Looking for some advice here. I recently came into possession of my grandfather's Bronze Star, but have no idea why it was awarded to him. Is there somewhere I can go to get this info? I found this link but it doesn't mention any awards: https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=GP23&tf=F&q=33894672&bc=sl&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=4344137 Otherwise, about all I know is that he was a member of the 42nd Division, 222nd "Triple Deuce" Infantry. Any guidance you can provide would be appreciated! Bill
You link is just a record of his enlistment. Without his personnel records it will be hard to find, but not impossible. If you can locate the General Orders for the 42nd, that might have a reference to the award. If he earned a Combat Infantry Badge, they were awarded post-war for men who earned that badge. But that does not mean was the reason he earned that particular Bronze Star.
If you haven't done so already, you may want to try the 42nd Rainbow Division Veterans Foundation to see if they can help. As Slipdigit mentioned, he may or may not have been awarded the Bronze Star Medal for a specific action. If he was an infantryman, he may have been awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge and would have received the BSM after the War by virtue of the CIB award. Either way, you would be looking for a General Order for either the CIB or the BSM.
Interesting about the CIB award situation. That might just be the case. There are some other medals that I did not take possession of but can find out which ones they were. Thanks for the tip. I'll reach out to the Rainbow Vets Foundation as well. I was hoping that there was a government office I could write to for this info but I'm guessing you guys would have mentioned if so. Thanks for the info.
If you haven't already done so, you need to contact the National Archives and attempt to get a copy of his personnel file. Most of the Army's WWII records (80%) were destroyed in a fire in 1973, but you still have to try. You can download the form you need to fill out here. It's most likely his records are considered "archival" and thus open to the public (if he mustered out of the army more than 62 years ago), meaning anyone can request them, you don't need to be next of kin. They will send you a letter telling you they either have something or they don't. If they do, they'll either ask for a processing fee of $25 (meaning they have 11 pages or less) or $70 (meaning 12 or more pages). Every case is different, and their response may take up to a few months so be patient, but you need to try. This is the way to get the most potential information, so I definitely recommend giving it a shot. It's the first step in this process. Adam
Excellent! Who knows, you could get lucky and find his records this way, which would go a long way towards answering your questions. Patience is key. Good luck, Adam
