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TIPS AND TRICKS: GET YOUR ORDERS – FIND A "LOST" BUDDY PRINT THIS SCREEN - NOW!! GET BUSY!! Helpful Search Techniques brought to you by: JIM "DOC" HALL and "TINY" DODD ORDERS: GETTING THEM Orders are by far the best way to remember the full name of that "lost" buddy. Need to obtain a set of your orders. Here’s the very easiest way: Contact JIM "DOC" HALL. Doc’s been helping guys get their orders for a long while and will get you going. ORDERS: NOW THAT YOU GOT ‘EM FIRST: Copy them suckers and mail a copy to any of the Cacti Officers. Or scan them and send me a copy. Just hit E-Mail Us below and attach a jpg file. Better yet, type them up in Word or Excel and send them to me so I can post them online. NOW: Let’s look for your buddy!! PLEASE NOTE: BEFORE YOU DO ANY SEARCH Take a look at the "roster section" on the Cacti Association web site. You can look under company or you can do an alphabetical search here. Be aware that many of our guys served in more than one company so if you don’t find them listed under a company then do an alphabetical search before giving up. DECEASED? SADLY some of our old buddies have died over the past 30+ years. Take a look at the TAPS section in the "Roster" area you were just in or at some of the past Association Newsletters. Ben Youmans has posted and published many names of Cacti who have passed away in past issues. And you may want to look at a site called "the SSN Death Index" you can find it at http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com This is most useful if you have a social security number off of an old set of orders. But you can also search this site by name (and you can also narrow it a bit by adding the state to the search). WHEW!! HE’S STILL OUT THERE SECOND: Try this since you are on the internet. Go to http://www.google.com Type in your buddy’s name and hope you get lucky. Crud, he might be famous and show up. If he is, Google will find him. One of the best search engines around. Add it to your favorites. THIRD: Try one of Doc Hall’s search techniques. Hey it’s free…. How to Find Old Army Buddies Assuming the very basics
Steps:
If there are more than one candidate in a town with the same name or if you don’t find that name in the "People Search" section of Yahoo then you may have to go to www.theultimates.com . Here click on "white pages" then:
Now please try this real world example on your own computer. You want to find an old army buddy named Walt Miller. You know that he was from Indiana but you don’t know which town. You are 55 years old and you think that Walt was 3 or 4 years older. With this information begin your search.
Please note: The reason why I use Yahoo "People search" right after I use "USSearch" is because Yahoo "People Search" recognizes nick names where as the other search engines in "theultimates" do not always. For example Yahoo recognizes that Walter could also be "Walt". You will note if you go through the other 5 search engines on "theultimates" that they do not recognize this. An example of how this could help you is: If we now pretend that when we went to "theultimates" that the one Walter Miller that we found was Walter "T." Miller then we might assume that the "Walt" Miller on County Rd was the Walter Miller that we were searching for (since the one on S. Wall Ave has a middle intial of "T" You will not always find that one good candidate and even if you do this does not guarantee you that he is the person that you are looking for. Sometimes you will find 2, 3, 4, or more likely candidates. But you are narrowing down the candidates from maybe 20 –100 down to this small number. Good luck in your search. PLEASE NOTE: BEFORE YOU DO ANY SEARCH—TAKE A LOOK AT the "roster section" on the Association web site. You can look under company or you can do an alphabetical search here. Be aware that many of our guys served in more than one company so if you don’t find them listed under a company then do an alphabetical search before giving up. 2. SADLY some of our old buddies have died over the past 30 + years. TAKE A LOOK AT the TAPS section of the past Association Newsletters. Ben Youmans has published many names of Cacti who have passed away in past issues. And you may want to look at a site called "the SSN Death Index" you can find it at http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com . This is most useful if you have a social security number off of an old set of orders. But you can also search this site by name (and you can also narrow it a bit by adding the state to the search). ALSO PLEASE NOTE: I have never paid for a search through USSearch. I have no experience to recommend for or against doing this. It is up to you to decide whether to take this extra step or not. However, The Association has used a service which we do recommend. It is run by the daughter of one of our Cacti brothers. She will run searches for old buddies. This is best done if you happen to have a social security number from an old set of orders but she can also attempt a search based on name, approximate age, and information on home state. You can reach Jennifer Surace at jsurace@veteranlocate.com or visit her web site at www.veteranlocate.com . A search by her has been generally less than $5. Other Points and Suggestions
You can contact us at jimdochall@yahoo.com (Doc Hall) or dynawd95@aol.com (Tiny Dodd) if you need any advice on your future searches. SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS vrs. SERVICE NUMBERS FIRST: Social Security Numbers; If you were in Vietnam after about mid-1968 there is a good chance that your old orders contain your Social Security Number as your Service Number. If you have your Buddy’s SS#, then I would call Jennifer above. As we all know, you can’t hide too many places if your SS# is known. If you still want to check online the First Three Numbers of a person’s SS# give a clue as to where they were from. The chart below will help you determine that. Working with Social Security Numbers. If you have a social security number you can check to see when and where it was issued on http://informus.com/ /; If you click on "Demo" you can enter a social security number and see if it was validly issued, and if so in what year and what state. If you have a social security number you can check to see if that person is listed on the social security death index on http://www.ancestry.com You can also have a computer check performed by a search service to determine last address. This will cost money. SERVICE NUMBER CODES If you were in Vietnam before the army switched over to your SS# as your service number then you were issued a Service Number. The USA was divided into 5 Army Districts, the first TWO digits on the service number indicate what region your buddy joined and/or was drafted from, and where he hopefully still lives. Now, these are not infallible—I have found mistakes that were probably simply clerical and a guy may have went in from a different state where he was born. For instance, a "67" has shown-up several times on my rosters and there is no listing for such a number. However, in general they are a good way to narrow the search if needed. Good Luck! OTHER GREAT SPOTS TO SEARCH A great additional place to search for old buddies can be found at the "Lost and Found" web site http://grunt.space.swri.edu/lostfnd.htm You can post a message looking for old buddies and you can read their archives to see if any old buddies are listed. http://www.anywho.com/ http://www.switchboard.com/ http://www.infospace.com/ NEED MORE HELP? Contact: JIM "DOC" HALL or WILEY "TINY" DODD or Hit E-Mail Us below SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS (First Three)
SERVICE NUMBER CODES
Print this screen: Simply select Print from your Browser Menu. Note: You will need to write down Doc’s and Tiny’s e-mail addresses as they will not print.
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