Top 5 WWI /WWII Memorial Day Research Resources

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.

Researching Soldiers who died during World War I  

https://aweekofgenealogy.com/researching-soldiers-who-died-during-world-war-i/

This post gives brief background about what happened to soldiers who fell during the Great War and some steps for researching them.  

The U.S. Military Records That Never Burned

https://aweekofgenealogy.com/the-u-s-military-records-that-never-burned/

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.

Tales from Morning Reports: From Duty to Death

https://aweekofgenealogy.com/tales-from-morning-reports-from-duty-to-death/

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.

Reference from the Department of Veterans Affairs

https://aweekofgenealogy.com/reference-from-the-department-of-veterans-affairs/

This post describes a VA source for summary statistics about America’s Wars. It contains a link to an archived copy of this interesting resource.

Individual Deceased Personnel Files

https://catalog.archives.gov/search-within/297287480?sort=title%3Aasc

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

For example, start at:

https://catalog.archives.gov

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.

https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov

Of course, do not forget to search Findagrave for those fallen service members who returned to the United States.

https://www.findagrave.com

Finding WWII Rosters Online at NARA

For researching a WWI or a WWII soldier, have you considered using the Rosters at NARA? They are located Series: Muster Rolls and Rosters, November 1, 1912–December 31, 1943 within Record Group 64. This blog post will show where to search for rosters, including how to use an online finding aid for finding WWII rosters that will make your task much easier.

The rosters are arranged in three subseries within Muster Rolls and Rosters, November 1, 1912–December 31, 1943:

• Muster Rolls, November 1, 1912 – June 30, 1918 and Enlisted and Officer Rosters, July 1, 1918 – December 31, 1939,
• Officer Rosters, 1920 – 1939,
• Army and Army Air Force (Air Corp) Rosters, 1940 – 1943

The Series is located at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/85713803

There are 625 pages of links viewing on this Series webpage, so you can browse for an organization.

You can also search within the Series for a soldier’s name, military serial number, or even an organization: https://catalog.archives.gov/search-within/85713803

When researching WWII soldiers, there is an online finding aid to streamline the process: https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/archival-programs/army-rosters-1940-1943

On this page, you will find information about how to locate WWII rosters organized by:

• Army enlisted service members
• Army officers
• Army Air Force (Air Corp) enlisted service members
• Army Air Force (Air Corp) officers

Within those categories, the rosters are organized by type of reporting unit.

To use the finding aid, click on the plus sign to expand the link to locate the type of unit. There will be box numbers shown, but some entries will contain links to digitized rosters, or to a pdf that contains the National Archives Identifier (NAID) in NARA’s Catalog to use when locating the online rosters.

In this example, I am searching for the rosters for a soldier in Battery A of the 500th AAA Gun Battalion, so clicked on the plus sign next to “Chemical and Antiaircraft Artillery” to expand the section.

I licked on the link for “Antiaircraft Battalion – Boxes 246-348.”

The link led to a PDF file with the Catalog NAID.

https://www.archives.gov/files/antiaircraft-artillery-battalion-index.pdf

The PDF file shows that the rosters are stored by increasing NAID numbers, by the number of the organization.The first page contains the column headers. (They are not repeated on subsequent pages.)

Scrolling down to the beginning of page 4 of the PDF, I find Btry C, 500th AAA Gn Bn, 1943. That means Roll Number 307 (2 of 3), which begins with Battery C of that Battalion has NAID Identifier 371744319.

Since the soldier is in Battery A, I will want to check the previous part of the roll, listed at the bottom of page 3 of the PDF, NAID 371744318, Roll Number 307 (1 of 3). I would expect that rosters for Battery A would be closer to the end of the Roll. (Remember to use the Chrome Browser to see the images in order, as Firefox has a documented bug of showing images in reverse order.)

I searched from the NARA Catalog Home Page: https://catalog.archives.gov

There is a blank page between the months, so I began by checking the image after the blank pages in the image range of 800-900.

I recommend building a list or a table with the information for the organization, to keep track of links. (Note: Organization and Link appear in the same column for readability. In my Excel worksheet, they appear in separate columns.)

I would want to continue to go backwards chronologically to collect the rosters for the time the soldier I am researching was in the Battery.

Another option, as described in our blog post about locating WWII Morning Reports in PDF Files can also make the task easier. Search the NARA catalog for: 371745320, which is the NAID for the final part of the Roll Number 307, part 3 of 3.

From there, the PDF files containing groups of 125 images from the Roll can be downloaded. Images for Battery A can be found in the files Roll-0307_07.pdf and Roll-0307_08.pdf

Give it a try and let me know how you do!

