Veteran Status

Question

Hi Wikitreers,

I have a question about the edit format of the profiles. Is there a check box to designate the person as a veteran (as FindAGrave has this wonderful feature). In many situations a family member is a known veteran; however the details of the branch service, etc., is not always available until further research

Any comments?

Thank you

Answer 1

I use the Veteran Stickers when I have supporting documentation, which includes pictures of a grave with a U.S. VA Grave Marker, or Veteran's group plaque, usually a flag holder next to the stone. Those Stickers usually have a category attached.

I also put a sub head - "Military Service" down toward the End of the Profile, and if they were a career member, I'll put their final Rank up in the prefix field.

But I'm not sure I'd put a check box on the profile.

rsl - (USN/USNR - Ret)

Comments

Thank you this seems appropriate 

Answer 2

I would just use the most specific military category I could and give a source for the information - even if only a research note stating that Aunt Esther told me her father was a veteran, or medalion and flag at grave- if you are quoting people such as "Aunt Esther" then attach the date and your Wikitree ID to the note. But please do attach a category!

Military categories are as non-specific as Country_armed forces, and as specific a particular unit. http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Military

Comments

Good advice. Thank you 

Answer 3

The WikiTree equivalent to the FG veteran identifier is the Sticker for Veterans (Help:Stickers for Veterans (wikitree.com)).  While somewhat complex and cumbersome to use in practice, they effectively in mark a person's service in a given war.  A general veteran sticker is also available.

As a combat veteran and military historian, I find deep research on the military service of my ancestors very interesting and rewarding and may spend hours researching their units and the battles they participated in.  Like Roy Lamberton who answered previously, I record research into their service under a Military Service subheading.  I initially used == Military Service == but have occasionally been corrected to use === Military Service === (a subheading of Biography) instead.  Also like Roy, I will often (but not always) add their rank as a prefix, noting that many ancestors continued to be referred to by their rank as an honorific long after their service ended.

Comments

Ray,

I am curious if you have used the Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago for research. A friend of mine here in the Chicago area, received a great deal of information on her father's unit and campaign (I think it was in the Battle of Bulge). I think they had a journal/diary of someone with whom he served. One of the historians there was very helpful in her pursuit.

My father served in the Army Air Corp as a traffic controller in Africa in WWII. It is on my list to check them out sometime for more information on his service.

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Hi Marty,

I haven't used the Pritzker Military Museum and Library for research, as I'm not in Chicago.  They do have a well-developed and interesting website.  Their collection of Bill Maudlin prints included many Vietnam-era ones that I was unaware of.  What I have found useful (among others) for online research is tracking down unit histories (if you know the specific unit or airfield, etc.).  For example, the 9th and 12th Air Forces initially operated in North Africa and the Mediterranean.  Wikipedia is a good place for higher-level unit orders of battle.  A truly seminal work that you may find useful is HyperWar: World War II on the World Wide Web (ibiblio.org), a massive compendium of detailed after-action reports on every aspect of the war, including things like strategic and tactical maps, photos, letters home, and even a day-by-day chronology of the war.

And, of course, don't overlook the National Personnel Records Center for your father's military service records (Official Military Personnel File (OMPF)).  You can request them online at  Veterans' Service Records | National Archives.   I would recommend that you look into this straightaway if you don't have his records at hand because the process can take some time. 

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Ray,

Thanks for the great information. My dad (actually stepfather) is George William "Bill" Acks, Acks-10. I do have his WWII file that he requested years ago, probably in the 1990s or early 2000's. I had not looked at it for years, but your post caused me to bring it out for another look. So, lots of things to chase down, here.

Firstly, he appears to have served in the US Army Air Corps (US AAC), but it is rather confusing. From Wikipedia, it seems the US Army Air Corps become the US Army Air Force (AAF) in June 1941. Though, the AAC continued to exist in some fashion through the rest of the war. My father served from 8 Sep 1942 to 3 Jan 1946. But two letters of commendation for overseas service signed by Major Robert A Shortridge and James G. Moore in 1945, indicate they are both in the Air Corps. Therefore, I have him in the in the Army Air Corps, at least for some of his service.

Lots of information to follow up on here. I was not able to connect to him to the 9th or 12th Air Forces as Ray mentioned. His discharge papers list him assigned to the "744 AAF 114 AACS Sq" as a "Control Tower Opr 552". AACS is the Army Airways Communications Service.
Some of the records appear damaged (fire?) or are just hard to read. From a "Military Record" form and multiple "Insert ??? Records", he served stateside 7 Sep 1994 to 16 Dec 1945. As of 29 July 1945 he was assigned to Cairo, Egypt. His first overseas posting is rather illegible, perhaps "Acoia BWA or BW4", Letters of commendation included a mention of Tripoli (in what is now Libya) and service in "706 AAF Base Unit (Hq 56th AACS)". I did find evidence of where the 114th and 56th were located on a map here:   https://www.cbi-history.com/part_v.html?#30. I was lucky to find as 114th and 56th are not mentioned in the text, just in the map.

Thanks again Ray for the help. I will take further research into my dad to his WikiTree profile.

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Hi Marty.  As you have gathered, MOS 552 was the WWII Military Occupational Speciality Code for a Control Tower Operator.  You can easily find his job description by looking that up.

744 AAF is the 744th Bombardment Squadron activated on 1 June 1943.  See Microsoft Word - 744 BOMB SQ.doc (usafunithistory.com); 744th Bombardment Squadron - Wikipedia; and 744th Bomb Squadron | American Air Museum.  They weren't in North Africa but rather in Italy, so were part of the 15th Air Force.

Your map of the 114 AACS Sq in Cairo is great.  Keep in mind that units were moved around as military needs dictated.  Some of those locations will be on this list AACS – AFCS - AFCC - Air Force Communicators & Air - [PDF Document] (vdocuments.mx).

Marty, I wouldn't worry too much about the difference between the AAC, AAF, and for that matter, USAF.  The best approach (for a non Air Force purist) would be to look at when what became what, and then recognize that spreading the new organization around the world in wartime didn't happen at the press of a button.  Of course, if you're a general in that service these things are more important than life and death.

Great info, Marty.  Thanks for sharing.

Ray

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Ray,

Thanks for the extra links and info.

The comments about the AAC actual have a bit of family history to them. My dad passed in 2005 and was buried Camp Butler National Cemetery outside Springfield Illinois. His initial headstone was engraved with US ARMY as his branch. When my mom, Nancy Lenover Acks, died in 2010, she was buried along with Bill at Camp Butler. Her information was placed on the back of Bill's headstone. In this case, they replace the entire marker. We had an opportunity to change his headstone branch at that time. My brother requested the change to US AAC as Bill identified as serving in the Army Air Corp when overseas. The new headstone now says USAAC. We worked with a very nice lady at the branch of the US Military that coordinate the headstones and markers. It first she was reluctant to make the change as she lacked documentation that he was in the US AAC. I don't recall submitting any evidence, but on a later call she accepted the change. She seemed to indicate she found more information, but she may have just relented, given that changes that were occurring in that branch of the military when my dad served.