I work as a care assitant and last week one of the men I visit was showing me his fathers war medals. He was telling me about them and so on. The man has no family, and I was thinking about his medals when I got home so the day after I asked him what would happen to them when anything happened to him, as he has been quite ill. (I have visited this guy for 5 years and was comfortable asking him and he was comfortable to be asked. I'm not in the habit of sussing out peoples inheritences!) Anyway he told me he had been wanting to sort out having them returned to the regiment his father served in, and had meant to write to them but hadn't been able to. I told him I would go to his house one afternoon and write for him. Unfortunatley he went into hospital last weekend and died yesterday. I have passed this info onto my manager who has informed his social worker, but how do I find out his regiment and stuff like that? I'm not convinced the social worker will put the effort in.
2007-12-04 00:17:02 · 12 answers · asked by benjoe021 5 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
DeviousD - he has not got one family member. Social worker will be dealing with everything from funeral to sorting out his affairs.
2007-12-04 00:24:49 · update #1
I would suggest you contact the Army Medal Office in the first instance. They should be able to save to the time and effort of finding out which regiment your friend's father served with.
Their phone number is 0141 224 3600.
Also, if the father served in WW1 or previous wars, you need to contact the National Archive at Kew. All details of medals awarded to WW1 soldiers are now held there.
Hope this is useful.
2007-12-07 01:54:51 · answer #1 · answered by Fifi L'amour 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Look on the RIM of the medal to find the soldiers unit, chances are if this is WW2 the unit has long since been amalgamated with others so you would have to look at the modern Regiment which has taken over the traditions and Honor of that Regiment i.e for an example, if say it is the "Royal Irish Fusiliers" they were formed together with 2 other Regiments in 1968 to form the Royal Irish Rangers who in turn in 1992 were joined together with the UDR to form the Royal Irish Regiment, so you see if someone from WW2 was in either the Royal Irish Fusiliers or the Royal Ulster Rifles or the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers today the Royal Irish Regiment would be the Regiment to talk to
2007-12-04 00:54:30 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
If the guy has left a will and an executor you should make contact with them and let them know of this brave mans wishes.
However as many people do not make these provisions , and pass away without making their wishes plain I think the suggestion about the British Legion is the best outlet for you
I congratulate you on your efforts to make this mans wishes come to effect , and wish you success
2007-12-04 00:27:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 0⤋
I t can be difficult but the place to start is by writing the Dept of Defense. You will need as much info as possible (name social security #, serial number if different, dates of service, etc,.)
It may also be possible that his regiment no longer exists, which will mean tracking down other members to see if they have a reunion or other association (more difficult)
Web searches can help but requires searching thru a lot of crap.
Good Luck.
2007-12-04 00:24:02 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Hi,
Take a close look at the rim of the medals. They will give you a service number, rank and name. Take these details and call or e-mail the Royal British Legion, they will be able to assist you in your search.
Good luck & well done.
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/ Tel: 08457 725725
2007-12-04 02:40:56 · answer #5 · answered by martdfrogman 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If there is a veterans museum in your area I'm sure they would appreciate donation of those medals. Any local American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter in your area can help with this.
2007-12-04 04:20:19 · answer #6 · answered by desertviking_00 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Start with the dept of Army (or what ever service applies), tell them your story. Probably they will be glad to help.
2007-12-04 00:46:14 · answer #7 · answered by credo quia est absurdum 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi,phone the British Legion they will help you.Good Luck
2007-12-04 00:20:57 · answer #8 · answered by Ollie 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
you are a lovely caring human being. i regret that there arent more of you to go around. if there were!! what a wonderfull place our world would be. paddy has all the info you need. good luck to you.
2007-12-04 04:13:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
The easiest way to go about this is having his family contact the closest VA Office and explaining to them what he wanted done. They can track down the information for the family based on his service records.
2007-12-04 00:21:23 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 5⤋