Preston served in the Army Air Forces as a master sergeant and airplane
armorer during World War II. His service records follow him from the Central Pacific
through Fort McDowell, California, to duty with the 531st Fighter Squadron at Kualoa,
Oahu, and then to assignments in Georgia and Florida. This account brings together
that history, with complete original record pages and sources for each entry.
Map of Service
Documented locations and home address. Connecting lines show the sequence
of records, not an exact travel route. The Oahu marker represents the island;
the reports name Kualoa. Sources are cited in the corresponding timeline entries.
Locations in the records
Fort McDowell, Californiafurlough from the Pacific, Oct 1943
Oahu, Hawaiiisland marker; squadron reports at Kualoa, Jul-Sep 1944
Fort McPherson, GeorgiaReception Station 15, Nov 1944
Miami Beach, FloridaAAF Redistribution Sta 2, Dec 1944
Buckingham Field, Floridaunit report Dec 1944; enlistment index Sept 1945
Samson, Alabamahome address recorded in November 1944
Route notes
2 → 3Return to the mainland, September-November 1944; ports and ship are not named in the records
3 → 4Dec 1944 — reported 2 Dec
4 → 5Dec 1944 — ordered to Buckingham Field effective 17 Dec
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.
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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.
Recorded in an index
A database or transcription records the information. Differences from original records are explained in the entry.
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
7 min
Confirmed — Record
July 7, 1914
Born in New Brockton, Coffee County, Alabama
Preston Brunson was born in New Brockton, Coffee County, Alabama.
Already a Master Sergeant, Preston joined the headquarters squadron of VII Bomber Command at 9 a.m., arriving from APO 914. He and nine other enlisted men were attached for quarters, rations and administration. The report identifies their parent organization as 531st Fl Bomb Sq AAF and records his name as Preston Brunson, with no middle initial.
Complete report page, including Preston's name, serial number, rank and the attachment instruction. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.
Source: Morning Report — Hq & Hq Sq, VII Bomber Command, APO 953 — NARA Roll 521, image 1108 (September 28, 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
October 26, 1943
Fort McDowell: home from the Central Pacific
Preston was at Fort McDowell, California, after returning from the Central Pacific Area for furlough. Special Orders 286 placed him with the Casual Detachment. The order identifies the broad Pacific region from which he returned, without naming a departure port or island.
Special Orders 286: Preston's line appears under men who had arrived from the Central Pacific Area for furlough. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.
Source: Morning Report — Fort McDowell Casual Detachment — NARA Roll 45, image 2190 (October 26, 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
October 27, 1943
Began a 30-day furlough
Preston began a 30-day furlough. The Fort McDowell report set November 25, 1943, as its expiration date.
Complete furlough report, including Preston's entry and the instruction giving the November 25 expiration date. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.
Source: Morning Report — Fort McDowell Casual Detachment — NARA Roll 45, image 2202 (October 27, 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
December 20, 1943
Reached a replacement battalion after furlough
A passenger list headed Returning from Furlough records Preston's return journey. On December 20, he arrived from the mainland at the 73rd Replacement Battalion, APO 957, at 5 p.m. The arrival list identifies his organization as Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, VII Bomber Command, APO 953. These records name neither the arrival island nor the ship.
The passenger list is expressly headed Returning from Furlough and includes Preston. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.Complete December 20 arrival list. Preston is on row 43; the heading records the time and mainland origin. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.
Source: Morning Reports — NARA Roll 475, image 1773 (passenger list SF 1641); NARA Roll 508, image 3199 (December 1943)
Context
February–June 1944
The squadron became the 531st Fighter Squadron
The 531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron was redesignated the 531st Fighter Squadron on February 18, 1944, and assigned to the 21st Fighter Group on June 15. These dates describe the unit's organizational history; they do not establish Preston's location on either day.
At Kualoa, Oahu, the 531st Fighter Squadron's report listed Preston as a Master Sergeant under service number 6386080.
