Well first you have to reverse the order of your request. You need either a serial number or a unit to get anywhere with the Military Personnel records Center. Usually those requests are sent on a Form 180 and sent to the National Personnel Records Center, St Louis Missouri. About 80% of the US Army records from 1912 to 1959 were destroyed in a fire there in 1973. However if they applied for VA benefits before the fire it is likely that through the VA you can obtain information because the VA would request copies of the serviceman's records to process their claim. For the Navy and Marines, those records were not in the fire and if you know the ship that the navy men were on and the time frame, the National Archives in College Park MD has Rosters for Navy Ships. They also have Ship's Logs that will give every zig and zag of the ship. For the uncle that was killed in the Army Air Corps, there should be Missing Air Crew Reports for him. Generally you need to know the date the plane went down and what kind of a plane that it was . Presently there are finding aids by date of crash and by plane serial number. If you have the Squadron or Bomb Group that will help with the date in locating the probable MACR. These are located at the National Archives at College Park MD. They are presently working on a name index for the Missing Air Crew Reports but that does not exist at present. So you sort of have to go in through the date of the crash and location and look up those MACRs and see which ones may be your uncle. Once you know the unit then you may be able to find Mission Reports for the particular squadron or bomb group. If you know the state and the county that he was from there are some memorial books and it will give the serial number. Or, it is possible at the US Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks PA there is a microfische, RG 92, by the Quartermaster Corps Graves Registration, alphabetized, that lists casualties that were first buried overseas and then tells if they were returned to the states or if they are in a military cemetery overseas it will give the cemetery and the Section and grave number. You can then contact the American Battle Monuments Commission which maintains all cemeteries overseas of US Military. I hope that this helps. John Bowen There is no consolidated list of WWII veterans ----- Original Message ----- From: <Asiltrebor@aol.com> To: <NY-Military-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 9:51 PM Subject: [NY-Mil] Finding WWII records > My father and his brothers all served in WWII, in the Marines, Navy, Army and > Army Air Corp. My mother's brothers also. My father is the only one left > alive and at 82, his memory is fading. How can I get hold of their military > records, or at least find out what unit they were in and where they served? > One uncle was killed flying over Burma, one served in France, 2 in the > Pacific. One was in the SeeBees in Alaska but thats all I know. > > Thanks, > Bob Kirby > asiltrebor@aol.com > >