GI Father Finding Guide -

As prepared by one of our ‘Friends’ in America

Purpose: To provide some of the information you need to begin the search for your American GI father.

Introduction: For whatever reason you have decided to try to find your American GI father, there are certain things that you must do.

"When you pray you have to move your feet" so remember that you will have to do your part, this is your search. The completeness of the information you pull together in the beginning is all-important. Try to be as through as possible at this point because a week or more extra research on your part now could save months of time.

A word of warning: If you are not totally committed to this search then do not begin. You have to be prepared for a long search that may take years and know that you may never reach your goal. Your father could be dead or he might not be the ideal person that you envisioned when you started looking for your father. The search, at times, may take a greater emotional toll than you realize. You must be prepared to share all the information you have about your parents regardless of how painful it might be to you or your mother.

If you knew that your father was alive and had his address or telephone number in front of you today, could you write the letter or make the call? The letter or call that could change forever your life, his life, and possibly his American family’s life. Suppose that you find the wrong man? Suppose that your father denies that you are his child, could you handle the rejection? Continue only if you are totally committed to finding and contacting your father.

Where to start: Start with what you know. Get out a piece of paper and list all the facts. Some of these may not seem relevant but get the information if you can.

• Your name now and at birth.
• What was your mother’s name at the time she knew your father?
• What was your father’s full name, including nicknames?
• If you are not sure of the spelling be sure to make a note of the fact. e.g. John Stevens possibly Stephens, Steven, or Stephen
• What was his rank?
• Was he a private, sergeant, lieutenant, major, etc?
• What dates are associated with your father?
• When was he in the United Kingdom?
• What is his birthday
• Does your father know that you exist?
• When and where were you born?
• If you were not a full term baby, when were you conceived?
• What was your father’s military service number? (Very important)
• If you do not know, here are some places to look:
• Your birth certificate
• Your parents marriage certificate
• Your adoption records
• Old letters, a GI’s return address often contained it.
• Where was your father stationed?
• If you do not know, then where did your parents meet?
• If you know the town, contact the library there and see if there is a local history of the War years that might tell you the nearby bases.
• What unit was your father in?
• We not only mean Army or Navy but division, bomb group, etc. Units were often part of the return address in old letters. Apparently meaningless things like C-2-8 could mean C Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment.
• What did he do in the military?
• Was he a clerk, a pilot, mechanic, driver, etc.?
• Where in America did your father come from?
• Do you know his hometown, state, or region of the country?
• What did your father do in civilian life?
• Was he a salesman, joiner, mason, clerk, etc.?
• If he had been to university, which one and what did he study?
• What were the names of his family members?
• Brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents.
• What were the names of his military buddies?
• What was his Social Security Account number?
• What organizations did he belong to?
• Labour unions, clubs, fraternal organizations, etc.
• What were his interests and hobbies?

The more of these questions that you can answer the easier the search will be. Obviously your mother is the best person to provide the answers but often times she may not want to talk about that part of her life. If you find that your mother is reluctant to speak about your father try getting her to read one of the books written on the subject, either Shirley Mcglade’s Daddy, Where Are You?, published by Smith Gryphon, London, 1992, ISBN 1–85685–012–9, or one of Pamela Winfield’s books Bye Bye Baby, The Story of the Children the GIs Left Behind published by Bloomsbury, London, 1992, ISBN 0–7475–1123–3, or Melancholy Baby, The Unplanned Consequences of the G.I.s’ Arrival in Europe for World War II published by Bergin & Garvey, Westport, Connecticut, 2000, ISBN 0-89789-639-4. Knowing that she was not alone in having a GI’s child could get her to share more details with you. Another good source is any of her brothers or sisters, especially if they were older. Aunts and uncles often remember things that your mother may have forgotten (or chosen to forget!)

Many girls were reluctant to go out with a GI by themselves. Did your mother double date with a friend or sister? If so, they might remember details. Also, more than one father was found by first finding one of his old GI buddies so be sure to record their names.

Check your birth certificate to see where your mother was living when you were born. Go check out the neighbourhood, you would be surprised at how many people still live in the same house after more than 50 years. Knock on some neighbour’s doors. Often, scandal and gossip can be remembered when more important facts are long forgotten.

Look over any memento or photograph you may have of your father. Play detective. What can you determine from these objects? Glean what you can from photos; is there anything written on the back? A photo once revealed a GI’s unit because he was standing in front of an Army truck with numbers on the bumper that indicated which unit it was from. You do not have to necessarily understand what you see but you should realize that it might mean something to someone else.

If you were adopted you may find gathering information more difficult. See if you can find out where you were adopted, the local social services office might be able to point you in the right direction. Getting into adoption records is not easy but it can be done so do not take "no" for an answer. Once into the records you may find who your father was but if you do not, you would have to decide if you want to trace your natural mother to find information on your father. If your stepfather legally adopted you then go check out those records as they may have information about your natural father.

Now what? Organize what you have and put all the facts together on a Search Information Sheet. You can use other pages to explain these facts but it is helpful to have the details on a single sheet of paper. Do not use any abbreviations, spell out everything.

The US Government protects the information it has on its citizens through the Privacy Act. Basically this means that the government will not release information about an individual without their permission. Someone seeking their father challenged this Act several years ago. The challenge wound up in the courts and now they will release some, but not all, of the information they hold.

Everyone should write the US Government and request information on their father.

Write to:

National Personnel Records Center

ATTN: NPRS Room 2076 (Zussblatt)

9700 Page Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63132-5100

U. S. A.

Be sure to mention that you are trying to find your father and give them your father’s full name and other details you have. Say that you are requesting this information on your father under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. It would be helpful if you mention that you are the child of a GI father and a British mother and you therefore fall into the category of War Babes. Hopefully the government will be able to identify your father and will send you a few details about him. It should be noted that there was a very bad fire at the records centre in 1973 and many records were destroyed.

Records: Keep good records. Make copies of the letters you send and develop a filing system for keeping track of emails, letters, phone calls, conversations, library visits, etc. Odd size bits of paper tend to get misplaced so make a habit of only using A4 size paper. Periodically review and update all of your information.

Dates: Americans do things differently so be careful with things such as dates. Americans would interpret 1/2/41 as January 2, 1941 rather than 1 February 1941; therefore always write out all dates.

Mind the clock: America is behind the United Kingdom; time wise that is. If you are going to phone someone in the US be sure to figure out what time it is there. The time difference with the Atlantic coast states is minus five (–5) hours and minus eight (–8) hours to the Pacific coast. The best time to contact the USA is when it is late at night in the UK.