Help with finding military records for genealogy

[southernfarmer1021]

Howdy y'all!

Hoping that I might get some recommendations about accessing some military records for genealogy purposes. My late grandfather was an MP stationed in Tokyo during the Korean War era. He fell in love with a Japanese woman and brought her back to the United States (she is of course my grandmother, also departed). That side of the family was very secretive about private things and genealogy so I have very little info about them to go on. I know that they entered together via Washington state and they took a greyhound bus across the United States to his home state of Maryland.

Does anybody have thoughts on how this process could occur for a military member to bring back a foreign bride? My assumption is that there would be a trail of military paperwork regarding her entry into the United States with him. Ultimately, I am hoping that it will allow me to trace some of her heritage from Japan as it may say exactly where she was from in Japan and therefore help me trace her genealogy. I have her name and her parents names, and know they were from the farmlands outside of Tokyo but that's all I've got.

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[pete44ru]

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You haven't mentioned his Branch of Service, but IMO, this would be your best shot, by far: https://www.archives.gov/veterans

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[GunnyGene]

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You haven't mentioned his Branch of Service, but IMO, this would be your best shot, by far: https://www.archives.gov/veterans

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Yep. It takes some time and about 18 million records were lost in a fire in 1973. It is the best place to start tho.

 

[Colonialgirl]

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You haven't mentioned his Branch of Service, but IMO, this would be your best shot, by far: https://www.archives.gov/veterans

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You may use this system if you are:

A military veteran, or
Next of kin of a deceased, former member of the military. The next of kin can be any of the following:
Surviving spouse that has not remarried
Father
Mother
Son
Daughter
Sister
Brother
Who Can Request Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF)
Access depends on the discharge date:

OMPF Archival record - discharge date of 1955 or prior*

These records are archival and are open to the public.

Any archival OMPF can be ordered online for a copying fee.
See Access to Military Records by the General Public for more details.


You WILL NEED:
Required Information
Your request must contain certain basic information for us to locate your service records. This information includes:

The veteran's complete name used while in service
Service number
Social security number
Branch of service
Dates of service
Date and place of birth (especially if the service number is not known).
If you suspect your records may have been involved in the 1973 fire, also include:
Place of discharge
Last unit of assignment
Place of entry into the service, if known.
All requests must be signed and dated by the veteran or next-of-kin.
If you are the next of kin of a deceased veteran, you must provide proof of death of the veteran such as a copy of death certificate, letter from funeral home, or published obituary.

Hope that all helps; DO N)TE there is a service charge also based on the number of pages of the records.

 

[wunbe]

That's a lot of required data that many/most will not have handy.

My son got such info on my deceased Uncle by just submitting his full name and approximate period pf service to the Army. He never asked for full military records.

wunbe

 

[eric conrad]

Contact your local VFW or American Legion. They have people that can help you.
Eric

 

[blume357]

This is probably already been posted above... I got a big thick file a year or so ago from the National Personnel Records Center with most of the military records of my father.... oddly the only way you can figure out he was in the Navy for a year is to read his application to join the Marine Corps... but it does have all his USMC records and I mean it appears ALL of them... pretty damn boring most of it.... training here, training there..... service on a ship (look up the ship and you discover it is a sub), another ship (sub)... the to directed to go to San Diago.. and then on a ship to Japan then on another Ship (Sub) disembarked at some place called Inchon... then a week or so later back on the ship and up the coast and back off at something called Hodere? then about all it says is he got on a ship about a year and a half later and sailed back to California....Oh and that he was in a recon company of the Marine 1st Division.... what I'm implying is there is a whole lot left out ......

 

[wunbe]

Yeah, recon work is one helluva a side bar note! He must have had a lot of sand in him. I'd want to know more about that.

wunbe

 

[olcop]

I hope you find success in your search. My stepfather was a POW on Bataan and it isn't even mentioned on his DD-214, I've found his name in several of the prisoner release documents, but have had little luck with very much else.
Same with my natural father, he was a merchant marine, and family legend has it that he was torpeoded as many as seven times, (we can only find records of once) but, reading what records we can find, you are left with the impression that they were fished out of the water and given a hot meal and a shower and sent on to another ship.
olcop

 

[Heliman]

Fold3.com is a military website associated with Ancestry.com that may also have some information.

