Customer Reviews

Finding Your Father's War: A Practical Guide to Researching and Understanding Service in the World War II U.S. Army

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Jonathan Gawne's latest book "Finding Your Father's War" follows in the tradition of outstanding military reference books authored by this hard working researcher and historian including his Normandy Campaign benchmark reference guide "Spearheading D-Day", and easily will be become his most successful general interest work. The text and illustrations are clear, easily followed, and apply directly to assist anyone who is interested in researching a family member, friend or veteran's Service to his or her country during World War Two. Each section walks the reader through different research and documentation sources so as to allow one to become fluent in the often confusing and jargon heavy military records and in the end be able to reconstruct an overview of Service from available sources. The quality of the publication is excellent with the color pictures and illustrations numerous and sharp, while the text typeset is easy on the eyes. Casemate has done an excellent job in putting this book together, and has done justice to the quality of the author's work. Plus at a very reasonable price unlike many military books which are often priced out of the range of the average reader, this should be an outstanding success for both the author and publisher. Bravo to both for doing such a great job!

The sheer amount of detail in this book is amazing. I was in the army, and I've been a student of military history for more years than I like to remember, but there was a very large amount of information in this book that I hadn't seen before.

Example: There is on page 41, a color picture of the shoulder patch for FUSAG, the First US Army Group. OK a shoulder patch isn't unusual. But FUSAG was the fictious army that General Patton commanded in an attempt to confuse Hitler. Did anybody wear these patches? Were they worn by a few just on leave to 'prove' that the unit existed.

In addition to a description of the Army as it existed at that time, (No Marines or Navy in this book.) this book goes into great detail about how to find records, how to identify any momentos the serviceman might have kept, and web sites that are dedicated to preserving the history of particular units.

This book is beautifully printed, mostly in color on high quality paper, somewhat of a surprise to see in a paperbound book.

Incredibly, American World War II veterans are dying at a rate of between 1200 and 1500 per day. In nearly every case, an old photograph, a set of dog tags or a tattered shoulder patch kept in an old shoebox are all that remain from a silent "Greatest Generation" who saved the world from tyranny. Dad, or granddad may have never talked about the war, but succeeding generations are yearning to know just where he fit into the bloodiest conflict of the twentieth century. But where does one begin? How does one attempt to decipher a complex array of government and military documents? Where did dad or granddad serve, and what campaigns and battles did he partake in? What do the ribbons, medals, and other insignia on dad's uniform in that old photo mean? In _Finding Your Father's War: A Practical Guild to Researching and Understanding Service in the World War II US Army_, Jonathan Gawne answers these questions and much more.

Gawne, himself the son of a World War II veteran and author of several books on military related topics, narrows his research to the US Army and US Army Air Corps. In the opening chapters, Gawne delivers a succinct outline of World War II, a capsulation on the organization, training and recruitment of the US Army, its branches of service, ranks, and the difference between combat and non-combat units.

The author then delves into the complex array of Individual Records, and describes in detail the paper trail a soldier accumulates from recruitment to discharge. Gawne reveals what is an MOS, what the numbers and letters on a soldier's serial number means; the information found on his dog tags, his pay record, death records, and explains the Army mail system. Here, as in all chapters, examples of actual records are generously sprinkled throughout.

Gawne then details and shows examples of Organizational Records such as duty rosters, morning reports, periodic, and after-action reports. He points out the intricacies of military time, symbols on military maps, T/O & Es, code names, and what it means when a document is deemed "classified." The author then illustrates how to find records, locally, submit requests by mail, as well as how to navigate and conduct research at the National Archives.

Gawne's chapter of "tangible evidence," describes in minute detail what those items found in the shoe box are, and what they signify. The author illustrates every accoutrement revealed in that old wartime photograph: everything from service and rank insignia, campaign ribbons, unit and personal awards, even headgear are meticulously described. Follow-up appendices delve deeper into unit organization, insignia, vehicle markings, and official Army abbreviations, just to name a few. A useful bibliography and side-bars throughout lead the reader to the most significant literature and internet resources for further research. The absence of an index would be the only nit-pick that could be applied here.

