounded/killed in combat. There was nothing in your info to so indicate. Could this have been missed in the heat of battle, or is there someplace else we should go? I have no problem going to my current U.S. Rep or either of my Senators, except Marco Rubio is a bit busy right now.
VERY interesting and helpful. Really fill in the blanks. I am particularly interested in any information you can find while stationed as MP officer in the 804th MP Bn (Wash DC?) I could find no ref to the 804th in any military history (Army or MP). Many thanks for your outstanding reference service.
I have printed everything out and read through it all – the documents are amazing! His time in battle was so short! I would like to explore more of his military career if you think there is much more of interest to be found. The After Action reports sound promising and since he was only in battle for just over two weeks before being wounded I assume it would be relatively easy to find. Let me know what you think about that.
This is great, thanks for the research! Really glad I found your service.
My grandpa was my father; he raised me from the age of 5 weeks. I loved him more than any person could love another. He would never speak about the time he spent in war. It really affected him. The day he did speak of it I tried very hard to remember every detail I could. I do remember growing up, we attended a few division reunions. When my father walked in, everyone would stand, cheer and salute him. He didn’t like the attention. Another memory is of a man who sent my father several letters throughout the years. This man would ask my father permission to write a book about his ordeal. Every time my father opened and read these letters he would scuff, crumple it up, and throw it away. He died on his 80th birthday in 2001. That display of medals is all I have had of him. The storage unit with all his belongings was broken into and wiped clean that same year. I am grateful for the documents you have provided. Thank You
That’s beyond amazing that you can reconstruct old records! Thanks again Geoff. I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. At the moment, I’m out of the country so internet isn’t the greatest. I really appreciate it Geoff! Can’t wait to share this with my family.
Again, thank you for all you’re work and dedication in compiling the pages along with a detailed summary and tools. You also mentioned the operational/combat reports and after action reports that could be explored. I would be very interested in finding out about these!
Thank you! I will make the download this evening. I am very excited to explore these military records. Dad never spoke much of his service time. I will be in touch if I have questions.
Thank you greatly.
I’ve managed to look through the military documents and there is a ton of great stuff! Thanks for all the help and research you have done for me.
Thank you for all of this research. The reason I wanted this is because my Uncle (who is still alive and completely competent) has an incredible story. He was interviewed by all the news stations because our congressman got him more medals for his service for WWII that he hadn’t gotten before. He was in a special detail and was a scout. He had trained in about 4 or 5 different places in the U.S. He said it was for this special detail, a small group inside the 12th. He said he moved around and wasn’t always with the 12th, sometimes he was with the 22nd and other units. He was in this special detail during Exercise Tiger in Slapton Sands England. We took his there this past April for a memorial service and he was the guest of honor. He was on an LST and then Higgins boat and hit the shores to practice for this mock invasion leading up to D-Day. He heard an explosion right when he hit the land and then he ran back to the higgins boat and they headed back out and came upon an injured LST. He was in the water helping men in the water who were injured. He helped saved probably 100 men.
Thanks, Geoff! I’ve enjoyed looking through this. I always thought he ended his service as a Corporal, as did my mother, so we were surprised to see that he made Sergeant. I’m not sure why we wouldn’t have known this before. I know he joined as a replacement so the October date doesn’t surprise me. I don’t know where his discharge papers would be. Thanks for all of your help in such a short amount of time!
Wow! Thank you so much! I’m sure you enjoy your work! What a service!
Should I contact his Senator in PA, since he still lives there, or use mine here in NC for the VA request?
You have found and done more than I could or should expect. What you have found already has met my hopes of finding out some specific information about my father’s military service. If I don’t hear from you again, as I suspect that all jobs must close at some time, I want to thank you so much for what you have done for my family. His descendants (children, grandchildren, great grand children) will at least have the stories about the “Battle for Aachen” to read about and know what he did for a brief time in WWII. The history of this time period and the Battle of the Bulge has come alive for us and we have you to thank for this. Should you ever need referrals or recommendations, please let me know.
Thank you for the information. It gives a pretty good timeline about his unit and what he was doing while he was in Theater. I would be interested in the Combat Reports and any information about when he earned the Silver Star. I read the commendation report but those do not really give a full account of what was going on. My grandfather was a very quiet man and did not speak about his experiences in World War II with one exception to a relative. I didn’t know that he had earned the Silver Star until after his death when my parents went through his personal belongings. Sadly his original medals were stolen in a burglary of his home many years ago. Whatever information you can get about his service would be a great help. With the information here I can start to make a campaign map to at least show the movement he made when he entered into theater but I’d like to get as much as I can to provide as good of a picture as I can since he was very private about his experiences. Thank you,
Thank you so much Geoff! We never knew about him going AWOL, being court martialed, and serving time! He spoke very little of the war and I’m guessing he was ashamed of this. The war affected him up until the day he died. All this info is priceless and am very grateful that you have dug it up for us! Thanks again and happy Thanksgiving!!
