Hi everyone

[Elwood1114]

Hello, everyone -

I found this site while researching my Dad's history in World War II.

There is so much to learn about this war. The fire in the National Archives has made it impossible for me to get official record of my Dad's history, so I'm attempting to reconstruct it any way I can...boy, is it a lot of work...and a lot of reading. LOL

I am glad to be here...thanks for having me

[Tom Houlihan]

Welcome, Elwood!

What do you have so far on your Dad? Is he still around to ask questions of him?

[Elwood1114]

Hi Tom -

My Dad passed on 17 years ago. He would never speak of his experience in the war - especially to me, his only daughter. When I was a little girl and would ask about the scars on his legs, he would simply say "Daddies don't talk to daughters about such things".

A few months before he died, he told my oldest brother about his experiences but not in large detail. Here is what we know:

He was in the US Army from 1943 to 1946 and served in the Pacific theater. According his service number, he was drafted into a unit that was transitioned into the 6th Army Rangers - however, due to the fire at the National Archives, I can't find any other info to verify that. There are incomplete lists of the men who served in the 6th Army Rangers, but I've never found anything in my Dad's name. His enlistment record, which I found on Ancestry.com, doesn't show a unit number or any significant information.

I grew up believing my Dad was wounded once in the war and that he'd received the Purple Heart. In reality, he was wounded 3 times - according to my brother. Once he was shot in the leg, another time he was buried in the mud by a tank. The last time sent him to the hospital when a grenade landed in his foxhole. He dove out, but his leg was still in the way and he had bad shrapnel wounds. Apparently, surgeons wanted to amputate his leg but he begged them not to. As a result, he had several surgeries over the years to remove more and more shrapnel from his leg as it would work it's way out.

My other older brother has our Dad's ribbons. His medals were stolen years ago - but my older brother found his ribbons when he passed. We didn't know which medals they represented until I started this research. Using the ribbons as a reference, we looked up the medals on the internet. He was awarded the following medals:

The Bronze Star
The Purple Heart with 2 oak leaves
The WW II Victory Medal
The Phillipine Liberation Medal with one bronze star
The Army Good Conduct Medal
The Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with 2 bronze stars and 1 bronze arrowhead
The American Campaign Medal

Again, due to the fire, I can't get confirmation on paper. Dad didn't have any discharge papers in his things when he passed away.

I know that he was considered very good with a flame thrower and had nightmares for years (before I was born) of the Japanese men screaming as he was burning them. Apparently they hid themselves in caves as the Allied Forces were taking back the Philipines and (according to my older brother) Dad figured out a way to discharge the napalm farther into the tunnels than before...and his task was to burn them out.

I just realized how long this post is - I apologize for being so wordy. :-) Thank you so much for your welcome message - I am really glad to be here and hoping to learn more as I continue to visit.

Have a wonderful day!

Dianne

[temujin77]

Welcome Diane, glad to have you join us.

Please share whatever you uncover with us. I, for one, enjoy reading family histories of WW2 participants.

[Tom Houlihan]

Diane, it looks like you have some information about units. Try researching those units, to see what kind of a "big picture" you can find. Try looking for unit websites or veterans organizations. You might be able to find some guys that knew your Dad.

[Klaus]

Welcome to the site Elwood!

Hope you'll find what you were looking for.

Klaus

[Elwood1114]

Originally Posted by Tom Houlihan

Diane, it looks like you have some information about units. Try researching those units, to see what kind of a "big picture" you can find. Try looking for unit websites or veterans organizations. You might be able to find some guys that knew your Dad.

Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome.

Tom, I am in the middle of searching for more info about the 6th Army Rangers - but most of the info I'm finding is regarding the Raid at Cabanatuan...which, to my understanding, was only 2 companies of the 6th Army Rangers and the Alamo Scouts. It's pretty hard to get info on the other companies, but I'm still working on it. :-)

I've also started researching my Dad's history in the Merchant Marines, which has been harder than I thought. They have no info without his "z" or "book" number and he didn't leave that info with us.

I will keep searching and will definitely let y'all know if I find anything new

- Dianne

[Klaus]

I wish you good luck then.

[sniper1shot]

I fully understand your quest and frustrations.
I am trying to find my Great Grand Fathers WWI info from the British files. They too were destroyed, ironically, by German bombs in WWII.

Paid a researcher in the early 90's to find something....received one piece of paper saying "everything destroyed....." So I gave up. Started again this year and already have found more info than I thought possible.
Give it time and try every link you come across. Some of these "out of the way" sites hold a wealth of info.

Good luck in your search......carefull though, you could become addicted. HAHA

[Elwood1114]

Originally Posted by sniper1shot

carefull though, you could become addicted. HAHA

TOO LATE!!! LOL