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06-02-2013, 04:00 PM
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2,688 posts, read 7,166,843 times
Reputation: 4201
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I tried to locate my Father in the Purple Heart Honor Registry. He had always been proud of his two Purple hearts, one for a gunshot in some war to his back and the second in the Korean War to his chest. Funny thing, though, there is no record of him. Now I'm not sure if they were really even his or what? Any ideas how I could follow-up with this. He was a retired Marine in SoCa.
Koale
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06-02-2013, 08:01 PM
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897 posts, read 658,014 times
Reputation: 2321
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Koale
I tried to locate my Father in the Purple Heart Honor Registry. He had always been proud of his two Purple hearts, one for a gunshot in some war to his back and the second in the Korean War to his chest. Funny thing, though, there is no record of him. Now I'm not sure if they were really even his or what? Any ideas how I could follow-up with this. He was a retired Marine in SoCa.
Koale
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You could request his Official Military Personnel File from the government. Try this website How to Access Archival Records,
Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF)
It's funny that none of his records are showing up for both Purple Hearts. I'm on ancestry.com and the Purple Heart records for my distant relatives who died either in World War II or Korea are appearing as hints. But come to think of it, the record for my grandfather who was wounded in Belgium during WWII is not showing up either. Maybe they are withholding the records of men who survived their wounds and only loading the records of men who were killed? |
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06-02-2013, 08:29 PM
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7,101 posts, read 26,426,391 times
Reputation: 7436
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In some areas, things were happening so fast that the clerical work was often behind. It would not be surprising to find that the records were actually lost.
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06-02-2013, 11:59 PM
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4,787 posts, read 11,175,917 times
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This is fairly simple to figure out. If you look through the Purple Heart Registry, you'll find that the government does not enroll people there. Family or the veterans themselves submit an application to be enrolled. So if you have a family member who does not show up there, try to get them enrolled.
Click on link for the process.
The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor |
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06-03-2013, 07:56 AM
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Location: North Carolina
10,034 posts, read 16,688,080 times
Reputation: 13641
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Quote:
Originally Posted by willow wind
This is fairly simple to figure out. If you look through the Purple Heart Registry, you'll find that the government does not enroll people there. Family or the veterans themselves submit an application to be enrolled. So if you have a family member who does not show up there, try to get them enrolled.
Click on link for the process.
The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor |
Yes, I was going to say that if this is where you were looking, this is NOT a complete list of everyone who has ever received a Purple Heart.
An important rule of genealogy research is to understand the records and collections you're using, understand what they are and what they mean. |
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06-03-2013, 04:37 PM
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Location: Little Rock AR USA
2,457 posts, read 7,064,957 times
Reputation: 1895
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Kaole, the "some war" you refer to probably is World War II because we had lots of soldiers (most of our senior leaders) in the Korea war who had been in WWII. If you will send me a DM with his name, age, birth place, and any other data you have, I'll see what I can dig up. If you have anything which shows which Marine unit he was in will also be a great help. A major problem with getting his official personnel records from the Feds is the fact that many were destroyed in a fire years ago, including mine.
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06-03-2013, 09:30 PM
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Location: San Marcos, TX
2,570 posts, read 7,476,401 times
Reputation: 4058
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So, and sorry to hijack, where can you look up this information? Is there a free resource? My mother said my father received the Purple Heart, I have no idea where to look.
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06-06-2013, 07:30 PM
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Location: Little Rock AR USA
2,457 posts, read 7,064,957 times
Reputation: 1895
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sally_Sparrow
So, and sorry to hijack, where can you look up this information? Is there a free resource? My mother said my father received the Purple Heart, I have no idea where to look.
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Don't worry about "hijack" because some times that is a way to get similar info. I don't have a dedicated source, I just dig several places until I come up with (or don't) what is requested. If you will send me a DM with your info I requested of Kaole, I'll see if I can find anything. Or if you choose, you may post it here on this public Forum and maybe others will help. |
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