My grandfather fought at the Battle of the Bulge and liberated several concentration camps by his account. He even stayed after the war several years to help stabilize things from what I understand which severely impacted his health for the rest of his life. He died nearly 20 years ago. Is there a way to request records from the army or something of what exactly he did or do documents like that just not exist?
This post could also help those looking for the same thing.
Here's what your parent has to do (Surviving child of grandparent):
1- Obtain form SF-180 from the archive.gov website. HERE, click the PDF link, download it and print it out.
2- Read all the directions on page one then proceed to filling out the form on page two.
3- #1-4 are general information, name, SS#, Date of birth and place of birth. #5 is his military info. Branch, date entered, date released and service number. (After Vietnam its a persons SS#) If you don't have the info write UNKOWN in the spot. Name and Service number are the most important.
4- Answer #6 & 7.
5 - Section II, check the boxes for DD-214, All docs in Military Personnel file and Medical files, this will give you ALL his records. Answer question #2 as to the purpose. For you PERSONAL would be the best answer.
6- Have your parent (surviving child) fill out and sign Section III.
7- Read page three, this will tell you where to send your request. Once you mail the application it could take anywhere from 3 - 6 months depending. Please be aware that some files were lost from a huge fire back in the 70's at a archive facility. If your grandfathers records were involved they will do their best to put together as much info as they can possible find. In the end, you will receive a large manila envelope containing copies of ALL the records you requested. Unless of course your grand father was involved in any TOP SECRET program like the nuclear test.
Inside you will find pages of his movement (as an individual) to and from his assigned duty. Any and all awards or demotions will also be listed as well as what training he did, where he did it and so on. The medical papers will show all of his vaccinations and results from physical exams as well as any and all emergency care he might have required. From this information you should be able to build a more complete idea of his time in service.
Follow up question, is there any way to access records for the Red Army for WWII? I know some details about my grandfather's military career, but I'm sure there is a lot more big picture information out there.
In addition, there are records at the unit level (as opposed to personnel records) that may exist and that may provide additional insight as to what your grandfather did during the war. First you have to know precisely which unit he was attached to, and when he was with that unit. Then you go to the series of indexes called the Federal Records of WWII (at any major university library) and find what the National Archives holds for that unit. Then, generally, you have to go the relevant branch of the National Archives, ask to see those boxes, take a seat, and get ready to read. Materials might include reports written by unit leaders and others about their activities. There's no guarantee that you'll find anything about your granddad, especially if he was not an officer. But, for example, the last time I did a search like this, I found a report written by my person of interest about Allied plundering of German high-tech companies in 1945, and other documents that mentioned this person, which confirmed that he was more-or-less where he said he was during and after the war. A lot of effort for a little info, but that's the nature of historical research.
I agree with /u/MikeOxmaul's recommendation of submitting a request with the National Archives. As an FYI, there was a fire in 1973 that destroyed millions of Military Personal Files. See this article for details. This isn't to say that your grandfather's records were lost, but it is highly possible. Some of the records have been reconstructed from other sources, but not all.
You may also want to ask this question at /r/Genealogy as many of the folks over there have had to get around the loss of records from this fire and can give you tips should your request with the Archives come up empty.
This is all assuming your grandfather fought for the United States during WWII. If he fought for the English or other forces you will have to go to that country's archives for records.