World War I Burial Case Files - Military Monday

I wrote here about a very distant cousin named James S. Trabue and my discovery that he had been killed in action on the last day of World War I. The only information I had about SGT Trabue was that he was from Pleasant Hill, Missouri, married Estella George in 1911 and was killed in action in 1918. After my request of his military service file came up empty handed I had to get creative.

I first contacted the Pleasant Hill Missouri Historical Society to see if they had a Trabue family file or any information on the WWI casualties from their town. I received a quick email response to my query and soon thereafter a packet of copies from their files.

The file included the above photo and several newspaper stories regarding SGT Trabue. From the newspaper articles, it appeared that he did indeed die on the last day of the war. It is also obvious that the family was not aware of the specifics of his death. James Trabue was killed on November 11 and his wife received notification of his death on December 3. The Pleasant Hill Times reported that "his fine, soldierly appearance was the subject of frequent admiring comment," and "the fact that he made the great sacrifice at practically the last moment of the war, escaping all the manifold dangers of previous rigorous campaigns up to that time, adds a touch of deeper regret to the tragic story of Sergt. Trabue."

The newspaper articles also hinted that SGT Trabue died from a shell blast, but there was nothing to substantiate it. I am not a morbid person, but it was not enough for me to know only that he died on the last day of the war. I wanted to know what caused his death at the very last moment of the war.

In my quest to find more information I came across a largely unknown set of records held by the National Archives: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General (Record Group 92). In the Army, the Quartermaster branch is responsible for mortuary affairs. This little known record group of Quartermaster files includes burial case files from 1915-1939, from both Soldiers killed overseas to domestic deaths. And most World War I casualties are included. The files record the disposition of remains of Soldiers. To request a copy of the file I sent a letter to:

Archives II Reference Section (Military)
Textual Archives Services Division ( NWCT2R[M])
National Archives at College Park
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001

I included everything I knew about James Trabue to include death date, service number, unit and his next of kin. I received a quick response from the National Archives stating that they did indeed have his file. I ordered a copy of the file on CD for $25. The cost of the order varies based on the number of pages in the file.

I received the file yesterday. It included 33 pages discussing the death and movement of the remains of SGT Trabue. His wife, Estella Trabue, chose to have his body returned to the United States for burial in Missouri, so the bulk of the documents in the file pertain to the details of that logistical move. And I do mean details. Every memo, telegram and form for SGT Trabue's movement from France to Missouri is noted. His body was originally buried in Letanne, Ardennes, France and traveled back to the United States through the port of Calais, arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey and then traveling by train to Louisville, Kentucky and finally to Pleasant Hill, Missouri. He was finally buried for the last time in April 1921. One document of particular genealogical interest is a form Estella Trabue had to complete that included the Soldier's next of kin and whether they were living or deceased and their addresses. The burial case file would also include information on whether the Soldier's mother or widow participated in the Gold Star Mothers pilgrimage program. This program offered mothers and widows of Soldiers killed during WWI a paid trip to Europe to visit the graves of their sons or husbands.

And how did James S. Trabue die? The last page of the packet includes the only information about his death. SGT Trabue died alone from shrapnel wounds in a shell blast hole.

Military Monday: Killed in Action November 11, 1918

As I have mentioned, I am fascinated by my military ancestors. I enjoy tracking their service and have found ancestors that have participated in every major U.S. conflict. Except for World War I, that is. I have always been fascinated by that conflict, one that I felt was glossed over in the classroom. I never knew much about World War I, outside of my basic school-room knowledge, until I was able to visit the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. The museum was designated by Congress as the nation's official World War I museum and re-opened in 2006 after having been totally redesigned. That visit inspired me to learn more about the war and I have since read books, novels, websites and more to understand the conflict better.

As a part of that desire, I hoped to find a relative that participated in World War I. No ancestors from my direct line participated in the War. I did find an ancestor on my husband's side that was enlisted during that time: Frank Herman Roelker. Frank did go overseas, but did not get to the conflict until after November 1918.

So the next option was to look into distant relatives. I finally found one on my father's side: James Smith Trabue. James was a very distant cousin by marriage and I stumbled across his WWI service quite by accident. I had received information on my Burnett family line written by Estella George Trabue. Estella had long since passed, but I was interested in knowing more about this family historian, a kindred spirit. Estella married James Smith Trabue in 1911. As I do with all ancestors, I went to Findagrave.com to see if I could locate their death information. I found SGT James Smith Trabue's headstone, which indicated that he had served in Company H, 356th Regiment, 89th Infantry Division, American Expeditionary Forces. The dates on James' headstone were 1890 to 1918. Did James die in combat?

James was buried in Missouri, so I decided to visit the Missouri State Archive's Digital History website and search their military records. What I found was astounding to me: James enlisted in September 1917 and served overseas from 4 June 1918 until 11 November 1918...the day he was killed in action. My relative, however distant, was killed on the final day of the conflict. I was now on a conquest to find out more about James Trabue. My next step was to visit the National Archives website and place a request for his service record. Because I was not a direct descendant from James I had to fill out Standard Form 180 to request his file. I made a copy of the document and then mailed it on 10 March 2010.

I had to wait a very long time for a response, and when it finally came on 18 October 2010 it was not good news. "Dear Sir or Madam: The record needed to answer your inquiry is not in our files. If the record were here on July 12, 1973, it would have been in the area that suffered the most damage in the fire on that date and may have been destroyed." The letter goes on to suggest that there may be a "casualty file" maintained by the Department of the Army and they gave contact information for the U.S. Army Human Resources Command. I sent the specific department mentioned an email, but never received a response.

But I have not given up. I will continue to look for information on James Trabue. I can't possibly quit looking for the story of James because not only am I kindred spirit of his genealogist wife, but I am also a military sister: I served with the 89th Infantry Division's descendant, the 89th Regional Readiness Command, as my first unit in my military career.