During 2025, I took three trips to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. My first trip was in March of 2025. I finished my research at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and I decided to pivot to College Park when I saw on the National Archives Catalog that many of the Special Orders from the 1920's & 1930's were housed there. I found Special Orders for my ancestor, David Nemetzky, in Corps Areas II, VIII, & IX, as well as for the American Forces in China (The Special Orders that I found for David Nemetzky for Corps Areas VIII & IX are now on Google Books).
After my March trip, I found the following Records Series on the National Archives Catalog (actually, I think these Records Series found me), and I decided to return to College Park for additional research. In September, I researched the following Records Series, which are part of Record Group 112: Office of the Surgeon General:
- Historical Reports of General Hospitals, May 1, 1917–May 31, 1920 (NAID: 651567). This Record Series included records and special orders from the following General Hospitals: General Hospital #2 (1919) & General Hospital #41 (1919-1920)
- Historical Reports of Hospitals and Infirmaries, May 1, 1917–May 31, 1920 (NAID: 653140). This Record Series included records and correspondence from the following Hospitals & Infirmaries: Army Supply Base, Brooklyn (1919) & USA Embarkation Hospital #4 (1919)
- Correspondence, March 1, 1917–September 30, 1927 (NAID: 719020). This Record Series contains correspondence with the Surgeon General's Office regarding assignments & promotions of soldiers. I found correspondence for David Nemetzky from the following: Letterman General Hospital (1918); Army Supply Base, Brooklyn (1919); General Hospital #41 (1920); Attending Surgeon's Office, NYC (1920); & William Beaumont General Hospital (1923).
- Geographic Correspondence, March 1, 1928–September 30, 1937 (NAID: 963451). I found correspondence for David Nemetzky from Letterman General Hospital from 1929.
These Records Series did not disappoint, as I found several records for David Nemetzky in each Record Series.
In December, I returned and finished my research for these Records Series, as well as searching through the Record Series 'Records of the Station Hospital, 1916-1938', which is a Record Series that contains records for the U.S. Army's Medical Department in Tientsin, China.
Here is a brief overview of what I found in each of the Records Series:
Special Orders, 1920-1939 (II Corps Area; RG 394; NAID 6920796): I found Special Orders for David Nemetzky in 1920, 1921 and 1927. The Special Orders for the II Corps Area begin in September of 1920, as the Army had realigned their geographic divisions during 1920. Prior to September 1920, the II Corps Area would have been covered by the Eastern Department. The Special Orders for the Eastern Department for 1920 (January - August) are not housed at the National Archives. Rather, they are housed at the New York Public Library. Below are the Special Orders for David Nemetzky I found for the II Corps Area:
As a note, these (and other) records that are housed at the National Archives at College Park had been classified. To indicate that these records are now declassified, a declassified tag had to be included in the copies that I had made. Not all the records I made copies of had been classified, but those that were classified have the declassified tag in them.
As I mentioned earlier, the Special Orders I found for David Nemetzky for Corps Areas VIII & IX are now on Google Books. In fact, the Special Orders I found for him in Corps Area IX were published on Google Books only a couple of weeks after my March visit (These are also housed at the New York Public Library, and they have made efforts to publish their Special Orders holdings on Google Books). Here are the Special Orders that I found for him from Corps Areas VIII & IX (as found in Google Books)
There are also Special Orders for David Nemetzky I found while he was in China during 1924 & 1925. However, these Special Orders were not classified. These are part of the Record Series: Special Orders; 1914-1937 (NAID 7280771; RG 395). Here are two of the Special Orders I found:
Historical Reports of General Hospitals, May 1, 1917–May 31, 1920
The Record Series 'Historical Reports of General Hospitals, May 1, 1917 - May 31, 1920' provided some surprise finds. I found records for David Nemetzky from General Hospital #2 (September-November 1919) and General Hospital #41 (November 1919 - October 1920). I'll start with General Hospital #2 (These records were not classified, hence no declassified tag).
From the Morning Reports that are available on fold3.com, I know that he was hospitalized while he was stationed at General Hospital #2 in October of 1919. I found the medical record for him while he was there. He had a tonsillectomy in October of 1919.
