There are a few different types of general orders. First there is a set of general orders that every new solider learns when they join the army. The number and the exact wording of these general orders have changed over time. These general orders deal with how a solider should perform his or her duties.
What I'm concerned with are the specific general orders issued by commanders. Please note that there are different kinds of orders issued my commanders. There are field orders which deal with tactical and strategic issues. special orders which deal mainly with the routine administrative functions, such as promotions, reassignments, etc... general orders in a combat environments mainly deal with the appointment of staff officers, organization of attached units, announcements of important information and the publications of decorations awarded by the specific command.
My books deal with the later, in this sense general orders administrative award individuals specific decorations. The US Army rapidly swelled in size in preparation for WWII. Because of this and combat conditions the amount of information contained in general orders varies. When you take clerks from civilian employment and place them in the military with little training, they tend to do things effectively but not exactly in a standardize manor. Now add shells exploding overhead and it adds another twist to the situation. Not only do the contents of general orders vary form command to command but they vary with in the command, mainly due to combat conditions and levels of information security. Below are some general rules of thumb, use them as a rough guide but the only way to know how much information is contained in a specific general order is to view it.
1. General Orders for awards for "Gallantry in Action" or "Heroic Achievement" and other awards for valor normal contain the full citation of what the recipient did to earn their award. There are exceptions see #4.
2. Bronze Star Medals for "Meritorious Service" rarely have any citation
other than the format in the linked
general
order.
3. It is unusual for a general order published later in the war to contain a
citation for any award for "Meritorious Service" other than the statement listed
above.
4. It is unusual for division's to publish citations for decorations awarded
during the Normandy Campaign. I can only assume this was due to combat
conditions. As the commands that participated in this campaign that I have
reviewed normally issued citations in their general orders prior to that
campaign if they participated in combat prior to that campaign, and resumed
publishing citations about the same time as other commands did.
5. There is no citation for awards of the Purple Heart Medals. The general order only state when and where the wound occurred. See the linked portion of a typical general order awarding the Purple Heart Medal.
6. Likewise there is no citation for awards of the Combat Infantryman Bade and Combat Medics Badge, if you are lucky the general order may state an effective date. The effective date was given as the recipients of these awards were entitled to extra pay from the effective date. See the linked portion of a typical general order awarding the Combat Infantryman Badge
7. Publications of Air Medals normally do not contain a citation unless the Air Medal was awarded for a specific act rather then for meritorious service over a specific number of flights / sorties etc...
8. Some commands did not publish any citation in their general orders, they issued individual citations. The problem for researchers is the location of these records. Currently I only know the location of the 1st Infantry Division's Citations if they are not published in the general orders. I spoke with an archivist about this matter. According to him the army or the archives hired contract historians to cull all the documents turned over to the archives in 1947 and any document that they deemed historically irrelevant were destroyed. All the special orders were destroyed and it is likely that the individual citation were like wise purged as copies were retained in the individual personnel file. Unfortunately the fire at the National Personnel Record center destroyer over 80% of WWII army veterans personnel files.
9. Many times the numerical designation of the organization that the recipient was assigned to was expunged. This was a security precaution, encase the document fell into enemy hands they could not use it to reconstruct our order of battle. The inclusion or omission of company level assignment varies form command to command. Some commands did not list any assignments, rather they listed the recipients "branch of service", which is not always a good indication as to there actual assignment. Many times unit assignments are not given for Purple Heart Medal recipients, only a branch of service is listed. General Order
Again these are just general guidelines, please review each general that you may be interested in, as you will never know if it has what you are looking for until to look at it.
