Morning Reports - Company B attached to the 184th

I'm reading the book Okinawa: The Last Battle. It indicates that at one point Co B (my Grandfather's co) of the 17th Infantry was attached to the 184th Infantry. My question is: When requesting Morning Reports for this time-period, do I need to get morning reports from the 184th Infantry as well? I'm not sure how it works...

 

I would think it would be illuminating to request them as well. You might well get some details or incidents that are relevant in one and not the other.

 

I'll differ with 'lwd's' thoughts here. I think that Co. B would still be responsible for the MR's at all times. While my experience with MR's is limited to one TD battalion, when a company was moving with a Task Force, for instance, even though the TD crews could be miles ahead of the company CP, that companies headquarters platoon continued to maintain the MR's. My father was in the Recon Co. and he told me that one of his duties was to radio back to the company each day and give the status of the men in his platoon.

Steve

 

My thought was that looking at morning reports from the unit they were attached to might yield additional info on what was happening if not directly to them at least impacting events in their area. For the same reason if I was looking for details of a particular unit when it was at the front I'd try to get the reports for the units on either flank, as well as the units own of course.

 

I've found the MR's I have to be frustratingly lacking in detail much of the time. Perhaps sampling a few for the 184th would give an indication as to whether there's anything useful in them. I'm sure each unit is different as to how much info is provided. For sure, AAR's/Unit Journals for adjoining units are another source. I've read hundreds for TD units and some are very useful and others are sorely lacking in useful info. You have to pursue all angles to hopefully get the whole picture. It's always a crap shoot as to what's available.

 

I am pretty much in agreement with Natman about the MRs. Company B MRs would contain the information most relevant to Company B. Being attached to another Regiment would not change that. The amount of information provided on MRs is very much dependent on who is writing them up. Some MRs have a lot of descriptive info, others have very little. My advice would be to stick with Company B MRs. For the 184th, go to After Action Reports, Journals, and Operation Reports.

 

Are MR's filed by company or battalion or something else? While for curiosity sake, I wouldn't mind getting the MR's for both. For the cost I think I will follow the advice and stick with the co B MR's. My Grandfather was in the Pacific for almost a solid year. I just found out yesterday that he did spend several months after Okinawa in Korea, serving as an MP. My question is, do you recommend I get all the MR's for his entire time in the Pacific? I received some quotes to gather these docs. One guy seemed reasonable at $335 for 300dpi digital scans (PDF). Does that sound reasonable?

 

Generally, MRs are Company level personnel reports.

The researcher I have used does not provide copies of every MR, as it's not necessary if you are researching a specific soldier. He will provide a copy of every MR that: mentions the soldier being researched, shows any change in the location of the unit, has notes indicating activity of the unit, etc. Many times, units stay in the same place for several days and nothing really changes. There's not point in getting copies of MRs where the only thing that changes is the date. It's hard to judge whether the price is reasonable without knowing how many records they are going to provide and how many years they are covering.

 

I see. That makes sense. No sense in paying for what I don't need. But is it possible to miss movements (training, stops at different islands, etc.) of the regement if my Grandfather's name isn't mentioned for large portions of the time? I do appreciate the input. If it's foolish to request each and ever MR for this time period, maybe I should just have him search for my Grandfather's name.

I had him quote me a price for all MR's for each and every day between what is specified on my Grandfather's discharge paper. Date of departure to the Pacific: 20 FEB 1945 - Date of departure to state-side: 11 FEB 1946.

 

I've found with the MR's that I have, the location indicated at the top of the card is where the Company Command Post is located. They may remain in the same place for a number of days depending on combat activities and it is behind the front lines. It likely will not correspond to where your grandfather is located at the given time. Your best bet for "following the action (and Company B)" are the reports Tommy mentioned at the end of post #6 above. Do you already have these for the 17th IR?