Thanks. The information you found has cared up a lot of questions I had about my father’s WWII service. I found short story by A. Chaska, one of the men listed as MIA with my father in the Reports. According to Mr. Chaska he and several others were POWs during the 9 days they were MIA. They were rescued from the Germans by another unit. I guess that means my father was most likely captured at that time also. I have attached Mr. Chaska’s story thought you might enjoy it. Any way thanks again.
I am thrilled you could find as much as you did for the Engineer unit. My overall goal is to get as complete a picture of our Dad’s WWiI experience as possible. It’s so much more than we have had!
Wow, Geoff! Thanks so much for the documentation on my dad. As you mentioned there are quite a few gaps in his record so I have initiated obtaining his VA claim file through our senator’s office. I thought my dad was demoted when he left the Rangers, but the demotion was a year later. It would be nice to find the reason for the demotion. I do think the gap around January 1944 may be when he was serving as a mule packer in whatever infantry unit that might have been. In one of the documents from the NARA that survived the fire on page 2 section 20 there is a note that he served as a packer, infantry mule pack 1943-1944. My dad also raised donkeys after he retired because he said he enjoyed working with the mules in the war.After looking through the documents you sent I do have questions but I think I will wait until I receive my dad’s VA file. I would like to be more organized when I start asking questions so I don’t waste your time. Thanks again for your research. It is so nice to finally get somewhere with this quest.I will be in touch.
Thanks so much for this. Oddly, we went to Belgium June 3rd and on the way to visit family in Northern Germany, we drove past Achen. I wanted to see the land on outside chance he was there. The family story is that he was going over a bridge when “bomb” knocked wall on him or dazed him, in and out of consciousness. They were over run and he pulled a dead body over himself as Germans bayoneted bodies. A bayonet passed through body and deflected off his chest I’m told a minor wound. He remained quiet until he again heard American voices. He supposedly suffered concussion and was blacking out periodically I heard also about a “coma.” I’m delighted for what you found and I can’t thank you enough. Reading accounts of replacements getting killed within a week of arrival, was not that unusual.
Thanks for the explanation of everything. That helped a lot as well as the abbreviation list. I do want you to try and find any After Action Reports for the 901st that there might be. I think that would help to fill in some gaps. I’m not too worried about tracking down his VA records but would like to be able to read the card better as it prints out real light. Can’t wait to see the record on my other Uncle. Also I gave you some wrong info on my brother in the Navy. He joined in 1951 but didn’t come out until July of 1955. Don’t know about the reserves. I guess his record would be too new. Thanks so much again for finding what you have.
This is some great stuff! I can’t wait to dive into this when I have some more free time. Would you be able to pull his service record too? I know I have some of his paperwork but was wondering if it may contain some other clues in there as well. Let me know if you can do this and if you think it is worth it. Thank you again for your help your hard work is definitely appreciated.
This is absolutely great! We greatly appreciate it. My mother seems to remember someone telling her that he had his appendix removed while in England. If that is true, maybe that is one of the medical leaves. Can you make out page 75 – description of his wounds. I can see that there was something with this buttocks and lower chest. The rest is difficult to read/understand. This does explain a great deal – he had shoulder patches for the 79th Division, 16th Armored, and 14th Armored. I’m still wondering why he would have had shoulder patches for the 42nd Division. Maybe someone gave them to him?
First off thanks! This most thorough and I deeply appreciate all the effort you performed. It’s great to see this kind of information about my great-uncle. Second, I apologize for taking so long to thank you. I’ve been reading and re-reading this information along with the other pieces of information I have. I have a question about your thoughts on his job as a heavy machine gun squad leader. I don’t understand this part since I don’t see his name on the list on page 39 of 56 of the PDF titled “LDUR” I’m not doubting you, just trying to understand. I think your guess is right though.. He was a clerk with Armour and Company so he was good at math. I can see his duty code going from 605 to 606 and then 653. In reading TM 12-427 dated 12 July 1944 MOS 653 got replaced. I wish I had a good photocopy of TO&E 7-18 from the time frame.
I have finished going through the files you have sent. They are amazing! I thank you so much for taking the time. It is full of a lot of great information. I plan to start the mapping of his moments.
First of all I want to thank you for a great job!!! I am sure to recommend you on the web! I would like you to research the operational/combat reports or/and after action reports during M’s time in combat, specially those for December 1944 and January and February 1945. Can you also get me the General Orders of the 5th Infantry Division? It would be neat to know what he did to earn the Bronze Star and the Silver Star. Thanks again for your help
Wow, what an adventure I have been on since I received this information. I was able to translate most of the coordinates and trace the path through Europe. Just amazed that my uncle and his company had so few casualties. I had a few questions that were not covered in the golden arrow resources. 1. What were the duties of a artillery fire control instrument operator? I could not find 695 listed. 2. The last reports shows Paul with the following information: grade – Tech 5, MOS – 695, MCO – 373, ASR -87 and Physical Profile as B. What do these abbreviations stand for only MOS was listed? Thanks for this information. I was able to tie his exact location to a letter he sent to my Grandmother. It was very insightful.
