I was led to believe my grandfather was involved in operation paperclip, as a military escort to Werner Von Braun. I found a letter in my aunt's things after she'd died. The letter reads:
HEADQUARTERS
Res Dev Sv Sub-office (Rocket)
Fort Bliss, Texas
JFH/aje
Mar 15.1946
(Date)
SUBJECT Special Authorization
TO: Whom it may Concern
is an aged on a Special Mission for the War Department.
by the Military Police or other military organizations.
3 He is hereby authorized to have in his personal custody persons
who shall not be questioned or asked to prove identity, and for those
custody and good faith he shall be entirely responsible.
of his reunion. In the event further information is desired or should a
breach of the peace order, it is further requested that the agencies listed
above communicate directly ith this headquarters by telephone, Extension
5221 or 4235.
James p. Hamill
Major, Ord Dept
Commanding
I asked my mom about it, and she said "didn't anyone ever tell you? He was assigned to escort Werner von Braun after the war."
She didn't know much about what happened, but said she thought he'd come in via Mexico. I'm wondering what might have occurred during this travel. Where would they have been? Did they travel openly or in secret? Any insight would be helpful. I'm happy to share photos of the letter.
Thank you very much
Although I’m certain a historian with familiarity with the operation will answer your specific question in detail, I want to let you know that you can find primary sources on this this person your family may enjoy having.
First, request his complete military personnel file from NARA’s National Personnel Records Center. Make sure you take the steps outlined in instructions on their site to certify you are family and can gain access to more than a random person requesting data on a specific person.
Depending on branch of service and how detailed of records were kept, you may see unit information, and dates of various assignments, and possibly copies of orders and documents like the one you quote from.
Once you’ve received the records check with the National Archives and Records Administration for records of units or specific assignments. Depending on time of service, the equivalent of a “daily log” exists for some units. You can request them for the period the relative was in the unit to have some idea of what the unit was doing at that time. Be forewarned that sometimes, even when NARA’s finding aids say they have particular military records they will try to send you to NPRS or the Army Center for Military History (which also has some unit records—not sure why they are divided as they are).
The unit records can help you understand what your person was doing or where they were at different parts of their service in that unit.
If he was part of Paperclip, there are many primary sources specific to that, but you would probably be better if digesting the entire operation through a book by a historian or, if one exists, a government report or history on the operation.
NPRC records are usually sent at no cost to family. NARA charges for copies of unit records plus some processing fees. I recently paid NARA around $180 for a year’s worth of records for my dad’s Army unit in Vietnam, which I’ve not yet received, but believe the page count was about a couple hundred pages. They will send you an email or letter telling you how many pages there are and how much duplication and mailing will cost.