Ask Me Help Desk - Military brick wall

I need help... my husband's family asked me to search for the family of his father. The man was quite the storyteller and I have had quite a time trying to prove his stories as truth or fiction. I have hit a brick wall...

My FIL served in the Army during WW2 and his records were allegedly lost in the fire at the National Archives in the 70's. All they were able to tell us was the date he joined and the date he was dropped from rolls for being AWOL. There is NO record of him ever having been returned to military control. My FIL died in 1978 so we can't question him anymore. No copy of any discharge papers has ever been found.

I have contacted the law enforcement in his hometown and they have no record of any arrest warrants for him for desertion. I contacted the Federal Bureau of Prisons and he was never a prisoner in a Federal prison. I have tried to contact other officials in the Army to try to get whatever records may exist elsewhere but they have not answered my requests. I have sent two requests over the last 4 years.

I am in the process of writing to three counties he lived in after the war to see if he ever filed his discharge papers with them.

Can anyone offer me any other avenues of search? I even put a post on veterans websites asking for men who may remember him to contact me. The last known post he served no longer exists but they have a private website and I posted there as well. I also posted to a forum in a website for his hometown.

Thanks to anyone who can help us with this. We desperately need to prove he was not a deserter but the people who might remember him are all either dead or too old to remember.

I am happy to provide more information if I am contacted privately...

Thanks!

Many record have been lost. And misspelled names from that era have confused many seeking genealogic records. The only source I consider reliable is directly from the VA.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Many forms and verifications are the norm. And don't be surprised if it takes longer than desired. Good luck.

Normally for AWOL at that years he would not have went to federal prison, but to the military prison ( not the same thing)
And the military may not have issued a warrant but had their own MP pick him up, if they did, a lot of draft doggers, some AWOL to canada and the such, many were never really followed up on after the war.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Normally for AWOL at that years he would not have went to federal prison, but to the military prison ( not the same thing)
And the military may not have issued a warrant but had thier own MP pick him up, if they did, alot of draft doggers, some AWOL to canada and the such, many were never really followed up on after the war.

The research I have done into military deserters said that the MPs would notify a soldier's hometown and area law enforcement with some kind of Military arrest warrant. Research also revealed that those convicted of desertion were sent to Federal prison and that I needed to contact the FBOP, which I did. Considering the man stayed in the area for years, actually stayed in the state he was sent to by the Army from the time he got there till the time he died, you would think that they would have found him. He applied for veteran's benefits and even received veteran's burial benefits but when asking the funeral home how they proved his service, all they said was the widow told them he served.

I guess I will have to continue to ply the VA with information requests as the National Archives and Army Dept. have become dead ends.

By the way, my research into this was in the form of internet searches and contacting some veteran's organisations. Also through contact with other genealogists who are much more experienced with military records than I. Thanks anyway!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsMac2003

He applied for veteran's benefits and even recieved veteran's burial benefits but when asking the funeral home how they proved his service, all they said was the widow told them he served.

There is no way he could have received Veteran's benefits and a Veteran's burial without a DD-214. The government doesn't take the word of anybody without supporting documentation.

Unfortunately, my husband and I have both buried our fathers in the last couple of years and have had to do the records chasing game.

That is correct even to get an honor guard you have to have the DD214, sadly buired my father last year also.

But as a police officer for years in GA and having a really close friend shot dead by a soldier who was AWOL. I know as fact that there is no NCIC notification on some anyway, Since this person killed the officer because he believed this exact thing which is not true. Military handle a lot of there own things "inhouse". The officer doing the speeding stop had no idea this person was AWOL and there was no outstanding warrants for them in the system.
This has been an issue for police for years

I mean no disrespect at all by not agreeing with you... I am just going with what I do know...

As for warrants etc... this was handled a LOT differently in World War 2 than it is today. My own husband, about 30 years ago, deliberately did not report to his ship. He was convinced to turn himself in and the MPs came back to get him and escorted him to his ship. As I recall him telling me he turned himself in to the local sheriff's office (rural town). Apparently they had just been notified he was AWOL.

I don't know how it was really done, I was not with him then. I was never able to talk to my FIL either.

As for the burial... he got his headstone partially paid for by the government and the flag for his casket. The funeral home said the widow told them he was a veteran, his obit said he was a veteran so he got the flag etc. Now, the funeral home could have just told the widow the government would pay for a portion of the headstone and covered it themselves or she could have not told us the truth. The funeral home is no help... they are run by cousins of my MIL. All I know for sure is that NO DD 214 was ever found in the house after my MIL passed away two years ago. She may have destroyed it and never told us but fact is it is no longer available and the funeral home denied ever having received a copy.

I guess we will just never know but it is really eating his kids up thinking their dad is going to be known as a deserter just because no one can find a copy of this paper.

Thanks for all of the help anyway! I had to try!