How to find service information?

[Pags]

A co-worker of mine is trying to find information about her Father's Army service and I'm trying to help point her in the write direction. She has his DD214 but it doesn't paint the full picture. According to his DD214 he served for 11 months between 1951 and 1952 and was then released at the convenience of the government due to the end of the Korean War. Her family history says that he was in OCS at Ft Benning when he was discharged and there seems to be some confusion as to whether he was a Private, an Officer Candidate, or a 2Lt.

Does anyone know of resources she could use to garner more information beyond the DD214?

 

[squorch2]

NARA is your coworker's best bet, considering the age of the records she's looking for. http://www.history.army.mil/html/faq/answers.html#PersonnelRecords has more, and the second section may be able to shed more light on what the units he was attached to did during the war.

 

[squorch2]

(n.b. almost all records of note that are >30 years are transferred to NARA. There are some exceptions, such as ATJs.)

 

[Machine]

Like squorch2 mentioned: http://www.archives.gov/veterans/

 

[brownshoe]

A co-worker of mine is trying to find information about her Father's Army service and I'm trying to help point her in the write direction. She has his DD214 but it doesn't paint the full picture. According to his DD214 he served for 11 months between 1951 and 1952 and was then released at the convenience of the government due to the end of the Korean War. Her family history says that he was in OCS at Ft Benning when he was discharged and there seems to be some confusion as to whether he was a Private, an Officer Candidate, or a 2Lt.

Does anyone know of resources she could use to garner more information beyond the DD214?

A long shot, but all kidding aside she might want to look here at www.togetherweserved.com

She can join using his information. Once she's filled out his profile the website will automatically locate other members that served with him and also provide contact information for them. You never know...

 

[exNavyOffRec]

A co-worker of mine is trying to find information about her Father's Army service and I'm trying to help point her in the write direction. She has his DD214 but it doesn't paint the full picture. According to his DD214 he served for 11 months between 1951 and 1952 and was then released at the convenience of the government due to the end of the Korean War. Her family history says that he was in OCS at Ft Benning when he was discharged and there seems to be some confusion as to whether he was a Private, an Officer Candidate, or a 2Lt.

Does anyone know of resources she could use to garner more information beyond the DD214?

Just a thought but if he was in OCS when discharged to me that means that he had yet to complete, so he shouldn't have been a 2Lt, but probably discharged at the rank they paid them for while in OCS, kind of like the guys in USN OCS are E-5's until graduation.

 

[Pags]

Just a thought but if he was in OCS when discharged to me that means that he had yet to complete, so he shouldn't have been a 2Lt, but probably discharged at the rank they paid them for while in OCS, kind of like the guys in USN OCS are E-5's until graduation.

That's what I suspect but I was trying to help her find some clear info that that was the way they conducted business back then. His DD214 shows a rank at induction (PVT-1) and then another rank (PVT-2) which I suspect was his rank at discharge. If he had been in OCS and didn't finish then I suspect he would have been out processed as whatever official rank/paygrade he held as an Officer Candidate.

The rub is that my coworker's brother grew up thinking his father was an Officer and was surprised to see his footstone list him as an enlisted Soldier based off of the DD214. I'd guess that the truth is similar to what you mention above.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

That's what I suspect but I was trying to help her find some clear info that that was the way they conducted business back then. His DD214 shows a rank at induction (PVT-1) and then another rank (PVT-2) which I suspect was his rank at discharge. If he had been in OCS and didn't finish then I suspect he would have been out processed as whatever official rank/paygrade he held as an Officer Candidate.

The rub is that my coworker's brother grew up thinking his father was an Officer and was surprised to see his footstone list him as an enlisted Soldier based off of the DD214. I'd guess that the truth is similar to what you mention above.

In most cases I have dealt with there is no DD214 then we have to find it, this family has it and while it may not be what they thought, it is what it is. The oddest case I have helped with was a wife was trying to get a DD214 for her husband, she thought he was in the USMC, it turns out he was USN, to be fair they hadn't been married long and he was dying from a brain tumor so his memory was quite bad.