Research 101

[Jack Aubrey]

Bill

He is not listed in the Thunder From Heaven book...

Regards

José

[historiknut]

I had typed "17th Airborne Steve Brodek" and what I had come up with was a site called A SHORT HISTORY OF BATTERY A 680TH GLIDER FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION. It is a homemade site and is very interesting. On page 6 it has Steve Brodek listed with 16 other airborne at Camp Mackall Tennessee. It looks like Private Brodek was transferred after the tough training at Camp Mackall. That is as far as I had gotten. NARA has him as listed as duration of the war. It has No branch assignment Branch Code 02. What does that mean? I have his Ike jacket with T 5 stripes, a glider medal, his overseas stripes and ruptured duck, purple heart ribbon and medal, and ribbon bar. His name laundry marked inside. Any help would be appreciated. Also you might want ot check out the site I had found, it is quite interesting. thanks Bill

[Jean-Loup]

Not sure if this is already posted, the complete list of WW2 casualties on NARA, organised by county: http://www.archives.gov/research/arc...ies/index.html

[historiknut]

Thanks Jean

[613chad10]

can someone help me out for finding more on a man, he was in the 82nd airborne and his name is Charlie L. Butler, i have the mans patch, Thanks

[posse]

Hi guys,
I'm new here. I thought someone here could help me on this one...

I'm in the possession of this man's dog tags

ARAM A CAPTANIAN
O-1688129
(Freehold, New Jersey)

Captanian (MD) served in Italy as a surgeon. He died in 1978.


That's all I can find... Perhaps someone can tell me a bit more?
Thanks!

[army_inc]

Walter Rochatka/rohatko?

Hey Guys,
I have a buddy of mine here at Ft. Eustis who had his grandfather in WWII. He doesn't know much about where he was except that he was in the 9th ID in Italy (he thinks, but isn't sure). Apparently when he was drafted, they possibly spelled his name wrong (as they do it to me all the time, go figure) and he couldn't change it. I was wondering where the best place to find information on him would be. My friend is a veteran of the war in Iraq, so could he get the info from NARA? Any information would be greatly appreciated by a couple of service members of the US Army. Thanks guys.
-Dave

[historyguy]

Dave, I would suggest your friend start with contacting St. Louis, but keep in mind millions of WWII records were destroyed in a fire in 1973, so chances are the NPRC won't be able to tell him anything. But I think it's important to begin there.

Grandchildren are not considered next of kin, so he'll have to use the Freedom of Information Act to request the records. It would be better if a next-of-kin could sign the Form-180. It affects the type of information released.

Otherwise, your friend could contact a 9th Div veteran's association. Also, I would suggest searching the NARA Enlistee database-- that would at least say for sure how the Army spelled his name. (Assuming it's listed, 10% of those records are listing as well.)

A mis-spelled name will make it difficult to research, but not impossible. (Links to the Form-180 and the NARA site are in my post on Page 1.)

[combat-helmets]

This is fine and dandy for Army personnel, but what about us Marine collectors?
As far as I can determine,NARA covers US Army personnel.

I just picked up a nice KABAR fighting knife. The sheath has a last name , what I believe is a WW2 vintage serial number, and is marked USMC Recon...

Is there an online data base or do you have to send in formal request for marine records?

[historyguy]

You would have to send in a formal request to the NPRC for a Marine.

The only info the NARA would have online is if he was a WWII POW or a Korean or VN era casualty.

Good luck!

[hln806]

Steve J Brodek's Daughter

Hi Bill, I am the only child of Private Steven J Brodek 17th Airborne WWII. I am willing to answer any question and provide any information about him that you are searching for. Do you still have any of his items? Heather

Not sure if this is already posted, the complete list of WW2 casualties on NARA, organised by county: http://www.archives.gov/research/arc...ies/index.html

I had typed "17th Airborne Steve Brodek" and what I had come up with was a site called A SHORT HISTORY OF BATTERY A 680TH GLIDER FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION. It is a homemade site and is very interesting. On page 6 it has Steve Brodek listed with 16 other airborne at Camp Mackall Tennessee. It looks like Private Brodek was transferred after the tough training at Camp Mackall. That is as far as I had gotten. NARA has him as listed as duration of the war. It has No branch assignment Branch Code 02. What does that mean? I have his Ike jacket with T 5 stripes, a glider medal, his overseas stripes and ruptured duck, purple heart ribbon and medal, and ribbon bar. His name laundry marked inside. Any help would be appreciated. Also you might want ot check out the site I had found, it is quite interesting. thanks Bill

