Last documented: Private First Class (Pfc) · Company L, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division
Army · Service no. 32 942 689
Service Number
32 942 689
Last Documented Rank
Private First Class (Pfc)
Last Documented Unit
Company L, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division
MOS
745 — Rifleman
Theater
Mediterranean (Italy), then European (Southern France / Vosges / Alsace)
This timeline reconstructs William's World War II service from
his enlistment record and the Morning Reports, orders and unit records held by the National Archives, searched
by service number. Each entry cites its source; items marked
Newly discovered were recovered from the records.
Map of Service
Route reconstructed from documented locations; reported stops and unknown legs are labeled.
Service stops
Albany, N.Y.induction and June 1945 homecoming
Camp Upton, N.Y.reception center; August 1943
Fort McClellan, Ala.infantry training; September 1943-February 1944
Camp Patrick Henry, Va.Hampton Roads embarkation camp; February 1944
Le Ferriere, Italyjoined Company L on the Anzio beachhead; March 24, 1944
Rome, ItalyCompany L and reported furlough; June 1944
Naples, Italyreported in his letter home; July 1944
Mollans, FranceCompany L morning report; September 1944
Near Bruyeres, Francerejoined Company L; October 1944
Bult, FranceCompany L morning reports; November 1944
Swannanoa, N.C.Moore General Hospital; reported by June 14, 1945
Route notes
1 → 2At Camp Upton by August 29, 1943
2 → 3Transferred August 31; reported September 2
3 → 4At the embarkation camp in February 1944
4 → 5Overseas in February; ports and exact sailing date are unknown
5 → 6Company L advanced from Anzio toward Rome
6 → 7Reported stationed at Naples in July 1944
7 → 8By September 15 at Mollans; landing port is not documented
8 → 9Rejoined Company L near Bruyeres on October 22
9 → 10Company L at Bult in November
10 → 11Invalided home via England; exact route and ports are unknown
11 → 1Home on furlough by June 30, 1945
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How to read this service timeline
This page brings together records created for different purposes. The labels below tell you what kind of evidence supports each entry; open either guide when a record or military term is unfamiliar.
?
Confirmed — Service record
A personal military record supports the entry.
Confirmed — Unit record
A record created by his unit names him or documents the unit’s activity.
Context
Helpful background, clearly separated from personal evidence.
Newly discovered
Information recovered during this research, rather than supplied at the start.
How to read a Morning Report
Morning Reports were daily administrative records prepared by individual Army and Army Air Forces units. They generally recorded changes—such as arrivals, transfers, promotions, illness, or return to duty—not a complete list of everyone present.
MORNING REPORT · SAMPLE
1Organization Company A, 123rd Infantry
2Station or location Camp Example, Virginia
3Date 14 September 1944
4Section Personnel changes
5Pvt Smith, John A., 35123456 6asgd fr Hq Co per SO 187, Hq 123d Inf
In plain English
Private John A. Smith, identified by Army Serial Number 35123456, was assigned to Company A from Headquarters Company under Special Orders No. 187.
1Organization: the company, hospital, squadron, or other unit filing the report.
2Station or location: where that unit reported from on that date.
3Report date: the date of the report, which may differ from the effective date of a change.
4Section: the part of the form containing personnel changes or the unit’s record of events.
5Soldier entry: usually rank, name, and Army Serial Number.
6Change and authority: what happened and the order authorizing it.
asgd
assigned
atchd
attached
trfd
transferred
fr
from
aptd
appointed
EM
enlisted men
SO
Special Orders
GO
General Orders
orgn
organization
sta
station
Common military and research terms
Army Serial Number (ASN)
The unique service number used to distinguish one soldier from others with similar names.
Discharge or separation paper
The document issued when a service member left active service. For many WWII Army enlisted soldiers, this is WD AGO Form 53-55. It summarizes service but is not a day-by-day history.
Morning Report
An Army unit’s daily administrative report. It usually lists people whose status changed, not every person in the unit.
Unit record
A document created by a military organization. It may name the soldier directly or provide context about his unit; the timeline states which applies.
