World War II Military Records

Update, 14 February 2014

My client; Benjamin Rauch has published a tribute page for the soldier in this blog. The soldiers name is Walter Cuichnowicz and he was assigned to G Company, 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division (Yankee Division) Here is the link to Benjamin's tribute page  (Look on the map for the Yankee Division patch and click on it)(The one on the Rauch Page, not the one in my blog ;-)

 Benjamin is a French Citizen and English is not his first language, so we will be tweaking his tribute over time.

Walter died in 2005 in Newton MA and is buried in the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Massachusetts. Here is his memorial on Findagrave.com

A special thanks to Len and Keith at the MA National Guard Museum and Archives which just moved from Worcester to Concord, MA over the summer for their assistance with my research.

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Locating the owner of a WW2 Wool Coat. Using the shoulder patch and laundry mark?

How many times have you tried to find WW2 records only to turn up empty handed? Frustrating at best! Many folks I have spoken with find this to be the biggest time period brickwall that they encounter.

We are blessed here in Massachusetts to have the Massachusetts National Guard Museum and Archives, which is currently settling into it's new home at the Concord MA National Guard Armory.

I recently located the owner of a military coat that was found in France. The soldier who lost the coat was a member of G Company, 328th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division; and was wounded by shrapnel in November 1944 near Metz France. He survived to be discharged from the Army in 1945 from Cushing General Hospital in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Starting with a photograph of a wool coat and a laundry mark (first letter of last name and last 4 of the service number) I was able to locate the soldier, who surely nearly lost his life, that day in France.

I have updated the soldiers Find A Grave web page and the owner of the wool coat is in the process of building a tribute page for the soldier. Unfortunately the soldier died in 2005.

More research to determine if any surviving relates is in in progress. At some point I will provide the links to these pages, however I have decided to fold off until it is determined if other family members exist.

During my research I was able to limit the number of possible soldiers to four. Two served in different units and that left two from Massachusetts. Thanks to the MA NG Museum and Archives, it was very quick and easy to locate the correct soldier.

Newspapers & City Directories at the Boston Public Library

The Boston Public Library, located in Copley Square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts has an extensive collection of city directories, newspapers and newspaper on microfilm in their microtext department. Newspapers are a great source of information for our genealogy research. They are often the most overlooked of all the resources available to us.

The BPL has many newspapers and city directories from all over the city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts. Their collection of newspapers includes titles from Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York and many others.

The Boston Public Library is one of my favorite repositories in Boston and I enjoy researching there.

The BPL is best accessed via public transportation.

City Directories at the BPL

Boston Newspapers at the BPL

MA Newspapers at the BPL

US Newspapers at the BPL

Sean Collier, MIT Police Officer Killed in the Line of Duty. 18 April 2013

Officer Sean Collier was ambushed and murdered in Cambridge Massachusetts by two terrorists that were eventually captured/ killed in Watertown Massachusetts. Officer Collier responded to a report of a disturbance and never had a chance to get out of his cruiser.

Sean walked up to my office in 2008 and knocked confidently on the door.

I am a Police Officer at the Somerville Police Department since 1986 and I have been assigned as the Information Technology Officer since just after September 11, 2011.

I motioned Sean in and he introduced himself and shook my hand. Sean was confident and carried himself well. After speaking with him for a short period of time I realized that Sean had real potential and agreed to let him complete his internship for Salem State College in my office. After a short period of time it was evident well beyond what was taught in college. Sean was already a member of the Somerville Auxiliary Police and was excelling there as well.

Sean spoke often of his family and it didn't take Sean long to bring up his brother who was working for NASCAR teams in North Carolina. Soon after that his brother, Andrew landed a job with Hendrick Motorsports and Sean was very proud. I have several pieces of NASCAR memorabilia from NASCAR in my office as I have been a NASCAR fan for many years and Sean and I talked about NASCAR frequently.

After Sean's internship ended, he still came into my office at least once a week, just to help out. Soon a job opened up for a records clerk and part time IT assistant and Sean was hired for the job from a large pool of candidates.