[hln806]

Thanks, Historyguy for the post I need all the help I can get and I really appreciate all you gents. I have been learning so much its wonderful. I always wanted to find pieces of my dad but really never knew how and that sites like this even existed. Went to WWII memorial and Arlington in Washington with son last year and guess it really impacted my. Had never been to Wash before. Since all the help from this site I have found info at Natl Archives site and am currently requesting info from them as next of kin. Also am checking other military sites. Don't have any of his family to ask all are gone. Found pic of his grave on findagrave.com, had never seen it, that was definitely hard. I am not a collector and I only want Steve Brodek's stuff and I promise if I ever get it back it will never be sold and will forever have a place of honor in my home and someday my son's. Anyway thanks for all the help, Heather

[ggent001]

NPRC Research Options: Detailed Research of Individual Veterans

Hi everyone. I'm proud to announce the start of my research business, Golden Arrow Research, which will be geared towards reconstructing service records of veterans from the archival files at the National Personnel Records Center. Most of us have hit what seems to be a brick wall when attempting to research items in our collection by going through the NPRC. Many WWI and WWII records were lost in the fire and many times even when you are lucky enough to receive a somewhat complete personnel file it won't tell you everything you want to know. When did a veteran join a particular unit? What battles did he take part in? Where and when was he MIA, KIA, or WIA? How long was he absent from his unit for treatment if he was wounded in the line of duty? Was he a rifleman or did he preform a different function in his unit? If you know what unit your veteran was in, it is entirely possible to find the answers to some if not all of these questions(and possibly more) through a detailed review of the morning reports which are on microfilm in St. Louis. Not only does this research have the potential to increase the value of certain collectables, but it also gives you the satisfaction of knowing specifically where and when your veteran was in action. I offer the option to do full and even partial reviews of the morning reports. Additionally, I can also access personnel files quickly and painlessly at a lower cost than even the NPRC charges. Both of these services cover WWI, WWII and Korea, although the WWI records are not quite as reliable as the WWII and Korean era. Please check out our website for more detailed information to see if we can help you:

http://www.goldenarrowresearch.com/



Take care,
Geoff

[NavyFCO]

Hi everyone. I'm proud to announce the start of my research business, Golden Arrow Research, which will be geared towards reconstructing service records of veterans from the archival files at the National Personnel Records Center. Most of us have hit what seems to be a brick wall when attempting to research items in our collection by going through the NPRC. Many WWI and WWII records were lost in the fire and many times even when you are lucky enough to receive a somewhat complete personnel file it won't tell you everything you want to know. When did a veteran join a particular unit? What battles did he take part in? Where and when was he MIA, KIA, or WIA? How long was he absent from his unit for treatment if he was wounded in the line of duty? Was he a rifleman or did he preform a different function in his unit? If you know what unit your veteran was in, it is entirely possible to find the answers to some if not all of these questions(and possibly more) through a detailed review of the morning reports which are on microfilm in St. Louis. Not only does this research have the potential to increase the value of certain collectables, but it also gives you the satisfaction of knowing specifically where and when your veteran was in action. I offer the option to do full and even partial reviews of the morning reports. Additionally, I can also access personnel files quickly and painlessly at a lower cost than even the NPRC charges. Both of these services cover WWI, WWII and Korea, although the WWI records are not quite as reliable as the WWII and Korean era. Please check out our website for more detailed information to see if we can help you:

http://www.goldenarrowresearch.com/



Take care,
Geoff

Sorry for not plugging Geoff before, but I've used him to research out now close to 300 WW2 veterans from the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine. I give him my highest recommendation!

Dave

[christof]

Hi gentlemen,

Who is abble to help me to confirm that Nicholas DARAH born 25 8 1924 (n° 35545222)was a member during D Day of Fox coy of 506 PIR (101 AB Div.). Thanks for any help