OMPF or “201 file”
The service member’s Official Military Personnel File. Many Army and Air Force files were damaged or destroyed in the 1973 National Personnel Records Center fire.
Unit and final unit
A unit is the organization in which someone served. The final unit is the organization shown at separation; it may not be the only unit in the service history.
Rank or grade
The service member’s level in the military hierarchy. A timeline may show changes in rank over time.
MOS
Military Occupational Specialty—the Army’s classification for a soldier’s primary military job.
Assigned and attached
Assigned means formally placed in a unit. Attached usually means serving with a unit temporarily while belonging administratively elsewhere.
Special Orders and General Orders
Official directives used to authorize personnel actions, awards, organizational changes, and other decisions.
Campaign credit
Official recognition for service connected with a named campaign. It does not, by itself, describe a service member’s individual actions.
Station or location
The place from which a unit filed a report. It does not automatically prove that every member was physically present there.
Source citation
The note beneath a timeline entry identifying the record or records that support it.
Service Timeline
10 min
Confirmed — Record
March 1922 — date disputed
Born in Albany, New York
His Social Security records and grave marker give March 1922, but several wartime records give or imply 1923. Even the day conflicts: his own Social Security application says March 5, while later death records, a preserved obituary excerpt, and the marker say March 6. No birth or baptismal record has been found to resolve it.
Source: NUMIDENT SS-5 and death file; SSDI; BIRLS; Find A Grave memorial #209366511; obituary excerpt preserved by MesAieux/YourFolks
Confirmed — Service record
August 3, 1943
Inducted into the Army
Inducted at Albany, New York.
Source: Enlistment record (NARA AAD) and induction orders
Confirmed — Service record
August 24, 1943
Entered active service
BIRLS records this as his date of entry into active service; it does not identify the reporting location.
Source: Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS)
Confirmed — Unit record
August 29–31, 1943
Camp Upton — ordered to infantry training
Special Orders No. 237 name William F. Casey, 32942689 and transfer him to the Infantry Replacement Training Center at Fort McClellan, Alabama, effective August 31.
Special Order 237, Camp Upton. He is number 55 on the list: Casey, William F. 32942689.
Source: Morning Report — HQ 1222d SCSU Reception Center — NARA Roll 443485489, image 1136 (29 August 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
September 2, 1943
Fort McClellan — infantry training begins
He reported from Camp Upton and was attached to Company C, 13th Battalion, Infantry Replacement Training Center.
Special Order 210, Fort McClellan. Under the heading CO C 13TH BN, line 31 reads William F Casey, 32942689.
Source: Morning Report — Co C, 13th Bn, IRTC — NARA Roll 450036992, image 150 (2 September 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
November 28–December 4, 1943
Hospitalized during training, then back to duty
Company C reported him sick in the station hospital, in line of duty. The December 4 report, filed from Talladega National Forest while the company was in the field, lists him with two other men under the line “Fr sk sta hosp Ft McClellan, Ala to dy”. He was back on duty that day. Neither report names a diagnosis. Newly discovered.
Ferraro, Casey and Tway are bracketed together under one line: “Fr sk sta hosp Ft McClellan, Ala to dy”.
Source: Morning Report — Co C, 13th Tng Bn, IRTC — NARA Roll 455592519, image 126 (28 November 1943); Morning Report — Co C, 13th Tng Bn, 4th Tng Regt, IRTC — NARA Roll 458914758, image 3173 (4 December 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
December 29, 1943
Rated a rifleman — MOS 745
Special Order 308 lists Casey by name and service number under the military occupation 745 — Rifleman.
Group V, routed via New York, N.Y. Number 6 is William F Casey, 32942689, rated 745, the rifleman code.
Source: Morning Report — Hq IRTC, Fort McClellan — NARA Roll 461213517, image 56 (29 December 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
February 1944
Camp Patrick Henry — prepared to sail
An outgoing transport roster places him in Shipment GK-432-A, Infantry Company G, 1st Platoon. Detachment reports still place him at Camp Patrick Henry on February 17 and 21; the records establish a February departure but not the exact sailing day.
