I have said for years that you never know what you will find in military records until you obtain them. Army Morning Reports are no different. For each report the military created, there was a standard of the basic information that should be recorded on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Some report creators did the bare minimum, while others wrote novels.
Take for example a Morning Report for the 735th Tank Bn Company B for 21 September 1944. You can see the transcript below the images. When I read this report for a client project I couldn’t believe it. I was on the edge of my seat wondering if these men survived.
On 20th and 21st September 44 this company supported the 1st Bn 10th Infantry Regiment in an attack on Pournoy-la-Chétive, France. On both days the enemy counter attacked frequently at great cost to themselves and no success. The fight around the town is still in progress according to reports received here.
On the 21st Sept 44 Sgt. Gullicksrud, tank commander of the 2nd platoon parked his tank along the edge of a highway (location unknown) and cut the motor. This was between the hours of 2400 and 0100. Before a few minutes had passed, along came 3 companies of German infantry and 5 tanks. It was dark enough that the Germans never saw our tank. The Germans were very noisy and were talking and singing lustily. They were also smoking, striking matches without bothering to conceal the glare. When the last tank had passed, the column was called to a halt where upon an officer mounted a tank and gave the troops a supposedly inspiring speech in a most fanatical manner. After he concluded his speech he was lustily applauded by hand claps and shouts of “Heil Hitler.” They then marked off singing crazily and still heiling Hitler.
They were described by Sgt. Gullicksrud’s crew as acting as though they were either drunk or just plain nazi fanatics. Sgt. Gullicksrud could not fire on them because of darkness and lack of ammunition. After the column had passed, along came a small group of Germans presumably the columns rear guard, stopping about 3 yards to one side of the same tank. They lit cigarettes and were talking never once seeing the tank. Sgt. Gullicksrud was taking no chances and promptly tossed a fragmentation grenade in their midst. He knows he wounded or killed them because they were on the ground moaning and squirming. The group was estimated as 6 soldiers. Sgt. Gullicksrud promptly moved his tank to a safer area. 2nd Lt. Halford was having trouble with a German Bazzoka man. The Bazooka man was throwing shells at Lt. Halford’s tank but was missing. The bow gunner couldn’t hit the bazooka man because of his concealed position. T/4 Kasid, Lt. Halford’s driver promptly came up through the drivers hatch with his sub machine gun firing and charged the bazooka man. He disposed of him nicely. The unfortunate part of this incident was that T/4 Kasid was mistaken for a German by an infantry man. The infantry man shot Kasid through the jaw.
While not all Morning Reports are this detailed, you will often find details which aren’t recorded elsewhere.
Current Status of Obtaining Army or Army Air Force Morning Reports
For World War I Morning Reports, you can go to Fold3.com and search for them. The World War I Rosters are available on FamilySearch.
World War II Morning Reports are in part, available on NARA Catalog. At the date of this writing (31 Dec 2025) they are available through December 1944 for most units. The 1945 reports have not yet been uploaded.
The World War II reports are also available at the NPRC in St. Louis. To obtain the files you either have to go there and do the research yourself – archivists will not do this for you. You can also hire a professional researcher like me to obtain these and all other records to help you tell the story of your veteran.
Regardless of whether you have the OMPF or not, Morning Reports are a vital record to help you reconstruct the footsteps of your veteran. They provide details the OMPF will not.
Explore more articles on Morning Reports
- Company Morning Reports Tell a Story
- More on Company Morning Reports
- 5 Reasons Why You Must Have Army and Air Force Company Morning Reports
- Help! VT, WX, VN as Locations on Company Morning Reports
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