Several previous posts have been updated to reflect changes in the search experience for NARA’s Catalog. As a result, how to search for WWII Morning Reports online at NARA has changed. This post ties together new recommendations to help you find the reports you seek.
Note: At the time of writing this post, no Morning Reports for January 1945 or beyond are posted online on the NARA Catalog.
After updates to NARA’s Catalog software, I recommend searching within the Morning Report series. Click on the Search within this Series button in the Series Description page for Morning Reports, 1940-1946 at: https://catalog.archives.gov/search-within/85713825
This will take you to the page where your search is limited to the Morning Reports series.
Enter search terms or search phrases within double quotes in the Search within this Series box. Be sure that the double quote marks are straight, not curly. One thing that is different from past recommendations is that Boolean terms such as AND no longer work. The search terms or exact search phrases that are within quotes are just listed one after the other, which is a little easier.
Remember that you need to stay in that same tab of the browser to view links to where the search terms have been found within the results.
Remember to be flexible in your searches, and to try different terms.
Be looking for a revised edition of my Morning Report book very soon!
The way that you search the NARA Catalog has changed.
NARA has made changes to the backend of how Catalog searches are implemented. The change means that a search using Boolean operators between more than two phrases within double quotes will result in an error screen.
More simply explained, if you have been using quotation marks and Boolean operators (e.g. AND) in your searches, don’t! Strip out all operators and quotes because multiple search keywords are now automatically interpreted as having an AND between them. That means the search results will have all the keywords in them.
In the past, where I might have used in the search bar:
“Morning Reports” AND “500th AAA” AND “Greenland”
I would NOW enter this is the search bar:
Morning Reports 500th AAA Greenland
For all the search terms you find, remove the double quotes and the Boolean operator AND and you should be error free.
There is a picture of Thomas Patrick McMahon in a dough boy’s uniform, but no records can be located that document any military service. So, why was he wearing a WWI US Army uniform in a picture?
This post includes how artificial intelligence (AI) was used to begin the investigation of the answer, and how it provided context for additional work.
At the time of his WWI draft registration he was 25, single, and a naturalized citizen. His trade was carpenter and he was self-employed.
The answer was discovered by his descendant, my cousin, in the US Army Transport Service (US ATS) records. If you have read my books or blog, or seen me lecture, then you know how much I appreciate these records. They are a mini-census, showing details of Army personnel who were transported on US Navy ships. Thomas McMahon had sailed from Hoboken, NJ, and traveled to France as a 2nd Class Civilian Employee in the organization: U.S. Civilian Employees, U. S. Engineer Department, James Stewart & Co. Contract, on Agamemnon and returned on
The US ATS records found online are digitized of records that were originally stored in folders; there was one folder for each sailing. When you find a manifest containing an entry with the person you are researching, I recommend going backwards through the images to the front of the set to locate the pages containing details about the sailing. In this case, the front images contained the description of cargo that was transported on Agamemnon to France (both handwritten and typed) was interesting. Agamemnon was transporting 25 tons of telegraph supplies, 9 tons of aviation supplies, 79 tons of Signal Corps General supplies, 993 tons of French steel, and other supplies.
The Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) provided information about Agamemnon (Id. No. 3004) during 1917-1919, which included her voyage to Europe in mid-January 1918. Five days into the voyage the convoy faced heavy seas, and Agamemnon turned on lights and circled back after a report of a man overboard. Falling into a trough, a 43-degree roll caused the loss of some material. Fortunately, no one was lost. She continued on for a brief stop at St. Nazaire, then on to Brest where she docked on 24 January.
The images at the front also included information about the cablegram received by the Navy Department stating that the ship had made it safely to France.
I decided to use AI as an assistant to strategize how to learn more about contractors in WWI and the specific contractor.
ChatGPT provided some information about the engineering effort during WWI, and recommendations about where to search. It suggested searching in NARA’s Record Group 77, which contains records for the Army Engineers which would have information about the contracts let by the organization. I suspect all that we might find is what the contract was for; it would be up to the company to find the people to fill the roles.
Google Gemini was more helpful in this case.
Gemini explained that uniforms were worn by civilians so that they would not be mistaken for spies if captured, and they would receive treatment under the Geneva Convention. (This explains photographs of civilians wearing uniforms in war zones!) It also shared information about James Stewart & Co. recruiting a skilled workforce for infrastructure project in France, such as piers, warehouses, fuel tanks and depots.
It captured its findings in a nifty report WWI Civilian Contractor Research Report Subject: James Stewart & Company | Port of Brest | Militarized Civilians
Gemini referred me to a source: United States Army in the World War 1917-1919 General Orders, GHQ, AEF, Volume 16. This volume was one of seventeen which compiled selected American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) records. Volume 16 captured all of the General Orders given by General Pershing.
