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Thomas B. McGuire's citations


grokett
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Hi.

I am conducting research on Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., the Air Force Medal of Honor recipient and America’s second-ranking ace. More specifically, I am searching for his official citations for the decorations he received during World War II. I have located some of them, but cannot located General Orders for the citations below, even after hiring a professional researcher. I have tried the National Personnel Records Center, but his records were destroyed in the 1973 fire, and the researcher I hired discovered a few citations, but not many. Any help or guidance would be very much appreciated!

Joe

Silver Star (Basic Award) and 1st Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 54, HQ 5th AF, 22 Jan 1944

Silver Star, 2nd Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 913, HQ FEAF, 26 May 1945

Distinguished Flying Cross 1st and 2nd Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 52, HQ 5th Air Force, 22 Jan 1944

Distinguished Flying Cross 4th Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 284, HQ FEAF, 4 Nov 1944

Distinguished Flying Cross 5th Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 650, HQ FEAF, 1 May 1945

Air Medal 2nd Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 233, HQ 5th Air Force, 17 Apr 1944

Air Medal 3rd Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 113, HQ FEAF, 30 Jul 1944

Air Medal 6th Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 213, HQ FEAF, 23 Sep 1944

Air Medal 8th Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 95, HQ FEAF, 14 Jan 1945

Air Medal 10th & 11th Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 650, HQ FEAF, 1 May 1945

Air Medal 12th and 13th Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 894, HQ FEAF, 24 May 1945

Air Medal 14th Oak Leaf Cluster: General Orders 1223, HQ FEAF, 20 Jun 1945

 

 

 

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Joe:

Probably a redundant question, but have you tried contacting the National Archives at College Park directly? They have the vast majority of GOs and since these are from two major commands, I'd be surprised if they didn't have them.

Dave

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Hi Dave,



I employed the services of Golden Arrow Research, which helped me with quite a few General Orders in the past, and I believe they discovered the few I did receive from the National Archives. I even wrote to the fighter group organization for assistance (no response), and the author of McGuire's bio (no luck). With McGuire being as popular as he was, historically and with many aviation enthusiast, I would think that someone somewhere would have copies of these General Orders or the actual citations.



I do have a document from the 431st Fighter Squadron, which was classified "Secret" at the time, which provides a synopsis of his citations, but when I received the few actual citations from Golden Arrow Research, I discovered that the document did not provide the entire actual citation.



I'm really at a loss here. Many thanks for responding!



Joe

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Joe,

 

Thomas McGuire's military file is located in the PEP (Persons of Exceptional Prominence) section of NARA in St Louis. Have you specifically checked that department? I have also wondered about his Silver Star citations and would be interested to know if you end up finding them.

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Hi RIs25,

 

Thank you for your response! I ordered McGuire's PEP file sometime back, but all they had was his Statement of Service. That provided his Medal of Honor citation and the General Orders numbers, but that's about it. My researcher found more, to include a few of his DFC citations and Air Medal citations, but there's still an enormous gap. If I come across a venue that has his Silver Star citations, I will let you know. You'd really think that someone of his stature in aviation history would have his citations easily locatable.

 

Thank you again,

 

Joe

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KASTAUFFER

DId your researcher check with USAF Historical Reserch Agency at Maxwell AFB? Thats where the WWII AAF General Orders that still exist are housed.

 

There are definite gaps, especially in the 5th AAF and FEAF GO holdings there.

 

Kurt

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Hi Kurt,

 

I will contact him to find out precisely what places he did check. I believe the National Archives and Maxwell were on his list, but now I'm wondering.

 

I'll follow up with a post when I find out.

 

Thank you!

 

Joe

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What a disappointment to hear about his PEP file. Does it really have just 2 or 3 pages in total? Richard Bong's file is intact and contains hundreds of pages, I was hoping McGuire's was in similar shape and had also escaped the fire.

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Yes, that's all they sent me (it was some time ago, so maybe there were a few other papers included, but I don't remember any). I had trouble locating a couple of Bong's citations, too, even though his records are there. Fortunately, I was in close contact with his brother, Carl, and his widow, so I was able to get what I needed. There are a couple of other PEP files that only have Statements of Service. Off hand, Maynard Smith and Donald Pucket come to mind.

 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for McGuire's missing citations! I'll keep you posted.

 

Joe

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