Post by JohnEakin on Apr 16, 2024 0:09:14 GMT 8
I have a little quandary and could use some help from the members of this forum.
Many of you know the story of my quest to recover the remains of my Cousin, Bud Kelder, who died in the Cabanatuan POW camp. This started in 2009 and has required four trips to Federal Court. We've not only recovered most of Bud's remains (that's another story), but we also have the only complete digital copy of the Individual Deceased Personnel Files (IDPFs) that is in the public domain. Each one of these more than 540,000 pdf files has a story. Many stories are rather personal and most are routine. Some are nothing less than earthshaking.
I've been overwhelmed by requests from genealogists, data providers, and many other people - some of whom have unknown motives. I couldn't keep up with all the requests even if I tried and I refuse to just dump these files on the internet. So my policy has been to only share these files with legit family members and researchers who I know to be legit and who will handle these files with respect.
I believe a soldier doesn't die until he is forgotten and the stories contained in these files deserve to be told.
If you enjoy WWII history and would like to distill the dry bureaucratic language of these IDPFs into something a little more readable and put the pieces together, I'll upload a set of these files to you to see what you can do with them. I have two groups of these files ready to go. If you'd like to give it a shot, send me a PM and I'll send them to you.
All I ask is that you post the story on this forum (and wherever else you wish) within a reasonable time - say 30 days or less. and you credit "source files supplied by BataanMissing.com." If you don't have a history of posting on this forum, please don't ask. I've identified literally dozens of interesting stories so there's lots more if this experiment works out.
Many of you know the story of my quest to recover the remains of my Cousin, Bud Kelder, who died in the Cabanatuan POW camp. This started in 2009 and has required four trips to Federal Court. We've not only recovered most of Bud's remains (that's another story), but we also have the only complete digital copy of the Individual Deceased Personnel Files (IDPFs) that is in the public domain. Each one of these more than 540,000 pdf files has a story. Many stories are rather personal and most are routine. Some are nothing less than earthshaking.
I've been overwhelmed by requests from genealogists, data providers, and many other people - some of whom have unknown motives. I couldn't keep up with all the requests even if I tried and I refuse to just dump these files on the internet. So my policy has been to only share these files with legit family members and researchers who I know to be legit and who will handle these files with respect.
I believe a soldier doesn't die until he is forgotten and the stories contained in these files deserve to be told.
If you enjoy WWII history and would like to distill the dry bureaucratic language of these IDPFs into something a little more readable and put the pieces together, I'll upload a set of these files to you to see what you can do with them. I have two groups of these files ready to go. If you'd like to give it a shot, send me a PM and I'll send them to you.
All I ask is that you post the story on this forum (and wherever else you wish) within a reasonable time - say 30 days or less. and you credit "source files supplied by BataanMissing.com." If you don't have a history of posting on this forum, please don't ask. I've identified literally dozens of interesting stories so there's lots more if this experiment works out.