 

No I do not. I'm only learning about Morning Reports in the last week. I beginning to see that my understanding is still lacking. When requesting a quote for obtaining these MR's I requested several researchers quote on the following:

Research at the NPRC in St. Louis all Morning Reports, including all attached documents, of Company B, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division for the months of Feb 1945 through Jan 1946.

Did I state this correctly? Is this too broad?

 

Your request is fine. I would suggest, based on the responses from those of us who have worked with MR's, that you request only the ones that mention your grandfather, along with any relevant documents (most likely promotions), which will allow you to save some money and perhaps you can apply the "savings" toward acquiring the the unit documents for the Feb, 45 - Jan, 46, period.
I've included an example of a MR.

 

I wonder if it is more common for Tank Destroyer Battalion MRs to be unnecessarily sparse when it comes their "Record of Events". That was certainly true with my great uncle's TD Bn, as Steve knows. Here's an MR from an infantry company that I am currently researching. I will admit to "cherry picking" it to show one with a fair amount of description of combat activities described. In this case, it provides info on actions by specific platoons, and a brief description of the weather conditions.



To answer your earlier question, if you skip MRs that don't specifically mention your Grandfather, you could miss out on some detail information. Remember that he is with the Company from the MR that says he joined until the MR that says he was transferred or detached. So, if the Company moved or boarded a ship, so did he. While I agree that the locations on the MRs don't tell you specifically where your Grandfather was, they come closer to doing that than do Regimental records.

To step back for a second, it's important to remember that we're trying to use these records (MRs, AARs, Journals, etc.) to accomplish something for which they were not intended: reconstructing the military service of one soldier. Thank God we have them, or the 1973 fire would have been all the more devastating. I think I once described WWII service research as a scavenger hunt to find the pieces for an incomplete jigsaw puzzle. You have to look in a lot of different places to find various parts of the puzzle, but you will never get a complete picture. It's just a matter of how much time you have and what you are willing to pay.

If you do decide to be more selective in requesting MRs, I would add one other category to Steve's list. Figure out the dates that are most significant for the 17th Infantry (i.e. battles, major movements, etc.) and request the MRs for the days around and during those events. That will maximize the possibility of getting more interesting info while avoiding MRs that just read, "Remained in rest area. Regular camp duties" and little else.

 

Thank you for the expert advise. I appreciate it. WOW! First time I've seen a MR. There is a lot of good info there. Exciting! I can't wait to get these for my Grandfather.

 

I really hope I do not offend anyone. It is NOT my intention. You've taken the time to share your expert advice with a noob like me. And I really do appreciate it.

Just so you guys know, I made a sale on eBay today that allowed me to have enough money to pay an individual to obtain ALL the MR's for my Grandfather's Co., between the dates I specified above. I gave him the go ahead to begin the work. He indicates I'll have access to these records next week.

I understand that this goes against your sage advice/experience. Call me a bone-head.

Once I obtain these documents, I'll share my findings with you and maybe I'll be a case study that you can use in the future, to warn others, "What not to do when obtaining MR's." I hope not.

 

Don't worry about it. After all, it's your money. Seriously, though, I appreciate your enthusiasm. Let us know if you need any help in deciphering the MRs. They can be hard to read sometimes.

 

I'm sure I'll take you up on the offer fo help. Thank you.

 

I'm following this post, so please do follow up when you get the MRs. I am trying to figure out how and what to order. Thanks!

 

Looking forward to seeing some of the MR's you're about to receive. I should have mentioned that within the MR's that I have, there are variations regarding the amount of info included. I think various clerks were filling them out and some were more detail oriented than others. The amount of info coming in from the field, and the timing, would also have contributed to the differences.

 

Just a quick update... The researcher contacted me this morning and informed me that the Morning Reports are ready. I paid the invoice. He indicates that when he gets back in the office this evening, he'll send me the link to all the reports. I asked him what the quality (readability) looked like. He said, "Very good". Hopefully the reports will yield some good information on my Grandfather. Excited!