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Post by sierra on Jan 8, 2021 21:32:00 GMT -6
Here is a link to the memorial/grave for Harold Kenneth “Hal” Snook. He was not cremated, and he has (dead) siblings, so it would be possible to check his DNA in the future if they wanted to exhume the body.
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Post by Admin Horan on Jan 9, 2021 10:23:19 GMT -6
Thanks! I have found a right index fingerprint on one of the letters (actually, it's all four fingers, but the index finger was not previously seen by cops) and we have Hal's fingerprints. My scan of the letter is noooooooooooot quite hi-res enough to be sure, but it looks like Hal's distinctive "concentric rings" (as opposed to "sworls") right finger print pattern. I'm sure modern techniques could bring out the fingerprint for a useful comparison. If we could get someone to do it. But first, I'd have to convince someone with enough pull--and money--to start trying to pull for it.
Funny--his veterans plaque says "USAAF-USAF," but that's not true. He was in the Army in WWII, NOT the US Army Air Force. He reenlisted as a 2nd Lt (ROTC) in the Air Force in the 50s.
He had a grudge against the Army. His C.O. had awarded him 4 Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart, but he never received his medals. But I think it goes beyond that. He never, ever told anyone in his family or friends what he did in the war. For some reason.
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Post by sierra on Jan 9, 2021 15:45:15 GMT -6
He had a grudge against the Army. His C.O. had awarded him 4 Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart, but he never received his medals. But I think it goes beyond that. He never, ever told anyone in his family or friends what he did in the war. For some reason.
It's odd that he never got his Purple Heart. I read that the US government had so many Purple Hearts made during WWII, that they were still handing them out at the end of the Vietnam War.
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Post by sierra on Jan 9, 2021 19:01:27 GMT -6
In 1973 there was a fire at the National Personal Records Center. Snooks records could have been destroyed. If his records burned, there would be almost no way to prove where he was or what he did while in the military. Anyone who's records were destroyed could forge new ones. www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center/fire-1973Overview: On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF). The records affected: Branch Personnel and Period Affected Estimated Loss Army Personnel discharged November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960 80% Air Force Personnel discharged September 25, 1947 to January 1, 1964 (with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.) 75% No duplicate copies of these records were ever maintained, nor were microfilm copies produced. Neither were any indexes created prior to the fire. In addition, millions of documents had been lent to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the fire occurred. Therefore, a complete listing of the records that were lost is not available. However, in the years following the fire, the NPRC collected numerous series of records (referred to as Auxiliary Records) that are used to reconstruct basic service information. Also en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Personnel_Records_Center_fire. |
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Post by Admin Horan on Jan 9, 2021 20:57:07 GMT -6
I have Hal Snook's complete DD-214. Both Army WWII and AF 1950s. It includes his citations, and the letter denying his request for his medals because the clerk writing the letter claims he "can't find any record..." I even have his fingerprints, in hi-res.
I have only mentioned even having these records a couple of times. I've been waiting for the right moment to pull the Aces out, as Brad Majors might say.
And for the record, a lot of DD-214s have been routinely [partially] reconstructed from copies of files found in other storage or archives, etc. I have Leon Posella's partially reconstructed DD-214, for example. He was a friend of Harold True. He suffered brain damage from a car wreck, according to his medical records, and was eventually given a medical discharge.
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