US Marine historians

[JohnTRourke]

I need some help

My father in law (passed 15 years now) was a Marine in both WWII and Korea. For almost the entire time in both. Beyond his name and that I know little and his kids seem to know less than that.

It's a somewhat unique name and I know about when and where he enlisted.

Any ideas on where to start on finding out some more information?

[Aloha_Shooter]

There was a central repository for veterans' records where you could get that information. I think it was in St. Louis. Problem is, I seem to recall them losing a lot of records in a huge fire.

Try https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel

If you are a veteran or next-of-kin of a deceased veteran, you may now use vetrecs.archives.gov to order a copy of your military records. For all others, your request is best made using a Standard Form 180. It includes complete instructions for preparing and submitting requests. Please Note: All requests must be in writing, signed and mailed to us at the address shown below.

National Personnel Records Center
1 Archives Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63138

Telephone: 314-801-0800
Status Check: Online Status Update Request Form *
Fax: 314-801-9195
Checking the Status of Your Request:

Once you have allowed sufficient time for us to receive and process your request (about 10 days), you may check the status of your request by using the Online Status Update Request form.

You may also telephone the NPRC Customer Service Line (this is a long-distance call for most customers):

Telephone: 314-801-0800
Telephone (Toll Free): 1-866-272-6272

Note: Our peak calling times are weekdays between 10:00 am CST and 3:00 pm CST. Staff is available to take your call as early as 7:00 am and as late as 5:00 pm cst.

[Martinjmpr]

Go to this web page, they have a nice tutorial on how to do a FOIA request.

http://thisainthell.us/blog/?page_id=39605

[Wulf202]

"Please note:   Records are accessioned into the National Archives, and become archival, 62 years after the service member's separation from the military. This is a rolling date; hence, the current year, 2015, minus 62 years is 1953. "

[Great-Kazoo]

I need some help

My father in law (passed 15 years now) was a Marine in both WWII and Korea. For almost the entire time in both. Beyond his name and that I know little and his kids seem to know less than that.

It's a somewhat unique name and I know about when and where he enlisted.

Any ideas on where to start on finding out some more information?

I called the archives aloha posted. With paperwork, turn around time was 3 weeks. Providing they can locate info requested. Korean Police Action is getting hit or miss, WW II minimal.

[JohnTRourke]

So, I send all this to the wife
She says "oh, i have that, my brother did that"
<heavy sigh>

ummmmmmmmmmmmm, well, where is it?
She's looking
I figure if I can get unit numbers and such I can figure out where he was.

I shall update as I find out more

Thank you so much

[Great-Kazoo]

So, I send all this to the wife
She says "oh, i have that, my brother did that"
<heavy sigh>

ummmmmmmmmmmmm, well, where is it?
She's looking
I figure if I can get unit numbers and such I can figure out where he was.

I shall update as I find out more

Thank you so much

You should contact them anyway. Who knows what if any awards, or medals he might not have received.
Our dad had a few he never accepted. By the time they sent them, he wasn't coherent enough to tell us about them. He never talked about his time in Korea, ever. Everything else from the time he left home @ 17 joined the merchant marines, as a cop, we heard it. Outside of enlisting to "fight them damn commies MacArthur should have been allowed to deal with" silence .

[Irving]

My grandfather received some medals, one for saving a guy's life. A week or two before he died he told me, "I saved the wrong guy. The guy I saved was an asshole about it the whole time." Two guys were in trouble in the water and my grandfather swam out and pulled on in to shore. He swam out to get the other guy but he had drowned by that time.

[izzy]

I'm going to use this for sure. I've got some info about my grandfather who was a Marine in WWII that I'd like to learn.

[Wulf202]

It's looking like both of my relatives I would like to find the records for were destroyed in the fire.