S/Sgt. Charles Carraher

Hello everyone,

My Great Grandfather, S/Sgt. Charles Robert "Chuck" Carraher, served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific Theatre. I know that he was injured on the Philippines and was awarded the Purple Heart. I was wondering, and I know this is a long shot, if anyone recognizes this name. I do not know any unit information or anything like that, and I do apologize.

He was born on August 23, 1923 in Kankakee, Illinois. He enlisted in 1942 and served in the Pacific Theatre. He was injured on the Philippines, and received the Purple Heart. He was discharged in 1945 or 1946. He passed away on February 28, 1999 in Kankakee, Illinois. He is buried in Mound Grove Cemetery.



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This picture was taken on March 18, 194? (the last number was cut off). From Left to Right in the picture are Dane Svendsen, Charles Carraher, ? Carson, and ? Ford. ​

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Charles Carraher is on the far Left.​

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I apologize for the size of the photographs. I am not computer savvy, and I do not know how to adjust the size. Sorry.​

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Thank you Biak for this information. I will contact them and see what I can find. When I discover more, I will let you know.

 

The problem with WWII Army Service Records is that many were lost in a fire in the 1970s. You can still get lucky from time to time and locate some pages in the record that will give unit info. On occaision there are personnel records which are only partially burned by the fire as well.

 

Unfortunately, there were at least a dozen Army Divisions that fought in the Philippines in WWII. He was from Illinois, which might suggest the 33rd Division, but that's not necessarily the case. I found his obituary online which indicated that he was a member of the Kankakee VFW Post 2867 and American Legion Post 85 in Kankakee, Illinois. You could try contacting them to see if they might have any info on what unit he was in. That might be a long shot since he passed away about 14 years ago. It never hurts to ask, though.

You could try the Kankakee County Historical Society or the Kankakee Valley Genealogical Society. They may be able to dig up something which may mention the unit he was in (i.e. newspaper articles, etc).

You may want to try searching the NARA Electronic WWII Army Enlistment Records database in order to find his Army Serial Number. That will be helpful when requesting his records. For some reason, I have been having issues with accessing the database, otherwise I would have done it for you.

GAR is correct about the Army personnel records fire in 1973. I believe about 80% were destroyed. However, I would still recommend requesting them. It doesn't cost much to submit a request and there is about a 20% chance that you'll get something.

 

Not to be a party pooper but I would put that percentage for getting original documents that are not just the final pay voucher at closer to 5-10 percent of the time for Army veterans. When they say 80 percent were destroyed they are talking about 80 percent(really closer to 90 percent) of ALL personnel records. So a lot of times there are bits and peices from one file that are half burned and barely legible while another file may have 50 pages that are nothing but clinical records. It really is the luck of the draw.

 

Fair enough, GAR. I'm not going to quibble over specific percentages. We're about encouraging people to find out what they can, but also not providing unrealistic expectations one way or the other. The fact is, it only costs a postage stamp to find out whether or not the records are available. That's not much of a risk, in my opinion.

 

I'm not arguing with you. You definitely know what you are talking about and those are the numbers that NARA puts out. I was just speaking from my own hands on personal experience(and frustration at times) at NARA. It certainly seems like they were a bit on the optimistic side with that estimate. And I totally agree with you: even if all you can get is a pay voucher-GET IT! Even if it is just a voucher it may have clues on it that will unlock further research potential on your veteran.

 

I dont know if you have a account on ancestry, but there is some information to find on that website about your Great Grandfather.

 

I had one. When my membership expired, my family tree (going up to 200 AD) was all deleted and I could not find it afterward. I can access Ancestry for free at the library though, so I might do that when I return home from vacation. Thank you for the info! Thank you everyone else for your comments.

 

If you need help with ancestry I can also have a look for you

 

No, it's okay dg1983, I don't want to be a bother. I can go to the library and do some research there. Thank you for the offer though.

-Arturo

 

Arturo, I hope you will let us know when you find out they unit he served in. I'm sure we will be able to offer much help in finding more info once that is figured out.

 

As soon as I know anything, I will surely post it here.

 

I just noticed that the HQ, 3rd Bn, 129th Infantry Regiment as well as L Company, 129th Infantry were both located in Kankakee, IL prior to the regiment being federalized. At that time, the 129th was with the 33rd Infantry Division, but was later reassigned to the 37th Infantry Division.

I had dismissed the 129th earlier because I did not find your Great Grandfather's name in the regimental history that I have. However, it is possible that his name was not included for some reason. I have run across that before. It is also possible that he may have stayed with the 33rd Division which also fought in the Philippines. I would say that those are the likely candidates, though we cannot completely rule out any of the other possible units that also fought there.

 

Thank you very much for that information. I will look at those units and see if I can find anything. I am still working to see I could get any records from NARA.

-Arturo

 

The 33rd Infantry Division Association has company/battery rosters for some of it's subordinate units available online. I did check and did not find his name. However, as I mentioned before, these rosters are far from infallible. I would still try contacting the Association if you don't get anywhere with NARA.

 

I contacted the association regarding my great-grandfather, but they had no information on him. They did, however, had a possible name for the third man from the left in the picture of the four behind the machine gun. John L. Carson, born 1924 of Company K of the 123rd Infantry Regiment. He was from Kansas. Like I said, I do not know if it is the same man but it could very well be. Any thoughts?

 

Well, I am doubtful that he (Carson) is the same as the name they found. First, it is a fairly common last name, so finding someone with that last name doesn't tell us much. I went back to the 33rd website and looked for the other names in the roster for K Company, 123rd Infantry and found none of them. If they were from K Co., you'd think at least one other would be on the roster. Of course, this assumes they are all from the same Company.

It has occurred to me that "Dane" could be Mr. Svendsen's nickname. Svendsen is a Scandinavian name, so Dane could refer to his Danish ancestry.

 

Thanks for sharing your pictures, Art. Pass on my thanks to your family for your Great Grandfather's contributions to our Freedoms and to the Freedom's of a large part of the World. Greater accomplishments are hard to find in the struggle for the triumph of the Good over evil.