The General Orders contain directives issued from the top, the General Headquarters. They dictated the command structure, logistical support, and standards of conduct for the entire force. I scanned these orders for the reference material that Gemini promised. I did not find details of the contractors’ uniforms in the G.O.’s listed by Gemini. There were many references to uniforms, but I did not find full details of the contractors’ uniforms. G.O. 46, 1917, did have details about the uniforms worn by the French interpreters, including the sphinx insignia they wore. G.O. No. 63, 20 Nov 1917, address identity cards which were required for all the AEF and the militarized civilians. There were G.O.’s with details of civilian pay. Additionally, G.O. No. 30, 15 Feb 1918, IV. 7. (n)(1) “Two aluminum identification tags, to be furnished by the Q. M. C. [Quarter Master Corps], will be habitually worn by all officers and enlisted men, and also by all civilians attached to the A. E. F.” G.O. No. 23, 20 Aug 1917, 1. 5. discussed the importance of clerks and civilians in uniform saluting officers.
Thomas P. McMahon traveled back to the U.S. on the U.S.A.C.T. Honolulu, which sailed from France on 1 Dec 1918. He arrived at Newport News, VA, on 21 Dec 1918. His Group or Classification was shown as “Civilians for Discharge.”
The war was over for Thomas, and he was back home in the U.S. for Christmas. His brother, my grandfather, would march to Germany after the Armistice and participate in the Army of Occupation. He would return in July of 1919.
I had one question left. From the information I could find about the contractor, Thomas was probably working at Brest. (The NHHC excerpt did not indicate any one/thing leaving the ship at St. Nazaire.) If Thomas were working at the port of Brest when Joseph arrived in August 1918, did they see each other? In the activity of that port, it would be remarkable if they might have seen each other, but the 51st PIR spent time at the port unloading the Kroonland after they arrived (joys of being a Pioneer Infantryman!), so maybe, just maybe.
Fortunately I was able to locate “A Century of Construction (1844–1944)” James Stewart & Co.” through an interlibrary loan. While work done in the United States and around the world was documented, little was recorded about WWI in the narrative. WWII was much better documented. There was a table listing War Construction projects in the United States during WWI. There was also a table of projects done for the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Brest was not listed among them, but St. Nazaire was. It may be that the list was incomplete, or that he worked in another place. Either way, there is more to learn.
As we pause to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country, consider learning more about those in our family.
After some thought, these are the resources I recommend to get you started or move you farther along on your research into WWI and WWII fallen service members. There are links to our blog posts with how-to’s for researching military members who fell in WWI and WWII. There is also a link to our post about an archived reference about America’s wars. With the link to the partially digitized WWII NARA record series for WWII deaths, think about how you might use the files even if the specific file you seek has not been digitized yet. Take what you learn from these resources as directions to dig deeper into more detailed sources.
Yes, many of the US Army personnel records were lost in the 1973 fire, BUT the original records that were used to construct them were not. WWI Death Files / WWII Individual Death Personnel Files (IDPF) are discussed in this post.
In addition to basing a story on WWII Morning Reports, this post describes what records were consulted that added to the story. The resources that were used are listed.
The NARA Catalog contains the IDPF files that have begun to be digitized. These files contain the records that were generated and correspondence about the dead WWII service member. In the case that your ancestor’s file has not been digitized, you might still choose to search these files.
You can search from the main catalog for “Individual Deceased Personnel Files” AND a name (or variations) in quotation marks for a mention of them in someone else’s file. If they died on a ship, you might find locate a file for those who died on the same ship and read the common information that would be in all their files, which should include the names of all the personnel involved
and insert an individual’s name or name of a ship, using search terms such as:
“Individual Deceased Personnel Files” AND “USS Helena”
For context search for those who died in the same location. For example a search from the NARA Catalog:
“Individual Deceased Personnel Files” AND “Greenland”
returned digitized files for individuals who died on USAT Dorchester. These files included details about the ship and its sinking. First person sworn statements from survivors are also included in this file.
BONUS!
Do not forget to search the Veterans Legacy Memorial to find those interred in veterans cemeteries in the US and abroad.
Recently I followed up on an Ancestor hint relating to a branch on my maternal line, which led me to interesting discoveries.
In my family tree, Maria, a seemingly abandoned Irish woman and her three children entered a workhouse in England. Fortunately, she and the children left it in a year. At least one of the children (my great-grandmother, Mary Ann) made her way to Providence, RI, where she married my great-grandfather. (I have previously blogged about finding an ancestor in a 19th century workhouse in https://aweekofgenealogy.com/found-ancestors-in-the-workhouse/).
A death certificate record was located in Providence, RI, for a woman whose data seemingly matched Maria’s. Standing alone it was certainly of interest, but no other records had been found to put her in that place and time. I admit to being somewhat skeptical. Knowing Irish naming patterns, causing the repetitive use of names within family units, I wondered if this might be a relation rather than Maria herself. Were these common names where she originally hailed from in Ireland? Or was it coincidental?
