I am looking for verification or sources for further research regarding a WW2 story my late father told.
Shortly after the Salerno, Italy landing and before Naples fell to the Allies, Dad was in a US Army unit that recaptured Allied prisoners held by the Germans.
The story goes that a US troop ship carrying replacements was damaged in a storm and came into Naples Bay during the time when the German Army was moving out and possession of the area was in flux. Dad's unit met the ship and the mostly-unarmed soldiers were unloaded. They spent the night in a monastery while German units patrolled the area. The next day they made their way back through Allied lines.
Are there any sources that I could use to verify the details of this story including the ship and monastery?
War Histories for Army units are at the US National Archives in College Park, Maryland. If you don't know your Dad's units you can request it from NARA as his next of kin. US Navy War Diaries are also at that facility and are online through Fold3; if you have a regional archive near you the Fold3 records are free while on-site as part of the agreement they made to get the records. Some of the ships were Merchant Marine or Amy Transport and not US Navy and I'm not sure where where there might be logs or diaries for those as my specialty is USN.
Hello there! As your question is related to looking for identification/information regarding military personnel, our Guide on Military Identification may be of use to you. It provides a number of different resources, including how to request service records from a number of national agencies around the world, as well as graphical aids to assist in deciphering rank, unit, and other forms of badges or insignia. While the users here may still be able to lend you more assistance, hopefully this will provide a good place to start!