 

[fiasconva]

I've just started with some gen with Ancestry and am slowly getting info. You can check marriage license records and also census records from Maryland to see how much info is there. The census records give a lot of info. You can also google both names. Good luck.

 

[southernfarmer1021]

Thanks ALL for the suggestions and guidance!

 

[Bull Barrel]

I have a friend who used to work at the records center. He said most who worked there were "slow leaks" (you ex mil folks know what that is) who were only concerned about making work. They would take some of their requests and pass them down the line. Eventually some requests kept getting passed along and remained in the shuffle. My fried passed on no requests and fulfilled them all. He was approached and was told to slow down as he was making the rest look bad and would get some people laid off.
At that point he told them he was there to help military families and not the employees. They still complained and made it difficult to do his job. No one would fix the problem so he quit.
The gummint built a big fancy new building about ten miles north and moved there.

 

[BearBio]

Working with the Records Center is an exercise in patience. Took me over a year and three submissions to get my DD214 and a computation of my salary in order to "buy it back" for my Federal retirement. Still not credited but I got it computed and paid. It shows on my wage-statements. Federal HR is the pits!

Military records were a little easier. I would submit the package to DOD but you might be better trying some of the other resources.

 

[roarindan51]

Fold3.com is a military website associated with Ancestry.com that may also have some information.

Found my dad's wwII navy records.... but I'm not listed under viet nam nor korea where I was stationed.

 

[RSIno1]

Fold3.com is a military website associated with Ancestry.com that may also have some information.

Lots of different records there. I used this to find the Dawes roll records on my wife's Cherokee grandfather. Turns out he was actually Shawnee and in 1903 the government decided they should be transfered into the Cherokee tribe.

 

[KIR]

The Fold3.com is a great military site. If any of you live in a city that has an LDS Family Center. You may get access to numerous websites by their computers to Ancestry, Family Search, Roots and so many more. I highly recommend checking out Legacy online to download for free as a great place to store your records.

 

[Jeepnik]

My how things did change. My maternal grandfather was a sailor. In fact he was for a time a "China Sailor".

and later served during the Banana Wars.

And a plank holder on the USS Henderson.

At the time he entered the Navy you were issued a book. Everything was in the book. For instance when you left a ship it was noted and an officer (usually the officer of the deck) signed the annotation. The same occurred when you joined another ship or shore facility. Promotions, reenlistments, and quite a few other details were put in the book.

We know this because my eldest cousin inherited it from his mother who was my grandfather's eldest child. This came to light after my cousin passed. We went from knowing just a few details, The bit about being a China Sailor and that his last ship was the USS Vestal to a pretty darned good history of his time in service.

I would love to have heard the stories he could have told. But sadly he passed long before I was born in 1942. And no he never did get a chance to avenge his lost shipmates. But his sons sure did.

Where I'm going with this is, check with other family members, you might be surprised what they have. Also check the local papers in the places you know he resided. More and more of the newspapers are putting their archives on line.

 

[blume357]

Yeah, recon work is one helluva a side bar note! He must have had a lot of sand in him. I'd want to know more about that.

wunbe

My father as many will know was in the battle for the Chosen Reservoir .... 12,000 marines vs something like 100,000 Chinese ...... 10 days to fight their way out in temperatures that reached 30 below. He got frost bight on both his hands and feet.... the recon company was the last one to walk out and south and they held the rear by shooting anyone coming down the road that got within 400 yards. The latest official number from China is 52,000 killed ....

the funny thing about the files I got on my father was he was still in Marine Reserves in the 50's and got high marks up until June of '57.... then the last comment on his record was "Mr Blume does not appear to want to be in the Marines any longer.... My parents were married the summer of '56 and I was born the summer of '57.