The shipment detachment’s report of 17 February, Camp Patrick Henry. Casey, William F, 32942689 is eleventh on the list.
Source: Morning Report — Det Shipment GK-432-A — NARA Roll 464724266, image 1528 (February 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
March 14, 1944
Overseas — the Second Replacement Depot
A roster records him at APO 776 with Shipment GK-432-A and attaches him to the 407th Replacement Personnel Company. APO 776 was the Second Replacement Depot, Personnel Center No. 6. The roster's convoy prefix is indistinct, so it is not expanded here.
Memorandum 745 of the Second Replacement Depot, APO 776. Third name: CASEY, WILLIAM F. 32942689. The document reports a convoy code ending in 26, but its prefix is indistinct.
Source: Morning Report — 2nd Replacement Depot, Pers Center 6 — NARA Roll 466527909, image 2844 (14 March 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
March 24, 1944
Le Ferriere — joined Company L on the Anzio beachhead
Company L's morning report records 71 men joining from the Second Replacement Depot, and its attached roster names Pvt William F. Casey, 32942689. Le Ferriere was inside the Anzio beachhead. This places him there two months before the breakout; it does not by itself prove formal campaign-star credit. Newly discovered.
Company L’s report at le Ferriere: 71 men joined from the Second Replacement Depot.The attached roster names Pvt William F. Casey, 32942689.
Company L reported from Rome on June 5. A July hometown article, quoting Casey's letter, says he had a brief furlough in Rome and an audience with Pope Pius XII, who gave him a blessing and prayer beads that he sent home. A separate report described a special audience attended by a group of Allied servicemen. The article quoting his letter then placed him in Naples.
Source: Company L Morning Report, NAID 477869900, image 1701; Albany Times-Union, Wednesday 12 July 1944, quoting his letter home (Old Fulton scan Albany_TU_1944_5151.pdf); Knickerbocker News, c. July 1944 (Old Fulton scan Albany_KN_1944_3776.pdf); transcription in research_notes/albany_newspapers_2026-08-26.md
Confirmed — Unit record
June 20, 1944
Appointed Private First Class
South of Rome, his name heads a list of fifteen men followed by the line “Above 15 EM, aptd Pfc.” Private First Class is his last documented rank, not a discharge-confirmed final rank.
South of Rome. 32942689 Casey, William F. heads the bracketed list of fifteen closed by “Above 15 EM, aptd Pfc.”
Source: Morning Report — Co L, 30th Infantry — NARA Roll 477869900, image 1716 (20 June 1944)
Confirmed — Service record
July 14, 1944
Combat Infantryman Badge
Special Orders No. 88 of the 30th Infantry award Pfc William F. Casey, 32942689 the Combat Infantryman Badge “for exemplary conduct in action against the enemy.” This award is proven by the order; no Bronze Star or Purple Heart order has been found.
Army reports place him at the 11th Evacuation Hospital after transfer from the 3rd Division clearing station. The recorded diagnoses move from fever of unknown origin to acute nasopharyngitis and infectious hepatitis. These records do not diagnose malaria.
Company L’s own report of his admission: 32942689 Casey, William F. Pfc — Dy to hosp LD sc 14th & trfd D/P Seventh Army.
Source: Morning Report — 11th Evacuation Hospital — NARA Roll 569921574, image 778, 883 and 895 (September 1944); Morning Report — Co L, 30th Infantry — NARA Roll 569939077, image 273 (15 September 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
October 15–18, 1944
Waiting at the division replacement battalion
The Third Replacement Battalion, Third Infantry Division Liaison Section typed two lists of men due back to the 30th Infantry. Memo 22 of October 15 and Memo 25 of October 18 both carry Casey, William F., 32942689, Pfc, L Co. He passed through the replacement chain here, between the hospital in September and Company L on October 22. Newly discovered.
