Military Records

[Carolina_Girl]

I've been doing some digging around on ancestry.com and fold3.com for military records for family members..

It turns out that my paternal grandfather, who I not only have his navy photo that was taken in 1944 but his uniform as well... never actually went overseas and did anything. The war was over before they could ship him off. There's no actual record of this though.. just me noticing the dates on his draft card don't match up with the war itself.

So it got me thinking. Besides a draft card, how do I find out if other family members did actually fight?

 

[Peacoat]

I've been doing some digging around on ancestry.com and fold3.com for military records for family members..

It turns out that my paternal grandfather, who I not only have his navy photo that was taken in 1944 but his uniform as well... never actually went overseas and did anything. The war was over before they could ship him off. There's no actual record of this though.. just me noticing the dates on his draft card don't match up with the war itself.

So it got me thinking. Besides a draft card, how do I find out if other family members did actually fight?

Please remember that not everyone who went overseas actually did any fighting. in fact, the majority of them never saw combat. Did that diminish their contribution to the war effort? Same question for someone who had not yet been sent overseas when the war ended. I don't see that their contribution to the war effort was diminished one bit.

But my real question goes to the draft card thing. A draft card won't have a record of service; it will just have basic information showing he registered for the draft.

Back in WWII the records were maintained in a Selective Service "Ledger." This ledger will have info about places served, including the dates.

I f you have a copy of the ledger, and it doesn't list an assignment overseas, then that is good evidence he stayed stateside. But so what? He registered for the draft and he served. It's not his fault he was too young to get drafted at the beginning of the war.

History takes some odd and quirky twists and turns. Because of its vagaries, there are many who aren't here today who would have been here, but for the intervention of a war.

But putting that aside temporarily, I am interested in the draft card vs. ledger question. Do you have one or the other or both?

 

[Carolina_Girl]

Please remember that not everyone who went overseas actually did any fighting. in fact, the majority of them never saw combat. Did that diminish their contribution to the war effort? Same question for someone who had not yet been sent overseas when the war ended. I don't see that their contribution to the war effort was diminished one bit.

But my real question goes to the draft card thing. A draft card won't have a record of service; it will just have basic information showing he registered for the draft.

Back in WWII the records were maintained in a Selective Service "Ledger." This ledger will have info about places served, including the dates.

I f you have a copy of the ledger, and it doesn't list an assignment overseas, then that is good evidence he stayed stateside. But so what? He registered for the draft and he served. It's not his fault he was too young to get drafted at the beginning of the war.

History takes some odd and quirky twists and turns. Because of its vagaries, there are many who aren't here today who would have been here, but for the intervention of a war.

But putting that aside temporarily, I am interested in the draft card vs. ledger question. Do you have one or the other or both?

Thanks for the reply!
This is all I was able to find for him.. for everyone else is the same thing. I'm not sure I'm not looking at the right stuff or if all of them stayed here. I was able to find where another family members draft card was canceled because he had a heart attack before he could go.

I do wonder if the site I was on doesn't have all of the records though. I know for a fact that 3 of my mom's uncles were in Vietnam and did fight.... yet they don't seem to even exist on that site ‍

 

[DonR]

If they served, you can request a copy of their DD-214 through the National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records

 

[Peacoat]

That only shows he registered on July 29, 1944. There was still almost a year of fighting left in Europe and over a year left against Japan. He had plenty of time to finish boot camp and be sent overseas. Not saying he was, but there was plenty of time left. As I said in my prior post that isn't relevant. He registered for the draft, and he served, as evidenced by the photo in his Navy uniform.

You need to locate the Selective Service Ledger to complete your search. I don't have time now to look into it, but might later on or tomorrow. PC

 

[Peacoat]

If they served, you can request a copy of their DD-214 through the National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records

Her grandfather was discharged before they started issuing the DD-214. That's why I said the Ledger is probably the best evidence. But she could probably request that as well.

However, many of those old records are now available online without having to request anything.

 

[Carolina_Girl]

That only shows he registered on July 29, 1944. There was still almost a year of fighting left in Europe and over a year left against Japan. He had plenty of time to finish boot camp and be sent overseas. Not saying he was, but there was plenty of time left. As I said in my prior post that isn't relevant. He registered for the draft, and he served, as evidenced by the photo in his Navy uniform.

You need to locate the Selective Service Ledger to complete your search. I don't have time now to look into it, but might later on or tomorrow. PC

Thanks! I just tried to look a little more and couldn't find anything myself. I feel like I just don't know what I'm doing is the problem Lol

 

[Frunobulax]

Try contacting your local VA, or even VFW for guidance. When my father was near the end, my mother sought the assistance of our congressman to establish Dad's service record to qualify him for VA care. Once we knew his unit, she was able to establish a record. There are centralized locations for units establishing assignments and troop movements.

We were stymied, however, as a major fire at the records center in St. Louis destroyed many records. So you may run into some roadblocks.

 

[Peacoat]

Try contacting your local VA, or even VFW for guidance. When my father was near the end, my mother sought the assistance of our congressman to establish Dad's service record to qualify him for VA care. Once we knew his unit, she was able to establish a record. There are centralized locations for units establishing assignments and troop movements.

We were stymied, however, as a major fire at the records center in St. Louis destroyed many records. So you may run into some roadblocks.

Fortunately for her, the fire didn't affect records of the Navy. Only the Army and Army Air Corps records were affected, IIRC.