Every research project I touch for personal or professional projects, I learn something new. This week I received some new Official Military Personnel Files for Army and Army Air Force service members. Included were some sample records, all of which I had already seen and used before, except one. This new record is the World War II Officer Discharge Card.
Issues Researching Army and Army Air Force Service
We all know about the 1973 Fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. It destroyed approximately 80% of the Army and Army Air Force service files. However, many of them are not completely destroyed and pieces are recoverable today with new technology. Additionally, we can use Army Morning Reports to reconstruct the footsteps of a soldier or airman. And now, there is another resource to help us with Officer records. The World War II Officer Discharge Card.
This card provides us with the important details we need to reconstruct service, all on one piece of paper. It’s even slightly more valuable than the Separation and Discharge Paper because we know all the units someone was part of during service.
Using these cards we have the dates and units in which someone served. From here we would of course request the OMPF (service file) and start Payroll, Roster, and Morning Report research to fully reconstruct where someone was and the major things happening to them.
Once these details are gathered and placed into a Timeline of Service, we are ready to find contextual records and learn what happened to them and their unit while overseas.
This is an incredible resource, one I wish existed for enlisted men as well. But even researching them has gotten easier with the placement of some Morning Reports online.
Be sure to request this record for your Army Officer when doing World War II research. It is certainly one I will be adding to my list of things I obtain with each new client project.
Would you like to research your veteran? I can help!
If you’d like help researching your WWI, WWII, Korea, or Vietnam veteran or writing their story, let’s chat. I offer free phone consults for potential new clients. Email info@wwiirwc.com to get started today!
© 2025 World War II Research and Writing Center