When we dig a little deeper into the number itself, we can learn a bit about the person. Some prefixes were used in World War I. However, the following system began shortly before World War II. The first character gives us a lot of information. When you have an 8-digit serial number, the second number shows the Service Command.
This narrows down where the person enlisted or was drafted. If you have a serial number for a member of the WAC, look at the number after the letter prefix.
You need to look at the 3rd digit. The second digit for those will always be a zero. The same for where Robert Pratt and William Ratliff were drafted. Arthur Porter, from the National Guard, also enlisted from one of those four states, since the third number of his serial number is 5.
Consecutive serial numbers, for example, are not assigned to twins since this might cause confusion of identity between two persons with the same birth date and same general physical characteristics. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.
Learn how your comment data is processed. This applies only to USA forces. Its heading should indicate this.
There are family historians and WW 2 forces in many other countries!! I have edited the title and the heading to better reflect that. My apologies for any confusion. I have my grandfathers serial number and a record where he enlisted, but how can I find more about him? After enlisting he became a ghost, my mother was born at the army hospital there but there is no record of that either.
She did not know him and has been desperate to learn more! Maybe she has siblings! Hi, Lacey! Glad you got at least some info from the post! Was this during WWII? Was the post in the US or overseas? Have you looked for your grandfather in the census? Does your mother know what unit he belonged to? If so, look for reunion groups; many of them have message boards. Your mother could also do a DNA test to find some genetic relatives. Good luck! They lost a lot of records in a fire in but still have a lot.
Also if you know the town he lived in you could see if they have a VFW there. They may have info too. I got my fathers Navy records dating back to from here. You can submit the info online and when they find how pages it is they will send you the cost which you have pay before they send the copies. I does take time but well worth it. Can someone help me, please? I found an old draft registration card on my great great grandfather. It shows a letter U before a 3 digit serial number of , this was in but I have only the year not month or day.
My understanding is that the numbers on those cards have no intrinsic meaning, and were just a way to number the men who were listed. Thank you! Quite an interesting posts.
I can so envision you walking with your mom and she remembering the memories. The info on the serial number is new to me, so I quickly looked up my uncles and can know for sure he was drafted. You listed about the first two numbers, but does the other numbers signify anything also? Help please. Hi Amy, Thank you for this wonderful blog.
It can indicate that the veteran enlisted prior to WWII. A German crash site team recently found some aircraft parts and a Dr. Can we tell where he was from using any of the numbers?
I can then research WW2 deaths by state. Is it possible that Dr. If so, could he be the Franklin L. Wilson who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery? He was a Lt. That would be consistent with your Dr. Wilson being a commissioned officer.
I think we have multiple Franklin Wilsons. The Franklin L. Is there a way to buy your book on how to decode US Army serial numbers. I have part of my father in laws parachute from WW2. Is there any way to get information on it? Davis O Is there anywhere I can find additional information on the service number? Hi Paul.
My volunteer research group might be able to help. We provide free research to help people return items to veterans. Can you email me, please? My father was stationed in Iceland in WW!!. I have his serial number, how can I find out what troop or unit he was with and where in Iceland he was stationed? Hi, Deana! When he was discharged, he should have filed his separation papers at the county courthouse. Those papers would list his unit. Do you have any papers related to a pension or anything regarding the VA?
Those often include information like that. I would really like to know the location where he died. Any ideas? My father enlisted in or 57 under the federal reserve act of He was given a serial number fr He has lost his dd and we have tried everywhere to replace it but none of the sites recognize his serial number.
Is this a true serial number? That is a great question — and one that I wish I knew the answer to. My suggestion would be to contact your county or state veterans affairs office and see if they can guide you.
FR indicates a reserve officer, using a system adopted after WW2 and Korea. In the late s, the serial numbers were replaced with the Social Security Number. I have a helmet from WWll with the name R. I know he enlisted in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio or West virginia. Born , Indiana native. Hope this helps. Based on my grandfathers age he would have had to have been WWI.
