Index of the General Orders of the Hawaiian Department, in WWII

Statistics:

Distinguished Service Cross  44
 Silver Star Medals 74
Soldiers Medals 83
 Distinguished Flying Cross 37
 Legion of Merit 127
Air Medals 713
Purple Heart Medals 10

Total Awards 1,088

This book has 23 pages

ISBN 978-1-932891-89-7

Library of Congress Control Number Pending

WWII Campaigns
Central Pacific

This is the sixty-second in a series of indexes of all the divisions, corps, armies, and commands of the US Army during WWII. Others will be published as they are completed.

 This work includes all decorations cited in the general orders of the Hawaiian Department. Please note that many decorations to members of the Hawaiian Department were cited in general orders of other commands. I have not attempted to list the Unit Awards, awards of specific Battle Stars, or Good Conduct Medals.

 Most of the Hawaiian Department’s general orders do not contain the recipient’s unit assignment information. The recipient’s branch of service is listed in its place. Please note that some members of tank destroyer battalions were actually members of the field artillery branch; likewise, members of tank battalions are commonly assigned to the infantry or cavalry branch. The branch of service is only a lead in determining what unit an individual served in.

 General Richardson commanded several different commands during World War II. At different points he commanded multiple commands at the same time. Even though he remained the commander of the Hawaiian Department, the Hawaiian Department ceased to issue decorations in its general orders as soon as Headquarters, US Army Force Central Pacific was formed. Therefore there are no general orders from the 1944 nor the 1945 series indexed here.

                I have noticed some issues with the number of Oak Leaf Clusters cited in the general orders of the Hawaiian Department, especially those for additional awards of the Air Medal. Therefore please verify all multiple awards with an additional source, if possible, before forming any conclusion.

How to read the sources: (GO#12,1942,HIDept) is broken down as “GO” (General Order), “#” (Number 12, 1942), “HIDept” (Hawaiian Department).

The following general orders are missing from the files at the National Archives: 

The last general order that I could locate from the Hawaiian Department’s 1943 Series is numbered 133.  The first general order that I have been able to locate thus far for Headquarters, US Army Forces Central Pacific is numbered 140. Therefore these is a possibility that there are additional Hawaiian Department general orders numbered beyond 133 but less than 140 that are missing as well. However since I do not know exactly when the changeover occurred, I have not listed any general order beyond 133 in listing above.

            The National Archives is in the process of reorganizing the records of World War II theater level commands into separate records groups. Research aids for these new record groups are lacking. Currently it is very difficult to find the actual location of specific records in these records groups. It took several attempts to find the Hawaiian Department’s general orders. The archivists had troubles finding them as well. Eventually I was provided with the Hawaiian Department’s general orders from the 1942 series. The 1943 series could not be located before I departed. I used another resource to compile the general orders from the 1943 series. This source only contains general orders that cite decorations, which is why so many general orders are listed as missing. This is due to the fact that a large percentage of general orders issued by major commands pertain to non-decorations related matters, such as the reorganization of units, the appointment of staff officer or the issuance of policy. Although on occasion I do find a general order at the National Archives that is not contained in my backup source, it is the exception rather than the rule. The converse is normally true. Therefore, I feel fairly certain that this index is representative of all the decorations issued in Hawaiian Department general orders.

                Every effort has been made to minimize errors and misspelled names. An error may be attributable to the source document, or may have occurred while transcribing the names/units. Some of the original documents are of very poor print quality, making them difficult to decipher. Corrections with supporting documentation can be sent to D-Day Militaria, at the address mentioned below.

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