Sean worked with me while he attended the Transit Police Academy and till he was hired by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology  (MIT) Police in 2012.

Sean was more than a co-worker, he was a friend of mine and because of the age differences I tended to treat him like my third son. Sean and my youngest son are the same age. I was proud of him as I am my own sons. He was paying his dues as he climbed the ladder to become what his lifetime goal was. To be a police officer at the Somerville Police Department.

Sean was in the process of being hired as a police officer for the Somerville Department in just a few short months.

The world was a better place with Sean Collier in it and his supreme sacrifice in keeping our world safe and secure will never be forgotten.

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

Welcome to New England Research

This picture may help you understand the Massachusetts sense of humor. I can assure that the amount of snow shown in this picture is very representative of what it looks like in my neighborhood, right now.

My thanks to Boston Fun Facts for this image! ( www.bostonfunfacts.com )

United States Rail Road Retirement Board (RRB) Records

Did your relative or genealogy brickwall work for the railroad? If so we may be able to locate their retirement benefits records. The process is a little convoluted, but it requires checking with the US RRB to see if the have the records (full-time employees after 1936). The RRB provides retirement benefits much like Social Security does.

RRB files that have been inactive for more that seven years have been transferred to the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA). Unfortunately, you have to check with the RRB first so they can look up the file number, and then check with NARA.

All in all it is a bit of a process but the possible genealogy information these records may contain could be worth the trouble.

A recent file I pulled included marriage and birth records as well as other information that was unknown to my client and led us to research in a somewhat different direction.

Webinar Reminder "Finding Your Ancestors in New England" 9pm (Eastern) 21 March 2013

Webinar Announcement - "Finding Your Ancestors in New England"

I signed up for this webinar yesterday! Finding records in New England can be difficult at best and this webinar promises to help us with these!


From +Rootsonomy in Salt Lake City.


We would like to invite your to this Thursday's webinar entitled, "Finding Your Ancestors in New England".

Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 6:00 PM Pacific / 9 PM Eastern
Length: 1.5 hours (1 hour presentation followed by Q&A)

Genealogical research in the six New England states may seem easier than in many other regions in the United States: "These people killed themselves to make sure there was a paper trail."  However, the many records available can also make genealogical research in these states quite challenging.  It can take a lot of hunting to locate all the specific records. This webinar covers some of the peculiarities of genealogical research in New England and shows several of the most useful places to search.

Our expert for this webinar is David B. Appleton.  David has been researching and teaching family history for over 30 years. His on-going passion for New England research has taken him across the U.S. to participate in and speak at genealogical conferences and to genealogy societies. He is a long-time member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild and active member of three lineage societies (Society of Mayflower Descendants, Blaisdell Family National Association, and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War) all based on his New England ancestry. He has written several books and numerous articles. For more information, see: http://www.appletonstudios.com

There is a $5 charge to attend this webinar payable via PayPal to Rootsonomy@gmail.com or by clickinghttp://goo.gl/gBDoF.

Register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8252593778405447424

We are still working on our first survey requesting your feedback and suggestions.  We want to make sure you are receiving the absolute best training possible and welcome any and all comments.

Thank you.  We look forward to having you join us for this Thursday's webinar.

Jim Heddell

Roots Tech 2013 and the Genlighten Brochure

Someday... I would love to attend rootstech. Anyone that knows me, knows I am a techie. I always have been all they way "back in the day" in Ohio when my cousin Danny Zix and I used to fool around with old radios. As a matter of fact, you may not know that I hold Amateur Radio License KA1TTG. I told you I was a techie.

So rootstech is a genealogy techies heaven on earth. I really hope to go next year.

But, that's not why we are here. I do a lot of record pulls on the Genlighten website. Cyndy and Dean are really great folks and I have worked with some really great clients on Genlighten. Genlighten used my profile page on their brochure that they will be handing out at rootstech in Salt Lake City on March 21-23rd.

If you are looking for a really great place to find a genealogist that can help you find the records you need, then you should stop by Genlighten and have a look around. I'm sure you find someone with the expertise that can track down the records you need to solve your genealogy brick wall!