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Continuing Research on Granddad

Discussion in 'Those Who Served' started by EDavis73, Feb 12, 2018.

  1. EDavis73

    EDavis73 New Member

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    Just thought I would update everyone on how things are progressing in my research on Daniel W. McCarty, my granddad. (my original thread here: http://ww2f.com/threads/hello-new-member-researching-ww2-grandfather.70496)

    I've got my hands on a bunch of documents now that have painted a clearer overall picture of his service from Oct 44-June 45. I've been able to confirm (thanks to a lot of help from folks here) that he was drafted into the 44th ID and served in the Medical Detachment of the 71st IR. Furthermore, I've had success getting the index of the 44th ID from the National Archives. Even more good news is that there appears to be Operations Reports from the 71st ID spanning that exact same time period. I've sent off an email to the NARA researcher who reproduced the index to find out how to request those records.

    One question I do have is what other reports or documents may be relevant to him? There's just so much here and I don't know if requesting Divisional records will be of any use or if I'm better sticking to the Regimental level. Anyone have any experience? According to the researcher, "there are 50 boxes (Boxes 9209 - 9259) in total for the division; each box contains approximately 1,200 pages of documents." Yowsers!

    The terminology is also somewhat daunting - I don't know what "S 3 Reports" nor "S 2 Journals" are. This may prompt additional questions but hopefully I can draw upon the experience of others.

    Thanks!
     
  2. TD-Tommy776

    TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

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    It depends on what you are trying to find. If you are trying to find the GO for his Silver Star, that will be in the Division records (per info in previous thread). If you are trying to understand what he and his unit went through, I would see what's available for the Medical Detachment as that is the smallest size unit. If that is not an option, then consider regimental records. The larger the unit size, the more generalized the information tends to be.

    For the best types of reports, see this post in your other thread. Keep in mind that these are unit records and not personnel records. Specific mention of an individual in the narratives is rare. Some reports will have lists of individuals (i.e. awards, promotions, etc.), but not much else about the individual soldiers. However, if you know what the unit was going through, you have a pretty good idea of what your grandfather was going through.

    S-2 has to do with Intelligence. S-3 has to do with Operations.
     

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