Things forgotten, things lost, things discovered, and things destroyed forever

    On July 12th, 1973 a massive fire at the National Archives, National Personnel Records Center destroyed more than 80% of the Army's personnel records from  November 1912 through January 1960. It also destroyed a block 75% of Air Force records between the years of 1947 and 1964 after The name "Hubbard, James E".  There were no copies, these had not been transferred to microfilm and there was no index.  The fire caused a total loss of millions of records, and although primarily isolated to the Army and Air Force, there were some Navy, Coast Guard and Marine records also destroyed that had been pulled for use at the time of the fire.  Some records were fire damaged, others were water damaged, and some have been, with the advent of modern technology, salvaged from the mold that set in after the wet papers were stored.  In many cases, the National Archives can reconstruct parts of a service member's records, but by no means can they reconstruct all of it.  (http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html)

    My paternal Grandfather, like many men of his generation, was involved in WWII.  An earlier attempt by family to get a copy of his military records resulted in a letter telling us that his records had been destroyed.  My family didn't keep many records, and my grandfather died in 1979, long before I could ever ask him about the war or his service.  So I set out on a quest while I worked on the family tree, to discover the stories and not just the names of those that made me, well, me.

   This quest is by no means complete, but I have found out more about my grandfather in the last two weeks than I ever imagined I would know.  Some folks have been very forthcoming with information, while others have decided not to provide me with any information at all! None-the-less, the story begins to take shape.

    Growing up I was always told that Granddaddy Lancaster was in WWII.  I was told he had gotten in trouble while stationed in Alaska because he shot a bear (it was actually a rabbit), I was told he was in Europe for D-day as a paratrooper (it was after D-day but still impressive) and that he had gotten a Purple Heart for being shot off a tank (the story was different, but I'll get to that). Beyond the family stories, any questions were answered with "ask your grandmother" or "ask your father" and I never got to know more than the stories mom knew, or thought she knew.

    Perhaps my quest over the years to make my father proud evolved a little when I signed on with the Army as a contract cadet in Army ROTC at Wofford College.  I knew dad did not serve in Vietnam, despite his best efforts, and I wanted somehow bring pride to the family name.  I was so proud to be headed to school to fly helicopters and I was excited at the chance to be the first officer in the family since the War Between the States.   It was a short lived dream, as a car accident ended my budding military career. I'd go on to serve my country through service to my community as a firefighter, but I never lost that drive to bring pride to the family name.

    As the genealogy project grew I wondered more about my grandfathers service record.  I asked my Aunt.  She gave me as much information as she knew, which was a little more than I knew before. My grandfather was in Alaska when he shot that rabbit.  He was a mechanic and was on guard duty.  They were going to court marshal him for the offense!  James F. Byrnes was called to represent him.  He wasn't court marshaled but he was demoted.  (I discovered he was in the Army Air Corps via Ancestry)  My aunt also told me he was a paratroop infantryman with the 17th Airborne Division and he was in the Battle of the Bulge and jumped the Rhine (Operation Varsity as I have learned).  She told me he jumped with dynamite strapped to his legs. She also told me that he was injured in the eye while riding on a tank, although he wasn't supposed to ride tanks for that very reason. She said he was on a ship bound for Japan after V-E day, and they turned them around after the bomb was dropped and he came home.
 
    So I asked my grandmother and much of what my Aunt told me was verified.  I also learned he trained to be a paratrooper at Ft. Benning, and wrote my grandmother letters while he was overseas.  She didn't keep those letters because she said she was in nursing school and didn't have the space. Such a loss!!  She remembered the day in 1945 he presented her with her ring, and she remembered lots of other things, but nothing specific as to the regiment he was attached to.  I would have to keep digging.

    So I had my grandfather's division, but not the regiment. I begin to dig on the internet.  Through what I knew I narrowed it down to three regiments.  Then I requested two books from the public library inter-library loan service about the 17th Airborne Division.  While I waited, I began to research the regiments in question.  One I was lucky enough to find a roster from Christmas of 1944.  My grandfather's name was not on it.  Then I stumbled upon a website about the 513th Paratrooper Infantry Division  (http://513th-pir.com/).  I dug through the unit history and it matched the time line, but then again, so did the other two.  They had just two companies photographs online.  I looked at the two.  Under third battalion company I, I noticed a guy with an eye patch that resembled my grandfather. (http://513th-pir.com/I_Company.html)  Later in the afternoon, picked up the books I'd ordered.  I sat in the car flipping through the oldest one, "Thunder from Heaven", and there at the back was a lengthy roster of the members of the 17th Airborne Division.  I cried with joy when I found Granddaddy's name and his regiment number, 513.  I rushed home to compare the photos I had with the one I found online. My aunt wasn't sure if it was him I'd found, but it was possible. I knew for sure that Granddaddy was in the 513th now!  I began to read about their contributions to the war effort.  (more about that in a later blog)

    The real challenge will be rebuilding my grandfathers records from his time in Alaska! I'm working on it now, but its a daunting task because I have no clue what he did for sure, and I do not know anything about what unit he was in.  But I do know he was 17th Airborne.  That is a great start to my quest!