FINDING YOUR FATHER’S WAR : A Practical Guide to Researching and Understanding Service in the World War II US Army

By Jonathan Gawne

Casemate Publishing

341 Pages

Leading military historian and researcher, Jonathan Gawne, explains and shares the techniques he uses to research archives, libraries, veteran associations and myriad other sources of information to track down the wartime career of an individual. The author describes this as “What I did, and what you can do to find out what ‘he’ did in the army.” I found a copy at my local Barnes and Noble. It’s also available online at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

U.S. ARMY HANDBOOK 1939 – 1945

By George Forty

Published in 1998 by Barnes and Noble Books

220 pages

This is a superb reference book detailing the organization, structure, and equipment of the US Army during WWII. Please note that since this volume is published by Barnes and Noble, that’s probably the only place you’ll find it. You can also order it online.

SNAFU: SAILOR, AIRMAN, AND SOLDIER SLANG OF WORLD WAR II

FUBAR: SOLDIER SLANG OF WORLD WAR II

By Gordon L. Rottman

Osprey Publishing

Published in 2007

376 pages

Originally published in 2006 under the title FUBAR: SOLDIER SLANG OF WORLD WAR II, this survey of WWII service member slang is broken into three parts: American, British, and German slang. It it further subdivided by service branches. This is not only a very useful reference, but also fun to skim. Available through bookstores, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.