Thursday, January 01, 2009

Researching My Grandfather's Service During WW II

I first started this project when I was living in China. There was little on TV and I had bought and watched all the bootleg movies I cared to. So I decided to begin looking into my grandfather's military service.

From stories my mother told me over the years, I knew he served in the Army Air Force. He trained as a Photographer at Lowery Field in Colorado and was stationed in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

And so from there I began my investigation. I discovered he could have served with either the 5th Army Air Force, the 7th Army Air Force, or the 13th Army Air Force.

However I didn't know for sure which unit he was with, and there were quite a few Photo Recon or Photo Combat Mapping units. So I put it aside until I got back State side.

UPDATE: I looked at the medals my grandfather left me, and I see he was awarded the PUC. According to information here and here only the 5th Army Air Force was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Of course I am pretty sure the 8th Army Air Force was awarded the PUC as well, but it is not listed. I will start with the 5th AAF and see where it takes me. If only I could find his discharge papers, but I lost them. I have sent away to St. Louis for his records and they sent me back a questionaire. And so I called to Cook County to see if he deposited his discharge papers, as many returning vets were encouraged to do this. I am waiting to hear back from the clerk.

UPDATE II: I have taken to looking through my family's old pictures and picture albums. I across his certificate stating that he completed Photographery School at Lowery Air Field. And I came across a picture of a plane. I think it is a B-24 or B-25. The name on the plane is BeBe Eyes. I am not sure if this is the plane my grandfather served on, but it must be of some signifigance for him to have taken a photo of it.
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