Hello from Boston, I found this forum while researching WWII. I am researching the military career of my Uncle who served in the Pacific. He was a cryptologist. I found that out in an old newspaper article concerning his passing the Bar Exam. He went to law school on the GI Bill. He died in 1993 and never really spoke of his time in the military. I dont know much about what he did. Aside from a few letters he sent to my father from Australia I have nothing from his time in the Pacific. Nothing was found among his things after he died. Apparently he destroyed everything. I am awaiting notification from NARA about what if anything is available. Although I have the feeling his military records were destroyed in the 1973 fire. I am a professional genealogist, and nothing about him can be found in any of the normal routes, Also looking for books about what he may have been involved. My other goal is to assist in the preservation of the memories and history of WWII.
Hello Jinxie, Welcome aboard, Do you have any idea as to what division your uncle was in? Do you have any pictures of him in uniform (that could help if he is wearing uniform with patch). Also when and where he was inducted into the service. My uncle was in the pacific and inducted into the 33rd Division in ILL shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor and then seperated from his original unit and then sent to New York and onto Australia via Task Force 6184 where they formed the new Americal Division. I have found that finding information on certain individuals can be very difficult; however with a lot of perseverance and much searching via the internet you can be successful. If I can be of help please throw me a little information, sometimes two heads can be better than one. Good luck in your searches. Jim
Welcome to the Forum, jinxie. With a bit more info, we might be able to help. His name and/or his Army Serial Number might help. Also, if you can post a copy of one or more of the letters (main interest is the return address), that may give us some clues as well.
Hi Jinxie. Welcome to the forum. Whatever information you have will be helpful. His name would be a good start. Tommyy is correct that the letters, especially return addresses, will aid us in our search for information.
Thank you for your replies. I will post a scan of the envelope. One question how does one post a photo or attachment???? My Uncles name was Joseph Scaduto. He was born 23 July 1921 in Boston, he died on 23 May 1993 Burlington Massachusetts. He enlistment and discharge dates are unknown. Nothing was found among his belongings concerning his military service was ever found after he died. No photographs, papers etc. He had no children. This is the return address from the envelope. I will post a photo when I figure out how. Sgt. J Scaduto (31158068) 40 K W Radio Station 832 Signal Service co APO 923 CFO P M San Francisco California The letter was postmarked US Army Postal Service, 25 Aug 1944. Thanks everyone for your responses.
Hello Jinxie, You may be in luck, I found some information about your uncles company. 832 Signal Services Company was assinged to the Sixth Army and it seems there were nineteen teams of only four or five cryptos per eight hour shift in the unit (so not to many). They did some time down in Australia, New Guinea. Here is the link, who knows he may be amongst the photos on this site. http://www.ozatwar.com/usarmy/832ssc.htm. and check out CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY http://patriot.net/~eastlnd2/SWPA%20CP%20Ships.htm (go to the very bottom of this link.) I'll keep digging, it is quite fun. Jim
Hi Jinxie, welcome to the forums! This will give you the enlistment date. http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=WR26&tf=F&q=31158068&bc=sl&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=2344342 Good luck with your search!
First I want to give a big thank you to all who have responded with information. Jim, I have begun to look at the ozatwar site to gather more information on the 832 Signal Service Co. Sadly none of the pics posted are of my Uncle. I have am only just beginning to learn WWII military research, and know now I have much to learn about the resources out there. My Genealogy specialty is Italian/Sicilian research. I have found his enlistment and discharge date. The BIRLS had the following information. Enlisted 03 Aug 1942 -Boston Massachusetts Released 05 Jan 1946 Here is a copy of the envelope from 1944 View attachment 20591
Welcome! A check of the APO Directory shows APO 923 was in Brisbane from early 1942 through 1946 so it seems likely he was stationed there in 1944. Still a small possibility that he moved around some but that will be difficult to track down. Address should read as: APO 923 c/o (care of) P.M. (Post Master) San Francisco, California Good Luck!
Found this about the 832nd http://www.ww2places.qld.gov.au/Pages/places.aspx?PlaceCode=QWWIIHP-124 This was part of the 832nd 4th Radar Station Section Signal Aircraft Warning Company, Detachment Campaigns & Foreign Service Awards: New Guinea 24 January 1943 – 31 December 1944 Assault Landing: Panoan Island 20 October 1944 Assault Landing: Lingayen Gulf P.I. 9 January 1945 http://www.mobileradar.org/army_units_600_2691.html
Oh man do I hate that when I do that.......I just had a nice bit of information written and hit the history to grab more and BANG my message went. Anyway some of what I had written was in regards to my search for information about the 832 Signal Service Company. It appears that there were a number or VHF radio stations scattered around the South Pacific, one of which was Radio Station 40 which was located on Morotai Island which is North East of New Guinea. the Radio Heritage Foundation may have some information on these stations as they did operate up into 1946. An interesting book that might be helpful is Crystal Clear: The Struggle for Reliable Communications Technology in World ...By Richard J. Thompson, Jr. Don't know how much info is in the book but it does reference the 832nd Signal Service Co. Can't recall what other bits of info I had for you from my original message.....good hunting there is information out there..... Best Regards Jim