Hi Geoff – Sorry to be so slow in thanking you for such a wonderful job on my dad’s records. I must admit, learning of all his ups and downs rank wise brought a smile to my face. We had known of one of his demotions but not of the others. Knowing him, I can just bet it had to do with either drinking or fighting – or both. He was a bit of a character. Anyhow, I have learned a lot more about his last days and it has brought me great pleasure. As you suggested, I’m in the process of writing to my Senator re the VA Index Card. In that connection, on the copy of the form you sent me, the name directly beneath my dad’s is my brother! He too is deceased as of 2001 and retired as a Major. I’ve included him in my request for info even tho I’m not technically his next of kin. We’ll see what happens. Again, many, many thanks. I’ve written to my AWON contacts and recommended you highly.
Awesome work Geoff! You mention operational reports of the 593rd. I will do some digging but there is a good chance we may swing back around and see what you can do. I assume same process and potentially same fee as this record search? We are extremely pleased with the work you sent us and I’m only on page 35! Do you have a place on your website where customers can post comments?
Again thank you so much I can’t wait to run this all off and start, as you so rightly put it, his footsteps! I can’t wait to share this with my family as well. Thank you,
I’ve reviewed the files and it is an interesting path extending over a five year period. I had no idea that he had been so many places just within the CONUS borders. I have a better understanding of some of the anecdotal oral histories that led me to this search. I do wonder how do I find out what kinds of medals my grandfather may have earned? Is that something I’ll have to find out from the VA? Did you happen to find anything with this record? I would like to reproduce a uniform approximation and from what I read there aren’t any postings about awards. If I missed it let me know. Thanks again, and I have some other veterans in my past that I may have you look in to soon. Good luck in your future endeavors.
Geoff, I have had a chance now review all that you have sent me. I appreciate what you were able to discover about my father’s WWII history. If I had one critique I would have to admit I wish you had looked at the 509th PIB’s Feb morning reports to see if you could have found when my father left that attached duty and returned to the 601st.I completely understand the loss of him in Oct and I wouldn’t expect to need anymore information after that point since by then the war was already winding down and many men were beginning to go through the horrendous task of getting them home. You have done a wonderful job and filled so many holes we had concerning my father’s service. I would absolutely recommend you to anyone who asks. In fact I already have.
WOW, thanks Geoff. That was a good summary. As far as him coming home, he arrived in August I believe and ended up being discharged at Ft Indiantown Gap in early September. Sounds like you found some good info. I will look forward to going through it .One question I have about operational records is with Operation Neptune. I have found online the op order for the Force O part of Neptune, but have searched and not yet found the op order for Force U (Utah beach). Is that something that you could find in the archives? Thanks,
Thank you so much for this. This is awesome.
I know that you mentioned to go through the VA to get his records. FYI, I went through my congressman Sarbanes and on 2-3 occasions and resubmitted the request numerous times, and they told me after 3 years… they told me they could not find the records and may not exist…or were “burned up ” in the fire. I was passed around more time than I can mention. With the new Claim number (C4–9782) you gave me, do you think it may be worth it to try again? You did more for me in 1 week, than the Government has done for me in 3 years. Thanks again…looking forward to hearing from you.
Thanks so very much again for your research, and getting me the documents before we leave on our trip to Germany! It was very interesting and thought provoking reading the actual Morning Reports and seeing some medical record information on my Dad. I am glad that I made decision to pursue with your research, valuable record information for us. Your explanations for reviewing the Morning Reports and providing link to your military abbreviation list were very helpful. It was neat to use and really helpful as when I initially just Google searched for Konigshofen two locations not to far from each other showed up and the coordinate translator identified which one was correct.
Thank you very much for all this information and the summary. I have been very impressed with the service you provide.
Thank you so much for your research. I have received the three files and there appears to be a lot of information about my Father’s locations that I didn’t have and never thought I’d get. Can’t wait to delve into it all! Thanks for the VA information, but I wrote to the VA several years ago and got my Dad’s claim file. There I discovered that his mother received a pension until she died in 1972, among other things. You’re right, it took a long time to get the file – at least several months; and it was quite a large file. Last December I finally received my Dad’s Bronze Star and CIB after writing my congressman. I hated to do that and wrote many letters to the National Archives myself. Finally, at a dead end, I wrote my congressman and, again, it took a long time, but I finally was presented them in December 2014. As you can see, the first letter that I wrote the National Archives was way back in 1999 – 15 years ago! Thank you again for the research,
Thanks for the fantastic information on Lt. U. Have a question – I noticed that he was awarded the Bronze Star. Would there realistically be a chance of finding that award citation, or would it be buried too deeply in the division files to make the search worthwhile? I’m definitely going to send you some more research requests. Thanks again 🙂