Genealogy Chat

Hi, can anyone give any tips for searching for American GI's? I have virtually nothing to go on other than his name and approx age. I know he was posted in Plymouth (Tregantle Fort) during the war. But don't know his Unit etc.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Mia

Mia...
Not a great deal of help but maybe a start...

Plymouth, Tregantle Fort WWII US Army Camp, 61st Field Hospital & 29th Infantry Division....

The fact it housed a Field Hopital could mean the person may have served in any US Unit.....

Alternatively you could check the Veterans List US to see if his name come up do you know if he survived..?

Check the US Military Deaths....




The 29th Infantry Division (Light) is an Army National Guard unit with elements in Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut. The "Blue and Gray" Division is the only light infantry division in the entire reserve component.

Moved to England and Scotland 1942-1944,,,Training
1943 Moved to Devon/Cornwall prior to taking part in D Day Landings..

Plenty of info re this Unit to be found....

Is this person your possible grandfather or father? If so please be very careful - his current family may not know of the existance of a love child.

Found this

I want to get in touch with a veteran and would like to know if VA can help me find him. Can VA help me to locate a veteran? If so, how?
As a Federal agency that is required by law to enforce the Privacy Act, we are obliged to protect the privacy of veterans' personal information. Therefore, VA cannot release personal information about a veteran in our records system without that person's permission. We can, however, forward a message from you to the veteran, providing the veteran has filed a claim with VA, and we have an address on record. To forward a message, you must please write your message and place it in an unsealed, stamped envelope. Also include a note to VA explaining who it is you are trying to reach and add as much identifying information as you have. Place all of this in another envelope addressed to the nearest U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office (you can find the address at http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp?isflash=1 or in the "blue" pages of your telephone book). If the veteran is in our records, your message to the veteran will be sealed and the envelop addressed to the address we have on file for the veteran. Please note that the veteran may not have informed us of a change of address, so we cannot guarantee receipt of your message. If the veteran receives your note, it is then up to the veteran to contact you. If you have questions, you can reach the regional office via phone at 1-800-827-1000. This process is designed to protect the privacy of our veterans as required by law.

The Library of Congress has an 'Ask a Librarian' service
http://www.loc.gov/index.html

There may be a specific department which deals in the above scenario.

You could also check the White Pages (on line phone book)
http://www.whitepages.com/

Social Service Death Index - its on Ancestry and also familysearch

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://familysearch.org/
searchapi/search/collection/1202535

(you need to paste both lines of the address into your browser.

If he has died but had a military funeral, he may be listed on
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gs&

Thanks guys, both posts are very helpful. Will keep you posted. Mia