The book itself is a rare gem in today's corner-cutting publishing world. Printed on high-gloss museum quality paper, and utilizing mostly color photographs, this book is as pleasing to the eye as to the intellect. The plethora of organizational charts, illustrations, and photographs are arranged nicely, and never cluttered. The half inch thick book weighs a ton, further evidence of the quality of its construction. The price tag is surely reasonable for the quality.

This book is essential and a must for anyone planning to undertake research into a World War II veteran's service. Gawne has rendered a valuable service to the amateur and professional historian alike. I wish I had this work at my disposal when I started out on the same journey twenty-eight years ago. Five stars - Bravo!

This is one of the very best all round books you can own. It has unit break downs, ranks, what regiments are in what divisions, dog tag information, research information, just about anything you would need to know to research most any unit or someone in the family. All the information in it, for the price, is one heck of a deal. All the books I've ever seen by Jonathan Gawne are outstanding, especially his 'Spearheading D-Day' book. This book 'Finding Your Father's War' is outstanding.

Ever ask 'What did you do in the War, daddy?' Ever wonder what all those patches, medals, etc represented? Ever wish you still had them???

I could never get my dad to talk about his experiences while in the US Army during WWII, outside of a comical happening or two. All I knew was that he had served in the retaking of the Philippines and briefly in the occupation of Japan. I'm proud of what my dad/the USA did during the War and very interested in what he did or went thru. Are you in the same situation?

Then this is the book that you need!!!!

Most importantly, it gives the places to search for & to obtain information and how to read the documents.

But wait! That's not all!! (as they say in infomercials on TV. LOL)

It gives an excellent breakdown of the units and their sub-units in size and organization (T/O) and the associated abbreviations for each. As a military history buff, I thought I knew how the Army was organized but boy did I learn a lot more about it.

This book covers campaign dates, T/O, how to identify a vehicle's assignment, badges and just about everything else you could want to know and I highly recommend it. Even if you're just a WWII history buff.

The only thing I've not been able to find in this book is a breakdown on how to read the ribbon bar(s).

"Finding Your Father's War" is a fantastic reference guide! For relatives of U.S. Army veterans, it is a straight forward guide to the resouces you'll need.

This book is an outstanding work. Concise, well thought out, well put together, with excellent graphics, superbly printed. It is a definite need for a researcher of the US Army and the World War II era. I would put it on par with much larger works such as "World War II Order of Battle" by Stanton. A reseacher should have both books. Gawne's book covers some of the same material, enough to show a correlation but then delves into new material.
Gawne starts out with basic information to assist people who lack knowledge of the subject of the Army's structure. He then goes into more advanced research.
Whatever your level as a reseacrher is, buy this book!!!

Eric Olson

The book is an excellent text for those who have no knowledge of the military or the Army structure in particular. As a retired military officer, I was more interested in finding locations where WWII campaign records are kept, particularly for the Pacific Theater; e.g., Philippines, Luzon, Leyte campaigns in 1944 and 1945 in which my father participated. I am looking for sources where historical records are kept for the Sixth Army, and in particular the 35th Infantry Division, 1011th Corps of Engineers, Treadway Bridge Companies. I enjoyed the read, otherwise, and particularly seeing the old WWII patches which brough back memories of my youth as a collector of such.

Excellent Information. One of the best resources we've come across in some time! I would recommend this book to anyone researching WW2. It has been an essential tool in my husband's research.

If you're hitting a brick wall trying to research your father's records from WWII or earlier, this is an invaluable tool for you to use. Most records were destroyed in a fire back in the 70's and it's hard to find anything. I heard about this book from a friend, and ordered it. Even if it hadn't already given me a number of different pathways I could use to locate the records, it would still be an interesting book to read about our Armed Services and how they are organized. I used Amazon to locate a "used" copy of it - and was amazed at the prompt service I received and how they followed up to make sure I had received it. Kudos to Amazon and to the sellers.