I've been doing a lot of research on the new novel (I just broke 150 pages this weekend). A lot of it's stuff one wouldn't normally think about, but it's pretty fascinating. My big project the past week has been the Graves Registration Service of the U.S. Army, the "mop-up" crew. Those platoons that, after a battle, identify and transport dead soldiers, separate them from their effects, bury the soldiers at impromptu graveyards away from main roads and civilian areas, and send the effects to a warehouse to be separated and sent to the soldier's family. Obviously a death certificate and telegram comes in there, too.

My other research project has been hospital classification for injured soldiers. What types of injuries were treated at field hospitals, and which required evacuation to the States? Once at the states, which soldiers went to which military hospitals? As it turns out, in WWII, most amputees went to Atlantic City, New Jersey, for rehab. The government bought out several boardwalk hotels and transferred them into hospital wards for the convalescence and rehabilitation of war amputees. Less injured soldiers (although I haven't figured out exactly what quantifies class I and class II) were sent to Upton Hospital in Long Island.

My project this week? Immigration from Poland to Baltimore. Looks like a trip to ancestry.com is in the works for me and, maybe, if I can find the time, the National Archives