Who has access to the databases of WWII soldiers service?

I do not have access to the pay to play databases like Ancestry.com or the others that seem to have a monopoly on records. I recently bought a really nice Cattaraugus 225Q knife that was personalized to a WWII soldier:

1st Lt. Dedric Waldemar Bergstrom, Jr. (he used D.W.) I believe he made major before discharge in '46. I was able to find an obit and he was born 21 Aug. 1919 and died 14 June 2004. He apparently lived his entire life in Neenah, Wisconsin.
I may have a service number for him, but I am unsure: 362694453

I would really appreciate any research help with this man as I have spent hours searching every way I can think up and come up blank.

Moderators, if there is a better place to post this request, please move it for me, I am still new to this forum and haven't found my way around.

Thanks,

Steve

 

The old boy was well heeled. This is the house he was raised in in Neenah, Wi.

 

Name Dedric W Bergstrom
Race White
Marital Status Married
Rank Private
Birth Year 1919
Nativity State or Country Wisconsin
Citizenship Citizen
Residence Winnebago, Wisconsin
Education 3 years of college
Civil Occupation Accountants and auditors
Enlistment Date 29 Sep 1942
Enlistment Place Kalamazoo, Michigan
Service Number 36269453
Branch Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Component Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source Civil Life
Height 68
Weight 160

Ancestry.com

 

The Oshkosh Northwestern
Oshkosh, Wisconsin · Wednesday, June 16, 2004

 

Many thanks to the responders!

 

A quick follow up. As I was searching for information, I had never heard of a Cattaraugus 225Q knife, so I google it and was looking at the photo’s and I recognized the knife.

I remembered I had a knife that looked very similar from my father in laws possessions (after he passed away a number of years ago)…….I go out to the shed where I kept it, and LOW AND BEHOLD, it is a Cattaraugus 225Q knife.

My father in law served in WW2, and this was one of the things that he carried and was in his military things when he passed. He is a Canadian, and served as a Sgt in the Perth Regiment in the 5th Cdn Armoured Division during WW2 and fought thru Italy, being awarded a Military Medal for an action in the north of Italy (his patrol of 5 men held off a German Infantry Company (approx 30 to 40 men) attack to clear him and his men from an forward OP for 12 hours until finally relieved by his battalion and supporting tanks.

Of course he is not with us, so I don’t know HOW he came in possession of the knife during his wartime experiences (was he given it by US soldiers, or traded for it, did he find it? etc etc etc).

But, it’s nice to know more about the knife……..it seems to be in an original scabbard, so I’ll now have to take it out of the shed and place it with his Second World War mementoes I have in a display cabinet.

Cheers and thanks for sharing your information

 

Mr. Bergstrom's father owned a sizable paper company that DW Jr. later ran. His service was apparently administrative and in a safe location. I wonder if the two things are linked? He was medically discharged right at the end of the war so he was not subject to the "point system" for getting home to his wife and son and returning to the family business.

There were a lot (like millions) of the type knife made by either Cattaraugus or Case. (Far more Cattaraugus than Case) the were made under contract to the government. There would have been every opportunity for him to acquire one of the knives anytime that he was in contact with American troops; he could have bought, traded or won in in a poker game. As far as I am concerned, this is one of the best production fixed blade knives ever made, they are built like tanks, of good materials that last lifetimes. The quartermaster corp wrote the specs for these knives in order to attempt to make them "soldier proof." There are all kinds of rumors surrounding them and their purpose, but they were were just tough camp knives suitable for all of the chores needed for surviving out of doors. They would have been used for cutting replacement tent pegs, trimming toenails and opening C-rats, although they are usually referred to as "fighting knives," if a trooper had to result to a knife in combat, he had really gotten himself into a life-threatening jam.

If your Father's knife still has the leather sheath, don't be surprised if it is designed to be a "left hand" sheath. That is correct for the knife as they were generally worn near the left rear pocket as a part of the distribution of the various utensils carried by the troops.

 

Thank you for all the information. Yes, I did note the sheath was left handed. And I’m assuming he did “trade” or “poker game” for it…….I have photo’s of him in Rome on R&R………and he also arrived originally in Italy thru Naples before he joined his Regiment in the front line………and his final trip from Italy back to Canada was via the US (New York City)…..he was part of a “armed guard” on a Liberty Ship that was carrying Canadian Prisoners (yes Canadians “under sentence” being returned to Canada to serve their sentences). The Liberty ships was one of the ships converted to carry troops. It was the MV Joseph Gale and he was on her from Leghorn to Naples to Oran to New York City (Convoy GUS 91)