I don’t have a whole lot of information but some of his old papers list his unit as " HSMC 2nd Maint. BN 96308". I don’t understand what that means though.
I don’t know about the HSMC, but the rest includes “2nd Maintenance Battalion.”
HCMC is “Ho Chi Minh City,” but Saigon was not renamed that until 1975.
Going by this page, 96308 may be the occupation code for “Signal Security Officer, Ranger” (9630 + the suffix 8).
Don’t know, but HSMC contains the History and Museums Division for the Marines. I couldn’t find out what HSMC actually stands for, though.
Ah! HSMC = Headquarters and Support Medical Company.
What branch of the armed forces was your father in?
If you can figure out what unit he was in there are a lot of online resources. My step dad was a LRRP in the 75th Infantry in 'nam. He had never kept in touch with anyone from his unit since he got home. He was having alot of emotional issue about the war over the last several years, and I foung the 75th Infantry website. It has a message board for re-connecting, and they hold annual reunions.
Find out what unit and it should not be too difficult, but may take a little time.
Good luck!
Not to be indelicate, but I’m assuming he has passed on? If so, I believe you can get a copy of his service jacket at the National Personel Records Center, then work your way across the internet looking for his units, etc. If he is still alive, I don’t know if you can get at it without his permission, but contacting the Center to get all the information I could about his service would be my first step in locating some of his buddies if he can’t help you out himself. Good luck!