Reading a World War II Service Record
Thomas R. Clarke · March 2, 2016
At first glance a military death record can look like a wall of abbreviations. Once you know what each field means, it becomes a map of a life in service.
The service number
An Army serviceman's number often indicates how he entered service and the area he enlisted from; an officer's number is prefixed with an O-. The Navy and Marine Corps used their own schemes.
Rank and branch
Rank tells you a man's responsibility; branch tells you how he fought. An entry reading “Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Forces” points you toward a bomber or fighter group rather than an infantry regiment.
The unit
Regiment and division are the most powerful clues in the record. They tie an individual to a campaign — the 1st Infantry Division at Omaha Beach, the 101st Airborne over Normandy, the 36th Division at Anzio.
Decorations
The Purple Heart marks a wound or death in action. The Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star recognize gallantry; the Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross honor airmen. Each medal is a story in itself.
Read the fields together and a picture forms — not of a statistic, but of a person.
Thomas R. Clarke — Archival Researcher — WWII
Thomas works directly with NARA service files and unit histories, reconstructing the final movements of individual servicemen.