Grandfather in WWII?

My grandfather was a Marine in the Pacific theater during WWII and I was wondering if I could find out anything about his service, i.e. where he fought, rank he achieved, and any medals he earned.

I asked once and knew never to ask again.

Grandfather in WWII?ms stress

If he is still alive, ask him what unit/units he was in and how long he was in ONLY IF there are no old letters with return address's to get you started. The "only if" is based on your closing comment.

If he has passed it is possible for certain "next of kin" to recieve a copy of the DD214 from the National Archives. BUT, as most of the guys had those registered with the county they went home to that may be easier. It will tell you the Campaigns he was in, the medals authorized, the last unit he was in and his rank.

After that you can look into the WWII activities of that unit and get a better picture. If you find stuff written by other Vets be prepared for some gruesome reality. The Pacific Theater was one nasty place to be. One Uncle started talking about what he saw while on shore (he was Navy) a few years before he passed. Not pretty.

That is why they don't talk.

My Dad was at Dutch Harbor for the attack in May 42 and the Battle of the Aluetians. His comments to me were it was F ing cold, the wind would blow 200 mph and they were out of ammo in 42 when the Jap fighters returned to their Carrier. The story of the Battle of the Bulge was about the same.

I recently found a book written by a guy in the same battlion in Europe. After seeing what is now shown on the History Channel, a few more comments he made about the relief of Buchenwald, the one time he saw Patton on the swing towards Bastonge, I know why that generation drank. The book is "You can't get closer than this" I forget his name but he was in H/2/317 80th ID 3rd Army.

Good luck. Some guy in his unit may have written abook too.

Grandfather in WWII?home theater system opera theater

Well there are enormous way of checking about your grand father. One is is by going to the US army website and at some site they have names of soldiers who fought in war. Or visit the memorial wall. similarly to Vietnam war. Search your grandfather history on the web. some sites impose a price.
See if you can get his service record. That would definitely have any medals he earned and his rank. It will have his unit and with that you could search where he fought. Many units have websites that maintain a history of combat, some with mission reports.

Good Luck
start with the Pentagon information site. Give them all the information you have. Name rank ID any units . That will help them direct you to the appropiate sources.