Finding rank

[cscsmp]

My fiancé's grandmother recently passed away and in going through her grandparents' things she was awarded his flag from his funeral, the thing she wanted most. When talking with the family, though, no one seemed to know what his rank was. A few said SGT, one said SSG, and one said PVT. He served in WWII in the Army. Is there some kind of database in which I could possibly look up his rank? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.

[armysc_25b]

Is there any way to get his DD 214? That'd be a good place to start.

[PhoenixCadet]

You can apply for the records here:

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/index.html

Be aware, though, that there was a fire at the National Archives (back in '73, I believe) and destroyed a good amount of WWII-era records. If your fiancé's grandmother had any old documents / files, try searching through some of those for anything that might help, as well.

When I received my grandfather's WWII records, they came in the form of a single page, listing no awards and rank as a Private (due to being destroyed). I knew he wasn't a PVT from many sources (pictures, his gravestone), so I asked my grandmother, and she dug out one of his WWII-era personnel files she had listing much, much more.

If you do decide to do a search, the best thing to find would be a WD AGO Form 150 (or some variant). That is the War Department form from WWII that acted as the DD-214 (separation papers) of today.

Good luck!

-PC