Tracking my great uncle's service

Pestering the relatives finally turned up a little something

The back of the first photo has a faint 'Post Card' stamp on the back. Anyone know if this was something that could be done with photographs? Or could it possibly be a generic post card for the unit? My great grandmother had written Gerald's name on the back, but just seems weird that a photo would be turned into a post card. Any ideas?

 

Been a while since I've been able to update. Received unfortunate news that the IDPF for Gerald was lost to the fire. But have requested and received his final pay voucher which indeed shows he was in Co K 18th Inf Reg when he was KIA. Just that much more closure.


View attachment 22150

 

I think you mean his OMPF (Official Military Personnel File) was lost in the fire. Those were the records that were held in St Louis when the fire occurred in 1973. The IDPF (Individual Deceased Personnel File) is a completely separate set of records.

 

First Division Museum at Cantigny uploaded a ton of documents to their website. I finally have a copy of General orders #19 which has the silver star award listed for Gerald. Sgt Michael Klay and Pvt Hubert Spivey had identical descriptions which leads me to believe that the three of them were awarded for the same action (2 posthumously). It is extremely gratifying to finally find something I've been trying to hunt down for so long.

http://firstdivisionmuseum.nmtvault.com/jsp/viewer.jsp?doc_id=iwfd0000%252F20141124%252F00000159&view_width=640.0&rotation=0&query1=&collection_filter=All&collection_name=&zoom_factor=current&search_doc=vermilyea&sort_col=null&highlightColor=yellow&color=&CurSearchNum=2&search_doc1=vermilyea&submit.x=8&submit.y=9&page_name=&page_name=

Jackpot - After searching Hubert Spivey on that site I found a stars and stripes article Saturday May 1, 1943 which details the actions of the battle for these 3 men and another I was unaware of Pfc Anthony Pedergnana (spelled wrong in the article). Only the survivors were listed by name and the 2 who were killed by rank: Pfc (Gerald Vermilyea) and Sergeant (Michael Kaye).

http://firstdivisionmuseum.nmtvault.com/jsp/viewer.jsp?doc_id=iwfd0000%252F20141124%252F00000013&view_width=640.0&rotation=0&query1=&collection_filter=All&collection_name=5d51b39f-52d3-4177-b65e-30b812011812&zoom_factor=current&search_doc=spivey&sort_col=relevance&highlightColor=yellow&color=&cnt=8&CurSearchNum=3&search_doc1=spivey&submit.x=0&submit.y=0&page_name=&page_name=

 

Congratulations , you hung in there and it paid off. The digital archives at the 1st ID Museum look to be everything that would be available at the NARA. What a gold mine for future researchers. Thanks for posting the link.

 

Excellent job, Sopa13. Your persistence and willingness to pursue all avenues of research has paid dividends.