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John Cecilia
04-21-2014, 04:08 PM
I'm looking for some advice about being able to look at the records of an AAC veteran of WW II, my father. We were not close, but I do know he served as a flight instructor for most of the war. He was moved to combat status as the final invasion of Japan was being planned, but never went. He never talked about his war or flying experiences in our conversations, and he has now flown west. He was the last of his generation, so there are no contemporaries to help.

What I am primarily interested in is whether I can determine what aircraft he actually flew.

Has anyone ever attempted such a search? Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to start?

FlyingRon
04-22-2014, 05:29 AM
I am doing research on a WWI/WWII Air Corps (eventually rose to the rank of General) member. The good news is you can get records from the National Personnel Records Center (part of the National Archives) in St. Louis. The bad news is that in 1973 the place caught on fire and something like 70-80% of the records (especially after H in the alphabet). I got back like 70 pages on my subject but it is almost entirely copies of payroll records going back into the 1920's and while it mentions rank and pay rate it doesn't provide unit identification or the like. I did get his death benefit paperwork which gave his promotions over time.

But still the NPRC is a good place to start, it has links to other sources of military information...http://www.archives.gov/veterans/

Check 6
04-23-2014, 02:28 PM
Ron posted the correct link. I obtained my father's WWII records, which included duplicates of his medals, training documents, combat assignments, and more.

Skydriver
04-25-2014, 12:10 AM
His DD-214 form has a lot of good information. Special schools, courses, and duty stations. It would be a good place to start. A son can get that information on-line at the link above.

Sco Deac
04-25-2014, 09:23 AM
Ron's link is correct for the most comprehensive and free way to get records. If your father is living, he will need to sign the standard release. If he is deceased, you can, as next-of-kin, sign the release. If they are not able to find records, you will get a statement back from NPRC St. Louis stating as much. It's hit or miss with the fire and I have had pretty good luck getting records from them. In connection with my work, I end up requesting records of prior servicemen, usually Navy servicemen, approximatley 200 times per year and usually get the records we are requesting 90% of the time. I was not, however, able to get my grandfather's records much to the disappointment of my mom and aunt.

If you can't get the MilPers from the NPRC, you can, with more effort or expense, recreate much of his service history from unit histories at the National Archives in College Park, MD. There are several archival reseach firms, that you can hire. Many are listed on the National Archives website, but I've had great luck with McCaffery & Associates. Once they find your father's seriel number, they can find a lot of informantion burried in the National Archives. You can go to the archives and attempt to do the search on your own, but if you don't know what you are looking for, you will spend a lot of time spinning your wheels.

Zack Baughman
04-25-2014, 10:47 AM
I have always found this page to be useful when conducting research on WWII Army Air Corps/Forces veterans: http://www.armyairforces.com/ResearchHelp.aspx

Zack