Preston appears in the group below the VHF-school instruction, which refers to the two preceding names. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.
Preston returned from detached service at Air Depot, APO 953, to duty with the 531st Fighter Squadron at Kualoa. The report recorded his group's return at 5 p.m. and identified him as Master Sergeant Brunson, service number 6386080. The squadron was part of the 21st Fighter Group.
The report header names Kualoa, the 531st Fighter Squadron and 21st Fighter Group; Preston appears below by serial and rank. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.
Source: Morning Report — 531st Fighter Squadron, 21st Fighter Group — NARA Roll 538, image 1404 (September 13, 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
October 12–15, 1944
Selected for rotation to the mainland
Headquarters 7th Fighter Wing issued orders for return to the mainland on rotation. Preston is listed under the 531st Fighter Squadron. Effective October 15, he was transferred in grade to Pacific Ocean Areas unassigned status and attached unassigned to the Casual Depot, Central Pacific Base Command, APO 954, for a rotational group shipment.
Complete rotation-order page, including the transfer instructions and Preston's line under the 531st Fighter Squadron. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.
Source: Morning Report — Headquarters 7th Fighter Wing, APO 958 — NARA Roll 643, image 2441 (October 12, 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
November 5, 1944
Back in the United States at Fort McPherson
Special Orders 65 at Fort McPherson, Georgia, list Preston among men who had returned to the United States and reported there. The orders cite an October 30 endorsement from Camp Stoneman, California; this does not establish his arrival date at that camp. The men were transferred in grade to AAF Redistribution Station No. 2, Miami Beach. Preston's row authorizes 23 days' delay en route, sets December 2 as his report date and records his address as 305 N Johnson St, Samson, Alabama.
Preston's row records MOS 911, the 23-day delay, report date and Samson address. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.
Source: Morning Report — Reception Station No. 15, Fort McPherson — NARA Roll 158, image 221 (November 5, 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
December 2, 1944
Reported to the Miami Beach redistribution station
Personnel Memorandum 236 at AAF Redistribution Station No. 2 lists M/Sgt Preston Brunson, 6386080, MOS 911, assigned to section and flight K-841-SS. The War Department's July 1944 enlisted-classification manual defines MOS 911 as Airplane Armorer; that occupational code is separate from his rank.
The Miami Beach memorandum lists Preston, his serial, grade, MOS and section/flight. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.
Source: Morning Report Roll 222, image 2485 — AAF Redistribution Station No. 2, Miami Beach, December 2, 1944; War Department TM 12-427, Military Occupational Classification of Enlisted Personnel (July 12, 1944), p. 114
Confirmed — Unit record
December 14–17, 1944
Ordered to Buckingham Army Air Field
A Miami Beach report dated December 14 orders Preston to temporary duty en route to a new station at Buckingham AAF, Fort Myers, Florida, effective December 17. A Buckingham report dated December 15 also lists him with Section C, 2117th AAF Base Unit. The December 15 listing precedes the December 17 effective date; these documents do not settle his exact arrival date. Section C, 2117th AAF Base Unit, is his last wartime assignment documented in this account; his unit at separation is not established.
The Miami Beach report orders Preston to Buckingham AAF effective December 17. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.The Buckingham Field unit report dated December 15 lists Preston and his serial number. Yellow highlighting was added by Tango Yankee; the source image is unchanged.
Source: Morning Reports — NARA Roll 223, image 1461; NARA Roll 169, image 1954 (December 1944)
Recorded in an index
September 1945
Enlistment at Buckingham Field
An Army index records an Air Corps enlistment at Buckingham Army Air Field in September 1945. Two transcriptions differ by one day: the NARA-derived record gives September 28, while WWII-enlistment.com gives September 27. The index lists Sergeant, compared with Master Sergeant in his 1943–44 unit records. The reason for that difference is not established; NARA notes that transcription errors occur in this index.
Preston died in June 1998, shortly before his 84th birthday. The exact day differs between sources: Social Security records give June 15, while the veterans' index gives June 11.
