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New Unit Histories and Military Yearbooks!

Jenny Ashcraft334 mins

Anyone who has tried to research the military history of an ancestor knows that it can be difficult. Millions of military records were destroyed in a fire, leaving researchers to seek alternative ways to put together the pieces. We have found unit histories and military yearbooks are a great way to fill in the blanks.

Pilots from the 55th Fighter Group remove their heated flight suits after a mission

Our archives of unit histories and military yearbooks keep expanding, thanks in part to you! Hundreds of you have allowed us to borrow and digitize your unit histories and yearbooks (we return them intact and undamaged). Your generous contributions have allowed thousands to find stories, histories, and first-hand accounts related to their ancestor’s service. All user-generated content is available free of charge on our site. If you have a unit history, military yearbook, military journal, or photographs and would like to share your records with others, contact us at [email protected]. We are honored to be entrusted with your valuable memories and promise to treat them as if they were our own. We’ll return your items to you undamaged after digitization.

Here are just a few of the items we added to the archives in December:

In addition, be sure to search our ever-expanding collection of Military Yearbooks here. Make 2022 the year of amazing military discoveries! Get started on your military research today on Fold3®.

33 thoughts on “New Unit Histories and Military Yearbooks!”

  1. Great history, thanks.
    Robert Coats
    What do you have on the 31st Infantry on Bataan and prisoners sent to Japan ?

  2. Are there any records of the 634th Tank Destroyer Battalion, Company B? My father, Randolph L. Marshall, now deceased, was a First Lieutenant 01824774 and got the Silver Star for gallantry in action in Belgium September 13, 1943. Our family would be most grateful for any records of his service in Europe, especially what was involved in the Silver Star.

    2. According to the November 1944 AAR, Lt Marshall was awarded the Bronze Star per General Orders 123, HQ, 1st Infantry Division, dated 17 November 1944.

      Dave

    3. Dave,
      Thanks so much for following up. We were aware of the details of the Bronze Star, and of two Purple Hearts our father received, but we’ve been unable to find a description of the Silver Star. I looked on the Tank Destroyers website but saw only Medal of Honor awardees. Any ideas on where we can look?

    4. Mike,

      I examined all of the AARs on TD.net and did not find any mention of his Silver Star.

      If he was awarded it, it was likely also from the 1st ID.

      Contact the NARA and see if they can help.

      Dave

  3. A few years ago my wife, Bethany, found a website about U.S. Military Personnel who had served in Bermuda. Through the information on that website we were able to contact a gentleman who had served with my Father there. Since then we have moved and changed devices etc. and I cannot find any reference to it in our records . A new search failed to turn up any thing about the website. If anyone has information about it We would appreciate it.

  4. My father was a pilot with the First Air Commandos flying in China and India and in the invasion of Burma. A group of them were sent back to the states to train to fly helicopters to use in Burma. He told me the helicopters were “flying death traps” and never functioned right after they were shipped back to India. I have never found any information about this use of helicopters in WWII or even his participation. He told me the records were “lost” because the program was a failure. All of my father’s records were lost in the fire that destroyed a lot of records from WWII. Anyone have any information about the helicopters that were used in the CBI?

  5. First of all I wish to say how very important I consider FOLD3 to my research — in this instance, to the completion of an article about Staff Sergeant Joe Stallings, a crew member (Camera, but trained as a Ball Gunner, assigned Consolidated Liberator B-24J, aircraft #42-51989, 343rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group.
    The crew of 12 and their aircraft were lost to heavy flak over Vipiteno, Italy, 8 April 1945 — no chutes observed. Joe was my wife Joan’s uncle. She was born a week after his death in the skies over Italy.
    I look forward to histories focused on the foregoing units, and should any subscribers chance upon information pertaining to Sergeant Joe Stallings of New Bern, NC and Lincoln, Nebraska, please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.

  6. I would like to find information on my father’s time in the Navy. He was on the U.S.S. Alabama BB-60. He was a plank owner on the ship. my dad’s name is Henry L. Deckwa. He was on the U.S.S. Tippecanoe in the 1930’s go out in 1941. Then he went back in the Navy when the war broke out.

  7. What resources do you have on the 26th General Army Hospital from WWII? They followed the path of Patton through No Africa and over to Bari, Italy. My fathers served with this unit as a Ward Master. I have a lot of pictures and his unit history book.

    Bonnie Pugh Kershaw

  8. I have the 210th Signal Depot Company history (WWII) which I would be pleased to loan for copying.

  9. Am looking for information about my great-uncle,Palmer Cletus Bortner who served as a major at Bastogne in the Army VIII. He received 5 battle stars and served as commander at Ft Pitt where he was returning from a weekend leave but was killed in a traffic accident just outside Ft Pitt in Blackstone, Va on Aug 13,1951. I have been unable to get any more information than that stated. Would like to know what the battle stars were for and any other information that may exist.