Family Search published the Record Series 'Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls: 1916-1939', which include the monthly Muster Rolls for General Hospital #2 from September and October 1919. However, November 1919 is not included in the Record Series published on Family Search. However, this Record Series at College Park contained the November 1919 Muster Roll. Here is the November 1919 Muster Roll entry for David Nemetzky:
This Record Series also contains the Special Order authorizing his transfer from General Hospital #2 to General Hospital #41 (the Special Order is dated October 30, 1919):
For General Hospital #41, I was able to answer a couple of questions that I had for his service while he was there. The Morning Reports indicate that he was detached service in April and July-August of 1920, but they did not indicate where he was on detached service at. I found Special Orders that indicate where he was on detached service at. In April of 1920, he was to escort the remains of a soldier to his family in Baltimore, Maryland. In July, he was to escrow two soldiers to Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco. The Special Orders are below:
Historical Reports of Hospitals and Infirmaries, May 1, 1917–May 31, 1920
The Record Series 'Historical Reports of Hospitals and Infirmaries, May 1, 1917–May 31, 1920' contains records for David Nemetzky from his time at the Army Supply Base, Brooklyn (February-May 1919) and USA Embarkation Hospital #4 in New York City (May-June 1919). The records include Special Orders, Correspondence, and Bi-Monthly Rosters of the personnel serving at each station. The Bi-Monthly Rosters were a surprise because I had found the monthly muster rolls on Family Search several years earlier. (These records were also not classified, hence no declassified tag).
The Bi-Monthly Rosters are titled 'Return of the Enlisted Force of the Medical Department'. I not only found these bi-Monthly Rosters for the Army Supply Base in Brooklyn and USA Embarkation Hospital #4 in New York City, I also found them for General Hospital #2 and General Hospital #41 (they became monthly rosters during 1920 while he was at General Hospital #41). During my 2024 research trip, I also found this specific record for Camp Fort Bliss, Texas in 1916 & 1917. I don't know if these records exist for the other places where he served (such as the Presidio of San Francisco during the 1910's, or Letterman General Hospital during the 1920's).
These Bi-Monthly Rosters were put together on the odd-numbered months. They list the soldier's name, rank, service number, and any notes about their service. As a side note, there are no monthly muster rolls for General Hospital #41 for November & December 1919, so I have been able to reconstruct this portion of David Nemetzky's service record between these Returns and the Morning Reports). Here are a few of the Returns of the Enlisted Force of the Medical Department that I found for David Nemetzky:
Army Supply Base; Brooklyn, New York: Feb-Mar 1919 & Apr-May 1919
USA Embarkation Hospital #4, New York City: Apr-May 1919 & Jun-Jul 1919
General Hospital #2; Ft. McHenry, Maryland: Aug-Sep 1919 & Oct-Nov 1919
General Hospital #41; Fox Hills, Staten Island, New York: Oct-Nov 1919
General Hospital #41; Fox Hills, Staten Island, New York: July & August 1920
This record series also contains correspondence between the General Hospitals and the Surgeon General's Office. The correspondence I found was primarily from General Hospital #41, and dealt with rank realignment that took place in 1920. When the United Stated entered World War I, the regular requirements for promotion to non-commissioned ranks were suspended; primarily, the examinations for promotion. Time in rank became the only requirement for promotion. David Nemetzky was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1916. Between July of 1917 and December of 1918, he was promoted three grades to the rank of Master Hospital Sergeant. However, this was only a temporary rank. In March of 1920, he had the opportunity to be promoted to the permanent rank of Master Hospital Sergeant. However, the correspondence that I found in my December trip shows that even though he had applied for the examination, he (and a few others) voluntarily withdrew from the examination (the reason for withdrawing from the examination isn't given). Here is the correspondence that I found regarding the examination for promotion:
Following rank realignment on July 1, 1920, David Nemetzky was erroneously reduced to the rank of Sergeant 1st Class (also known as Staff Sergeant). Here is the correspondence that bears out this error.
Correspondence, March 1, 1917–September 30, 1927
This Record Series is correspondence between the Hospitals, Stations and Posts and the Surgeon General's Office. This correspondence is organized by Hospitals, Stations and Posts, and then by the War Department Decimal File Classification System. This System was implemented beginning in 1914, and continued for several decades. The 200 Series dealt with personnel, including promotions and assignments. 201 was designated for correspondence and records regarding specific individual personnel, which is where the term '201 File' comes from. It is these '201 Files' that were destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.
