Pvt. Herman Fittje, Rosters of Minnesota WWII Dead

Finally received the IDPF file for Pvt. Fittje. There's very little useful info but it does confirm DOD as 1 Oct, 1944 at Jarny, France, which is about 13 miles west of Metz. We originally thought he was killed by an accidental weapon discharge while on a ship coming home. Cause of death is corrected to: accidental, non-battle casualty. No information was included as to what the accident was.

Had to leave two notes to attach the three pages with any significant info and stay below the 500kb limit.

It took one year and 21 days to get this file but it was sent thru email with the PDF attached.

 

And the last page.

 

It's disappointing that there was not more info in the IDPF. The memo of correction to the QM General in DC does not necessarily mean the CoD was not an accidental weapon discharge. It may just be correcting the incorrect CoD on the Report of Burial which has "KIA" listed. The Report of Death document which has the CoD as "accidental gunshot wound" may be still be correct... or maybe not.

That was quite a long wait for an IDPF, Steve. I wonder if they've had an uptick in the number of requests over the last couple years. Of course, it could be that this one was difficult to find.

 

I agree with your assessment, all we really learned was the accident didn't happen on a ship. At this stage, the Morning Report or a researcher are probably the only options left.

I have a vague memory of someone on the forum saying budget cuts were the reason it takes so long. But, I have a lot of vague memories these days so don't bet your retirement money on it!