Military Service Records of World War II

A few years ago I wrote about searching for information on someone who served in World War II, George DeForest Russell (1913-1997).

Military records in the United States are collected, housed, and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration ("NARA"). NARA holds other records and performs other functions as well.

Draft cards can be viewed on Ancestry. A draft card does not mean that someone actually served in the military; however, in George's situation, the notations on his draft card indicated that he served in the Army.

Draft card of George DeForest Russell
World War II
Collection at Ancestry

Side Two of draft card.
Don't forget to look for another side on any record!

After 62 years, you can request an individual's military service records. Unfortunately, there was a fire in 1973 where the records for World War II were stored in Missouri. Although not everything was destroyed, the standard response from NARA is that only the Final Pay Voucher is available (for purchase). 

Letter from NARA to writer that only the Final Pay Voucher
is available for George D Russell

Below is the Final Pay Voucher received via postal mail from NARA.

Final Pay Voucher for service in World War II
George D Russell

Some companies advertise that they can search for remnants of a veteran's file within the repositories. I contracted with one such company who claimed that nothing was found.

I tried another researcher, Alex Beckstrand, of Legacies of Service. (Substack link here.) He was able to find documents of two types: Specific to the veteran and specific to the units he was assigned to.

Below are some of the copies found by Alex Beckstrand for the service of George D Russell. I don't know why NARA did not offer copies of these records years ago.

Some of the paperwork for the honorable discharge of
George DeForest Russell from the Army 1946

George earned:

-Asiatic Pacific Service Medal

-European African Middle Eastern Service Medal

-Good Conduct Medal

-Philippines Liberation Ribbon

-World War II Victory Medal

Part of George D Russell's discharge paperwork.
The section of "Civilian Occupations" placed him
in Kearny, Hudson County, New Jersey in 1942 and 1943.
This was a missing piece of this puzzle.

Apparently, promotions and movements within units was documented and these records survive. From these, a veteran's activities can be gleaned.

Company Morning Report
[George D] Russell promoted on October 1, 1943.
He was stationed at Fort Screven, Georgia.

George D Russell moved to another unit
on December 10, 1943

Where a unit was and what that unit was doing at any given point during the War is also preserved. A veteran's whereabouts and activities can be inferred from these documents.

October 1945 activities of George and the 1053rd Engineers

Thank you, Alex, for learning how to research these repositories and helping others who seek answers about lost stories of World War II.

If you would like information on a veteran's life during World War II, please reach out to Alex Beckstrand at Legacies of Service and inquire if he might be able to help your research goals.

Beesd, The Dutch Hometown of VanderHoof

I try to visit locations whenever possible. My VanderHoof ancestors hailed from Beesd, which is now a village in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. I live across the pond, but my sister, Kim, was able to visit.

Kimberly Lutter visiting Beesd, Netherlands, June 2026.
In the background is the church tower, the only remaining part from the 1600s.

In 1661 two sisters, Adriaentje and Geertje, sailed aboard De Bever from Amsterdam to New Amsterdam, which we now call New York City. Their names were written using a patronymic. Their father was Cornelis vanFulpen or Vulpen. Geertje was the widow of Cornelius Gijsbertsen vanderHoeven. With her were six children who passed on the surname vanderHoeven or more common variant, vanderHoof or vanderHoef to the thousands of descendants they created in what became the United States.

Adriaentje was the widow of Mercus Leenaertsen Schuers. She immigrated with their daughter.

I wanted to post the original ship record, but I don't see it online. The late Terry Haslam-Jones Vanderhoof (1944-2021) may have posted it on his now defunct website Vanderhoof Project. You can read Terry's summary of the immigration as well as history in Beesd here.

The church bells rang as Kim arrived.

Signs are posted explaining the history of the church. Below their pictures are videos of translations from Dutch to English courtesy of Kim's husband, Alexander Rasker.

Sign on the church. Translation to English in the video below.
The current church building was built in 1825 out of materials and walls of the older church.
The clock on the tower bears the year 1468.

Another sign on the church. See video below for translation into English.
Excavations in 2000 revealed that a church existed here at least since the 12th century.
Dedicated to Saint Peter.
The church was expanded in the 1600s, then rebuilt in 1825.
The original outside walls and windows can be seen on the south side.

The nearby cemeteries were also visited and photographed.

Informational sign with map
Old Cemetery, Beesd

Kim in the old cemetery

This memorial is probably very old.

More recent grave
Wimmie van der Hooft (1934-1938)

Dutch war graves

These are graves of members of the British Bomber Command lost on May 24, 1943 in the Battle of Ruhr. They are listed on Find A Grave in the Beesd General Cemetery.

Sergeant Ronald Bell (1921-1943)
Sergeant Frederick John Leigh Joblin (1918-1943)
Sergeant Derrick George Amos Storey (1923-1943)
Sergeant Stephen Muir Tietjens (1917-1943)
Sergeant George Watson Turnbull (1919-1943)
Sergeant Stanley John Wayman (1922-1943)

Thank you, Kim and Alex, for visiting the ancestral hometown of our vanderHoof and vanFulpen ancestors. The pictures and translations are superb.

My last visit to Netherlands was in 2013!