  10. My fathers records from WW II were badly damaged during the records center fire. I have worked through what I have of them and have learned that he was awarded 2 Bronze Stars. As I piece together the records I have, it appears that he may have been awarded either a third Bronze Star or possibly a Silver Star. I remember him talking about an award that he received that would be enough to get me into West Point, should I desire. I would be interested in finding any additional information if you could steer me in the right direction (or any direction for that matter). My dad was Alfred Chapman and he served tin the 2nd Armored Division, 66th Armored Regiment , Service Company for all of WW II. Thank you.

  11. I just found out who my dad is, and the onev who told me will not cooperate AT ALL with me knowing anything about him. He was Jerald Dwain Jewell from Tennessee. He was in the Air Force. Enlisted on January 1st in 1950, and was discharged in January 1st in 1964. Could be spelled with a G , I found his file with the Veteran’s deaths. It was under Gerald D. Jewell . He got murdered close to two years after I was born. In 1980. Any help and any pictures of him would be valued and cherished. I knew him as my great Uncle. Til 42. Did the ancestry and he is for sure my dad. Also, I love all you people who put your precious time and effort into helping us.

  12. I find 149 hits for Palmer C. Bortner on NewspaperArchive.com (subscription) including a short obit from the Washington DC Evening Star Aug. 13, 1951 – can’t attach here but email me.

  13. Recommend newspaper search (NewspaperArchives.com-a subscription service) using all name variants.

    1. I assume you are talking about Newspapers.com
      Excellent suggestion … I’ve checked earlier, but you’ve provided me with a different search approach/routine. I was a bit surprised that the later news dailies / reports reflected his status changed from MIA to KIA — the latter did NOT include a posthumous PH.
      Thank you, Mr. Jacobsen.

  14. Well the problem is the fire and the loss of so many of these records. You can reverse-engineer it via the unit records, find the published unit history and try newspaper research.

  15. My grandfather was awarded two Purple Hearts, but I can’t find any information about how he earned them. He passed years ago so this website is my only hope! Are there records here about awards?

  16. Is there any information on the 76th Field artillery that was shipped to the Aleutians in 1942. My father J D Foster was the supply corporal who turned in their horses at Camp Ord, California before boarding the transports to go up the inside passage to the Aleutian campaign. Have heard stories about the campaign from Dad but cannot find any unit histories or anything????

  17. No, NewspaperArchives.com, Newspaper.com is part of the Ancestry subscription and only the premier subscription includes anything useful. The support service for the former sucks gas but all in all I have had better luck overall with their range of newspapers. Otherwise identify the best community newspaper and find it online through a state historical newspaper link or a local library. These search engines are a challenge but narrow your query to a surname and limited number of years each time to minimize getting inundated with hits.

  18. I have the book of the Fifth Marine Division, Turner Publishing Company, Copyright 1991. 112 pp, Limited Edition of 1000 copies. ISBN: 1-56311-035-0. Let me know if you need this one.

  19. I am looking for information on the 47th Bombardment group, especially its time at Will Rogers Air Base in Oklahoma City and the activity that followed from there.

  20. I know my father had a couple of cruise books or at least personal albums of his Navy service, but these were lost when he remarried in 1979 and subsequently passed away. So sad to not have been given his books when step-mom took his possessions! I don’t even have a photo of him in uniform!
    Dad was Robert Thomas Paul, a radioman. I know he served on the
    Fulton AS 11 sometime in 1945-46 and on the SeaFox SS 402 in 1947-48. His records also show he spent time on the LST 246 and I believe on the Cabezon SS 334.
    I am looking for any contact that may have crew photos from these ships at these times in hope of recovering at least a few of his pictures.
    Thank you!

  21. Looking for information on my father Walter H. Sommer he was in Tazewell Oklahoma in 4-10-1942. He was Enlisted for the duration of the war. On the sheet It says he was married looking for the sheet that says he was married or a copy of Lincense. My mother name was Ruth E. Frey. Any help would be great.

  22. My Dad was on LCI-493 the morning of D-Day. I found a schedule that his ship was to land in sector Fox Green with troops of CO. A, 37th Engineers as part of LCI First Tide Landings that morning. His ship was the only one with a US Navy crew landing in the first tide. I would like to find a ” War Diary ” or a ” Ships Log ” for his ship or the 37th Engineers to learn more details of that morning. Can anyone offer any suggestion on where I can search?

  23. My father said that 75 years ago (2-18-47) he joined the Army. He said he had fond memories of that day. Where can I find information about Fort Dix NJ 1947?

    1. Just google Fort Dix, the wartime fort would be pretty similar to the just-postwar one.

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