Final Payment - does it show my grandfather's assignment?

My grandfather was in the Army and he always told us he went to Japan and helped in the cleanup after the bombs were dropped. Unfortunately, his records were part of the records that burned in the national archives so all I can get is his Final Payment - WOrk SHeet.

I'm trying to figure out more about his year in service and was wondering if anyone on this site could help me find the important information on this document. View attachment 19195

Can anyone help me read this for his unit number of something else that I can start to track down?

Thanks!!!

 

My grandfather was in the Army and he always told us he went to Japan and helped in the cleanup after the bombs were dropped.
Unfortunately, his records were part of the records that burned in the national archives so all I can get is his Final Payment - WOrk SHeet.

I'm trying to figure out more about his year in service and was wondering if anyone on this site could help me find the important information on this document.

Can anyone help me read this for his unit number of something else that I can start to track down?

Thanks!!!
View attachment 19196

 

Well its not much,but he qualified for the " Expert Infantry Badge ".My guess Infantry.

 

There is clearly some misunderstanding here. The records that were burned by bombing during the Second World War were from the First World War.

Records of men serving in the Second World War were naturally still held by the War Office and were unaffected by bombing of the Public Record Office, as it was then known (now the National Archives).

 

I believe the OP was referring to the 1973 fire which destroyed most of the Army personnel records in St. Louis.

 

Thank you for the replies. I am very grateful.
Tommy766 you are correct - I was referring to the fire in St. Louis. I had contacted them about my grandfather and got a letter back saying his records were destroyed in the fire so the only thing they could send me were FInal Payment worksheet and his Master Index Card. I know his service number (46-015-171) and his enlistment date (94-9-45)

Hi name was Frank Peter Nelson and he was from Chicago. He was born in 1915. So neither of the guys listed above are him.

Any more ideas would be really appreciated.
I'm really glad I stumbled upon this great site. Thanks again for the help.
Bob

 

It's odd it doesn't have his name or Service Number. This document is only the separation pay voucher and doesn't say anything about his prior unit. It says he got back to the US 2 Aug 1946 and separated on 7 Aug 1946 at Camp McCoy Wisconsin. If you had his service number you would have a chance at finding out a bit more from NARA and maybe get his medical records from St. Louis. Most of the medical records were not in the 1971 fire and you should be able to query for them.

 

A couple of other things you can try:

Spread the word through your extended family that you are interested in your grandfather's WWII service. If they come across photos, newspaper clippings, letters, etc sometime in the future, they will hopefully remember to pass it on to you or at least send you a copy. I got a lot of info on my great uncles this way.

If you know where he lived after the war, you can try the county recorders office or the local VA. Why the county recorder? Veterans were advised to take their discharge papers to their local recorders office to have them entered into the county record in case something should happen to their original copy. The roadblock you may run into is their respective privacy policies. If your grandmother or one of their children are still living, they may have a better chance at getting a copy of his records as they would be considered next of kin.

Another option would be to hire a researcher who specializes in US Military WWII records. Obviously, it would not be cheap, but you will likely get at least some information in a relatively short period of time. The NARA provides a list of researchers. Also, the topic has been discussed in various threads on this Fourm.


Threads merged.

 

I know it was just a WAG, and clearly marked to all our credit, but just for the sake of potentially expanding our collective knowledge I'll point out that his final station is Camp McCoy with Separation Center #30. So I would guess that SC #33(handwriting hard to read) was a previous Separation Center. Coming from the Pacific it could be Camp Stoneman, California. Your guess is as good as mine.

(Sidenote: 1610 ASU maybe an Army Service Unit(or such), I have seen similar designations for hospitals and it has to do with the regional service commands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corps_area )


Best bet is other family members with letters or documents. Second would be the county records office on the chance that he registered his discharge document (which may or may not record his unit overseas accurately).

If you want to take seriously his claim that he cleaned up after the Bomb, then we might be able to determine which infantry division was closest to those cities. However most large Japanese cities were leveled (literally) by bombing so claiming he was at an A-Bomb site when he really wasn't may have been a bit of a joke.

Welcome and good luck.

 

Was there anything on the reverse side of the form that might give more clues?