The Correspondence I found is from the 220 subseries, which deals with promotions and transfers of enlisted personnel (among other subjects). I found letters that mention David Nemetzky from Letterman General Hospital (1918); General Hospital #41 (1920); Second Corps Area (1920) Attending Surgeon's Office, New York City (1920); and Beaumont General Hospital (1923). This Record Series was classified, so declassification tags are in each record that I copied. I found correspondence for David Nemetzky during my trips to College Park in September and December. Here are a few of the letters that I found (this Record Series was also classified, hence the declassification tags):
Letter from Letterman General Hospital to the Surgeon General's Office dated October 5, 1918
re: Transfers of Non-Commissioned Personnel.
Letter from Hoff General Hospital (aka General Hospital #41) to Surgeon general's Office dated August 13, 1920. re: Corrected Rank Adjustment of Non-Commissioned Personnel
Letter from Surgeon General's Office to Commanding Officer of Hoff General Hospital (aka General Hospital #41) dated September 28, 1920. re: Examinations for Promotion to Staff Sergeant
Letter from William Beaumont General Hospital to Surgeon general's Office dated July 2, 1923.
re: Personnel for Assignment to William Beaumont General Hospital
Geographic Correspondence
March 1, 1928–September 30, 1937
This Record Series is a continuation of the Record Series described above. I only found one letter when I was at College Park in September, but it was a very important one. It is a letter regarding the Examination for Promotions within the Medical Department, including promotion to Master Sergeant. David Nemetzky had passed the Examination for Promotion to Technical Sergeant in 1924 (I was unable to find this correspondence), but was still a Staff Sergeant when he took the Examination for Promotion to Master Sergeant in 1929. Here is the letter that I found (this Record Series was also classified, hence the declassification tags):
Letter from Letterman General Hospital to Surgeon Generals' Office dated July 9, 1929.
re: Examinations for Promotion
In case you're wondering, he passed the Examination for Promotion to Master Sergeant. However, because he was so far down the promotion lists for Technical Sergeant as well as Master Sergeant, his final rank when he was discharged from the Army was Staff Sergeant.
Records of the Station Hospital, 1916-1938 (U.S. Army Troops in China)
I searched through this Record Series (NAID 7282449; RG 395) when I went back to College Park in December. I was very surprised to find more of the 'Return of the Enlisted Force of the Medical Department' records for the Station Hospital at Tientsin, China. These were completed monthly (along with the Monthly Muster Rolls which are on Family Search). As I have mentioned, I don't know if the 'Return of the Enlisted Force of the Medical Department' exist in their entirety anywhere for all the Hospitals, Stations and Posts where he served, but what I have found is a great addition to David Nemetzky's reconstructed military file that I have put together over the years. Here are a few of the monthly Returns of the Enlisted Force of the Medical Department that I found:
March 1924
November 1924
October 1925
General Correspondence: 1894-1917
This is a Record Series (NAID: 656347; RG 112) that is housed at the National Archives at Washington, D.C. I asked about this series in November to see if there would be anything for David Nemetzky, and i received a response while I was out there on my December trip. I was surprised to receive correspondence for David Nemetzky from this Record Series between 1907 and 1916. When he first re-enlisted in the Army following his discharge in 1907, he requested re-enlistment in the Hospital Corps. He was told that he was: 'not desired for the Hospital Corps.' He then requested permission to re-enlist in the Infantry, which request was granted. When he re-enlisted in 1911, he again requested the Hospital Corps. This time, his request was granted. Following his discharge in 1914, he again requested re-enlistment in the Hospital Corps, as well as an assignment near New York City. His request was denied, but he was advised that if he re-enlisted for the Hospital Corps, he would be assigned somewhere in the western United States. This is why when he re-enlisted in 1914, he was initially assigned to Recruit Duty in San Francisco before being approved for transfer back to the Hospital Corps with assignment at the Presidio of San Francisco. Finally, he (along with his family) requested that he be transferred back to a post near New York City due to his aging parents and their infirmity. This request was ultimately denied. Below are the correspondence that I received from the National Archives in Washington, D.C., from this Record Series:
My three trips to College Park (as well as my request to Washington, D.C.), have been very productive. Each trip has yielded more information to add to David Nemetzky's military record that I have reconstructed. I'm still not sure if I will go back again in 2026. We will have to see what this new year will yield.
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