Memo 22, 15 October. Item 15 under 30th INFANTRY: Casey, William F. 32942689 Pfc L Co.Memo 25 three days later still lists him, waiting to go forward.
Source: Morning Report — 3rd Replacement Battalion, 3rd Inf Div — NARA Roll 572272472, image 1241 and 1281 (15 and 18 October 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
October 22, 1944
Rejoined Company L near Bruyères
The company report names him rejoining from the Seventh Army Detachment of Patients and again records his duty specialty as 745 — Rifleman.
Near Bruyères. 32942689 Casey, William F. Pfc, reassigned and joined from the Seventh Army Detachment of Patients, duty specialty 745.
Source: Morning Report — Co L, 30th Infantry — NARA Roll 572131130, image 2642 (22 October 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
November 13–25, 1944
A second hospitalization and return
At Bult, France, he went from duty to hospital in line of duty. A 59th Evacuation Hospital report records bilateral defective vision. Company L recorded him back from the Detachment of Patients effective November 14.
The 3rd Division clearing station’s admission list: Casey, William F 32942689 Pfc L 30 Inf, sent to the 59th Evacuation Hospital.
Source: Morning Report — Co L, 30th Infantry — NARA Roll 576730721, image 3349 and 3351 (November 1944); Morning Report — Clearing Station, 3d Infantry Division — NARA Roll 576734801, image 572 (13 November 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
December 16, 1944
Alsace — the last record naming him online
He and eight other men returned from temporary duty at the 3rd Infantry Division Rest Center. The company was in the Kaysersberg sector, but its filmed station name, “Near Toggenbach,” has not been securely identified. The digitized morning-report series ends in December 1944.
The last page of the digitized run that names him. 32942689 Casey, William F. Pfc, back from the division Rest Center.
Source: Morning Report — Co L, 30th Infantry — NARA Roll 578280918, image 692 (16 December 1944)
Reported — Contemporary newspaper
January 3, 1945
An injury reported by his hometown newspaper
The Knickerbocker News later reported that he was injured while serving with Seventh Army. His parents learned through a personal letter from Lt. Gen. Alexander M. Patch. The surviving evidence does not establish whether this was a combat wound, and no Purple Heart order has been found.
Source: “Letter from Gen. Patch Reveals Son’s Wound,” Knickerbocker News (Albany), c. 10 March 1945 (Old Fulton scan Albany_KN_1945_1105.pdf); transcription in research_notes/albany_newspapers_2026-08-26.md
Confirmed — Service record
April 1945
Malaria in the England/European area — invalided home
An Army Surgeon General admission card keyed to his service number records vivax malaria, treatment in the England/European area, and the special class “Invalided Home.” This disease admission is separate from the January injury. A second diagnosis is withheld; the record gives no basis for guessing what it was.
Back in the United States — Moore General Hospital
The Albany Times-Union reported him returned from overseas and a patient at Moore General Hospital in Swannanoa, North Carolina. The Army admission card independently supports the return by recording “Invalided Home.” The same article reported a Bronze Star Medal, but no order or discharge confirming it has been found.
Two Albany papers place him at his parents' 30th-anniversary dinner at 85 Glendale Avenue and identify him as a Private First Class. That is the latest wartime rank evidence found, but it is still not a final-rank entry from a separation document.
Source: “30th Anniversary,” Knickerbocker News, Saturday 30 June 1945 (Old Fulton scan Albany_KN_1945_3444.pdf); Albany Times-Union, Sunday 1 July 1945 (Albany_TU_1940a_0173.pdf — filed under 1940, published 1945)
Confirmed — Service record
September 4, 1945
Released from Army service
BIRLS gives September 4 as his release date. The Army hospital card records a September disposition as discharged or retired for disability, line of duty — yes. His separation place, final rank, formal campaign credit, and complete award list remain unknown because no discharge document has been found.
Find A Grave memorial 209366511 and photographs of his grave markers place him at Calvary Cemetery, Glenmont, New York. The veteran marker reads PFC, U.S. Army, World War II; that inscription corroborates his last documented rank but is not a separation-grade record.
