My grandfather died before I was born, but I grew up on stories of my grandfather's experiences in WWII. We have some heirlooms that he left behind, namely his Distinguished Service Cross and some letters he wrote. Unfortunately, we don't have much. My father's birthday is coming up next year and I would love to be able to put together some materials about my grandfather for him.
Where the heck would I find these records? What information would I need to access them? Paywall? I have looked around a bit, but I have not really had any success.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Further info: His name was from Denver. I believe he was in an AA battalion and was, eventually, a berevit Lt. Colonel. I think.
ETA: Sorry if this is the wrong sub. If so, what would be?
ETA pt. 2: Removed Name
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!
Also, would you mind terribly much editing out the name information? (I removed the question until you can do that). Because we don't have any way to verify that person was your ancestor, we want to make sure that we preserve anonymity. Let me know when you have and I'll reapprove the question. Thanks!
What you really need is to obtain a copy of his DD Form 214. This will give a brief synopsis of his entire service. It is available to next of kin (so your father may have to request it). This can be obtained from the National Archives-- When you write them, ask for "DD Form 214 and all other available military records". Some of the records were accidentally burned in a fire in the 1970s, but if he was not in that group of records, you might be very surprised at the detailed information you can receive. If his medals and decorations have been lost, replacement sets are available from the same source to surviving next of kin. https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records