A place to find out about a real WWII Bronze Star story?

[ATR-42]

Hey guys I have a general question regarding my interest to initiate a small personal investigation.

Today my grandfather passed away. And while spending time with my dad we reviewed his service in WWII. My grandpa was in the 78th Infantry "Lightning" that served in Europe during WWII. He received a few campaign medals but the most distinguished one he got was a Bronze Star.

This peaked my interest. I'm reading my 4th or 5th WWII submarine book right now and when i read about the crew members getting medals they typically received a small paragraph that discussed the actions that lead to the award.

We were unable to find any documents at my grandparents house (yet).

But im curious, If someone on these forums could point me in a direction of a department, division, or office that i could make a phone call to in order to try and locate such a document that may have been awarded with this Bronze star, you'd be a saint...

any ideas?

Thanks for taking the time for reading this.

Kevin

[JSLTIGER]

ATR, first let me say that I'm sorry to hear about your loss. My condolences to you and your family.

There may actually be no citation, as it was declared in the aftermath of the war that any soldier who had earned a Combat Infantry Badge would automatically be awarded the Bronze Star.

In 1947, a policy was implemented that authorized the retroactive award of the Bronze Star Medal to soldiers who had received the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II. The basis for doing this was that the CIB was awarded only to soldiers who had borne combat duties befitting the Bronze Star Medal and also that both awards required a recommendation by the commander and a citation in orders.

[ATR-42]

Tiger,
Thanks much for the reply, that would make sense if we cant find any further data. Much thanks for that post. On tuesday im going to try the 78th Lightning web site phone numbers as well as VA affairs. Im just not sure im on the right track or not.

[JSLTIGER]

No problem. I'm still trying to get the government to issue one for my great-uncle. He fought with the 100th Inf. Div. in WWII and survived the war (despite being injured in France), but was killed when his motorcycle was clipped by a drunk driver in August 1947. Obviously, this was before he had the opportunity to obtain his Bronze Star, and my grandfather has never really come to grips with the loss of his older brother. So, I decided that I would look into attempting to obtain it for him, though this has been hampered by the loss of his records in a warehouse fire back in 1973. I'm still working on it though.

[Stealth Hunter]

Salute to your grandfather.