The Ancestry hint sent me to a family tree that contained a person with the same name of my great-great-grandmother along with her two sisters. The documentation for those two sisters was more detailed than that for my great-great-grandmother, suggesting the owner of the tree was not along the same line as I. I followed the suggested records and built out a detailed pictures of two women who had immigrated to the United States and came to call Providence, RI, their home.
I always look for the records that document facts in a person’s life, link people, and tell a story, and I found some. In my own family tree I added these two women without connecting them to Maria in the main tree When I found records on Ancestry, I attached them to these women, downloaded them, and copied the source information. I also took snipped screenshots of the relevant data and captured it in a timeline built in a Word document. So far, so good.
Margaret, the elder of these two sisters, had come to Providence and married before Ellen. Ellen arrived in 1880 and was shown in the census of that same year, living with married Margaret. (This suggested a chain migration.) Ellen worked in Providence and married several years later in 1889. Sadly, Ellen died in 1899 at age 38. At that time, she was already a widow, and she left behind two young daughters. Margaret died in 1904, leaving behind a husband and six children. My great-great-grandmother, Maria, died in 1902. The records for all three women that contained parents’ names were consistent:
Father, William Connaughton
Mother, Bridget
As I searched through the records Ancestry suggested, a standout was the Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. Old Stone Bank Records, 1844-1924 at https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62959/. Both Margaret and Ellen had bank accounts, and along with other identifying information, there was common data:
Birthplace: Co. Roscommon
Margaret’s entry contained additional data:
Mother, Bridget Murphy
So, parents had the same names. If Maria was in fact their sister, I would then know the county where she was born, and the maiden name of her mother.
I looked at Maria’s death information again and noted the address where she had died. It was the house owned by Margaret and her husband. Evidence was mounting, but I was still wondering if she might have been a cousin or another relation.
Contacting the owner of the tree was a good idea, but had I tried before? I checked the messages on Ancestry and viewed the messages exchanged 2019. (I could have consulted my correspondence log, but this was more convenient. I admit to being on a fishing expedition rather than focused on answering a research question.)
Based on that previous correspondence, I doubled checked DNA matches. By my calculations, we were fourth cousins, once removed. Yes, this contact did know more about Margaret and Ellen than Maria.
At this point, circumstantial evidence was being built, but I wanted one record to connect Maria with one of her sisters. Searching for Maria, or her daughter Mary Ann, in the Old Stone Bank records and the 1900 US Census in Providence (and Rhode Island) was not fruitful.
It was time to move laterally to check other indexes and other databases. I decided to search on FamilySearch for records that would be helpful in connecting Maria to these two women.
I decided to jump in and use FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search to find those records that might have mentioned Maria, even if the record was not about her. Full-Text Search has moved out of the FamilySearch Labs and can be selected from the Search Menu.
FamilySearch Search Menu Options, courtesy of FamilySearch
As a reminder, the best way to search for a person is to enter their name within quotation marks in the Keywords field.
FamilySearch Full Text Search Box, courtesy of FamilySearch
Carefully reviewing results…there was result contained a death record I had not yet seen.
The same address was in the record, namely the home owned by her sister and brother-in-law. The parents’ names were there (without her mother’s maiden name).
Return of a Death Maria Henry, courtesy of FamilySearch
In this record there was data that was not included in the register:
Name of Informant and Relationship to Deceased: Thos. Kelly Brotherinlaw
Thomas was Margaret’s husband! He and Margaret owned that house. Since he was Maria’s brother-in-law, that made Margaret her sister. (None of her late husband’s people were identified in the proximity.) FamilySearch Full-Text Search for the win!
That was the definite piece of data I needed to call my brother and tell him that we had roots in County Roscommon, and that our great-great-great-grandmother’s name maiden name was Murphy. (Even though he lives in time zones behind mine, it was so late that I waited until the next morning to make the call.) It was also a good reminder:
Always look for all the records related to an event, focusing on the ones made closest to the event.
The details in Returns of death were recorded by a physician. The data on them was used to make an entry in the register. Death indexes and death certificates draw data from the ledger.
Generated by ChatGPT, 2026.
Engineers are known for being belt-and-suspenders people. Being that way meant that in addition to downloading the records, saving sources, and extracting the information into my timeline document, I added the record to my tree (my part of the one family tree) on FamilySearch.
That is where the middle-of-the-night surprise occurred.
A brother to Maria, Margaret and Ellen is shown in that tree! Back to the drawing board to see if the records prove out James Joseph Connaughton’s relationship to these sisters. (The first record I looked at was his Intention to Marry in Providence in 1883, with his parents: William Connaughton & Bridget Murphy.)
But right now it is time to connect Margaret and Ellen to their sister and parents in my family tree on Ancestry.
