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What is best way to find other vets in my dad's Platoon?


maoribattalion
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Who was he with? Maybe we could point you in the right direction. I would suggest starting with his division's association page if there is one. Often times you can find a breakdown of units within a division there and if you're lucky, you can track down certain companies. Message boards are pretty common for vets to post on looking for old buddies so it's all a matter deduction and good old fashioned research. I've had amazing luck recently tracking down a WIA soldier this way. Good luck, let us know if we can help

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maoribattalion

I haven't tried anywhere yet. He passed away about a month ago(unexpectedly) so I couldn't ask him more detailed questions. I don't know where his discharge papers are. he was in 4th infantry and was in country from June 67-May 68. He sprayed Agent Orange on foot during his time there. Pretty sure he was at Ft Polk In like June of 66. he kept the yearbook or whatever.

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Together We Served is sort of like a social networking site for vets, to reconnect to people they served with via profiles. I'd give it a shot.

 

Sometimes there're publications that you can post ads in. I don't know about the Army side, but Leatherneck often posts such ads for Marines looking to reconnect with old unit members, etc

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If you have some names you can find an amazing amount of information by just googling their names. Obviously, the more information, the better.

 

It helps if you have full first name, last name, middle initial and home of record. A lot of guys have moved, but many have stayed in or near their home towns.

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maoribattalion

i actually just went through a box of about a hundred letter between him and my mom while in Vietnam, and one letter happen to be from someone he served with. The names are pretty common. Bob Lopez and Jose Garcia. there is also a reference to "keep the Recon Rangers going." The R in Recon isn't clear, but I can't figure out what other letter it could possibly be.

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Since he is your father, you should be able to request his service record from the county courthouse, that is if they have them on file. Since you are the next of kin, it will be easier than requesting them.

 

Sorry for your loss

 

Mike

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  • 1 month later...
rice paddy daddy

As a 32+ year member of Vietnam Veterans of America I would suggest you place a notice in the Locator section of our bi-monthly magazine. Family members do it all the time looking for information, and friends of their loved one.

It is free and easy. Go to vvaveteran.org/35-1/35-1_index.html

That is the current issue online. On the first page, scroll down to the bottom, find Departments. Click on the down arrow, click on Locator. You will see all the notices others have written, that will give you some ideas. On the top of the Locator page will be instructions on how to submit your notice.

Good luck!!! Keep us informed on any progress, please.

Even though I never met your Dad, we are still Brothers.

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i actually just went through a box of about a hundred letter between him and my mom while in Vietnam, and one letter happen to be from someone he served with. The names are pretty common. Bob Lopez and Jose Garcia. there is also a reference to "keep the Recon Rangers going." The R in Recon isn't clear, but I can't figure out what other letter it could possibly be.

 

That's awesome you have correspondences "on file"! Sometimes many letters get thrown away. I wish you the best and offer my condolences. When you lose someone that quickly, it's not so easy to recover.

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  • 5 months later...
Cobra 6 Actual

i actually just went through a box of about a hundred letter between him and my mom while in Vietnam, and one letter happen to be from someone he served with. The names are pretty common. Bob Lopez and Jose Garcia. there is also a reference to "keep the Recon Rangers going." The R in Recon isn't clear, but I can't figure out what other letter it could possibly be.

I know this is something of an old thread, but wanted to mention that in addition to the excellent suggestions made earlier, if you do locate any of his orders or obtain a copy of them from the National Personnel Records Center, there's a very good probability that there will be a list of other soldiers on that same set of orders, to include full names, ranks, units, and service numbers.

 

Generally, the Army of that era 'lumped' many people together on the same set of orders. So, if he was going on R&R to Hawaii he'd be on a list with others going there. Unfortunately, the 'travel orders' most often did not have people from the same units listed.

 

However, orders for awards and decorations, assignments, etc. often are composed of at least some soldiers from the same units: for example, I looked over a set of orders for the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge; at least half were from the same company. I think this is potentially a good source of info for you. The main exception is orders for personal decorations with a narrative as to why the medal was awarded: these usually are written just for the one soldier (however, it may mention others in the narrative).

 

Good luck on your 'hunt' and thank you for honoring his Service.

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