If so is there a way I can get info on the number on the tag? Thank you for any help or advise. Hi Amy. FOSDIC may have correctly interpreted any specific character correctly on the third or later reads of the punch card, but we were unable to apply a more complicated algorithm to the processing to provide a better "guess" than what appears in the resultant file.
We therefore have retained the Electronic Army Serial Number Raw Files, should researchers wish to reprocess the raw data and create a better "best guess" file. The program also matched the associated box and roll data to the end of each cleaned up record. It is important for users of the AAD file to understand how far removed the enlistment records are from the microfilm images of the original computer punch cards.
Each successive processing stage invariably introduced the chance of errors. As with most archival records now used for genealogical research, the records were originally created for a very different purpose than identifying specific individuals.
In the case of the enlistment cards, they were designed to reflect, at the time of entrance into service, basic characteristics of each enlistee in the Army, Enlisted Reserve Corps, and the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. The Adjutant General's Office used the punch cards to prepare tables analyzing occurrence of the various characteristics among individuals, enlisted or inducted, and to provide information for policies of demobilization.
Therefore, given that the original intent of the program was to prepare statistical tables, less attention may have been paid to the proper spelling of names and accurate keypunching of personal data fields.
Most important, the many migrations of these records—from original recording on punch cards, to copying them to microfilm, to FOSDIC processing, to "merging" and "collapsing"—means that error could have been introduced at any phase.
The poor quality of the original microfilm caused most of the errors. Of the sample records examined, 35 percent of them were found to have a scanning error. However, only 4. While a large number of records had other errors, they were minor. For example, the term of enlistment column frequently has the value of "0" in the electronic file where no punch appears on the original card.
The bulk of the records are for the period through About 4 percent of the records contain data originally recorded on Enlisted Reserve Corps Statistical cards, and the bulk of those records are from and In general, the records contain the serial number, name, state and county of residence, place of enlistment, date of enlistment, grade, Army branch, term of enlistment, longevity, nativity place of birth , year of birth, race, education, civilian occupation, marital status, height and weight before , military occupational specialty and later , and component of the Army.
As noted earlier, at the end of each "best guess" record appear the box and roll number of the microfilmed punch cards. To facilitate search and retrieval in the AAD resource, the file is split into two tables: a large file containing general Army enlistment records, including enlistees in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, and a second with records of enlistees in the reserve corps.
Over time the enlistment card format changed, and the height and weight or military occupational specialty categories were recorded in the same columns on the original punch cards. Because there is no easy way to distinguish original data recorded on the two. The Frequently Asked Questions developed especially for the World War II Army Enlistment Records File also provide a number of helpful tips and hints about technical data characteristics of various fields.
Results will be returned from the Army serial number file and from all other series in AAD where appropriate. Alternatively, the user may go straight to the enlistment records by using the link under "Most Popular" or by choosing the categories for Military Personnel, World War II, or — The user next clicks on "search" to access either the Enlistment Records or the Reserve Corps Records.
This will bring up a page where the user may search these records. Using an individual's Army serial number may be the most efficient way to find a record. Type the serial number in the search box without hyphens, submit the search, and a summary of the record with that serial number will appear.
Clicking the icon in the column titled "View Record" will display the full record, which will contain meanings for the coded data. To print a copy of any record, click "Print" at the top of the screen, and this will display the full record again in a format suitable for printing. A common way to search for individual records is by name.
Users should note that searches are not case sensitive even though entries are uppercase in the file. In making the records available in AAD, staff inserted " " for blanks that would normally appear between the last and first names and in other instances.
The name column includes all possible parts of a name: surname, space, first name, space, middle initial, and SR, JR, 3rd, etc. Names with "Mac," "Mc," "de," "Van," etc.
Names with apostrophes, like O'Brien, usually do not have a space between the prefix and the rest of the name, i. Another good source for additional information is this link on Army serial numbers. Look at the First Number or Letter. Some prefixes were used in World War I. However, the following system began shortly before World War II.
The first character gives us a lot of information. When you have an 8-digit serial number, the second number shows the Service Command. This narrows down where the person enlisted or was drafted. If you have a serial number for a member of the WAC, look at the number after the letter prefix. Related FamilyTree.
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