Researching Morning Reports

Have you every heard that you should be using Morning Reports?

A book has finally arrived to show how you can travel back in time through locations and events, day by day, with a U.S. Army soldier or organization during WWI or WWII military service.  With Morning Reports, you can overcome and potentially go beyond burned Army personnel files! Pursue references for a specific soldier, then leverage daily records when not named or identified.

This book introduces techniques for locating Morning Reports and what is and is not included. WWI and WWII formats are described in detail, with examples allowing the reader to experience the WWII Morning Report language and abbreviations by utilizing the web, Fold3 (WWI) and the NARA catalog (WWII). The reader will discover tips for locating elusive reports and strategies for working around missing records. Useful case studies combine reports across parts of a military organization and place a soldier into the context of history.

This book contains a bonus chapter about the daily reporting for other branches of the military!

Historians will find the search techniques and pointers to additional records useful as they track a soldier or organization through a world war.

Our new book is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Using-U-S-Morning-Reports/dp/B0FPBDVN9M

If you are interested in having Dr. McMahon speak at your society about Morning Reports, or other presentations, please contact us: https://aweekofgenealogy.com/contact-us/

Topics at: https://aweekofgenealogy.com/presentations/

Reviews are at: https://aweekofgenealogy.com/comments/

WWI Classification Lists Part 2: What’s in Them

Classification Lists show the results of the examination of the draftees, as well as where they were to be sent. Classification Lists are the Provost Marshal General’s Office (PMGO) Form 1000, that are found in NARA’s Record Group 163, the Records of the Selective Service System (World War I). As of this blog post being published, the Classification Lists at NARA are not available online.

The sections shown in each column header of the Classification List refer to the applicable instructions in the SELECTIVE SERVICE REGULATIONS, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1917. Although these regulations are not needed to use the Classification List, but they can be found at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Selective_service_regulations_prescribed/6lB8dUkQtYIC?hl=en. Part X (ten) of this document contains blank forms.

Left-hand page of the ledger appears below.

The order number 2 is abbreviated, and is really 1792.

Right-hand page of the ledger shown is below:

0Going through a few highlights of the document.

The serial number shown in Column 4 (787) matches the one shown on the draft registration card.

The order number is shown in Column 1. It was the number in the national lottery for the draft assigned to that serial number.

The questionnaire to Joseph McMahon was mailed out on 2 Jan 1918, and was returned on 3 Jan 1918. (My reading suggests that these questionnaires no longer exist.) The notice of his physical exam of Class IA was mailed out on 29 Jan 1918. The notice to appear for a physical examination was mailed on 30 Mar 1918. He appeared for the exam on 1 Apr 1918, and the decision based on physical examination was mailed on 4 Apr 1918. He was told to report to his Local Board on 28 May 1918, at 8 a.m., for military duty and entrain for transportation to a mobilization camp. He was accepted at the mobilization camp on 30 May 1918. In the notes, were notes that may correspond to the fact that he was a Clerk in civilian life, he was inducted under General Call #385 and would be going to Camp Wadsworth. From columns without entries, I learned that he had not filed an appeal. He was not rejected or discharged at the mobilization camp.

After the Classification Examination, the registrant received a notice of their classification by mail. Note that they could file an appeal, and that would be recorded in the Classification List.

The registrants also received proof of their classification.

Thanks to Classification Lists, I now know what my grandfather was doing during several days of his life: filling in the questionnaire, going through a military medical physical, being notified of his date and place of induction, and his acceptance at the mobilization camp (and the fact that he was not rejected or discharged from there).

Since transcribing a document can make you engage with its data, you can download a blank Excel worksheet to transcribe the record for your soldier. After adding the data, remember to save the file and include your soldier’s name in the filename.

Special thanks to Peggy Ash and Michael Strauss for their informative, detailed, and motivating presentations about the US Drafts.

WWI Classification Lists Part 1: How to Order

Thanks to Classification Lists, I now know about events during several days in my grandfather’s life.

Why you might want this record: to learn more about the process between an ancestor’s registration for the draft and induction, which might include indication that an appeal or deferment was made.

What you need to know before ordering: the draftee’s name and local draft board identification number, which can be found on the WWI Draft Registration Card for your ancestor.

Groups of men who registered for the draft and were determined to be in the Classification I category (based on filling in a questionnaire), were called in for physical examinations.

Classification Lists show the results of the examination of the draftees, as well as where they were to be sent. These lists are found in NARA’s RG163, and as of this blog post being published, the Classification Lists at NARA are not online.

I searched FamilySearch.org for Joseph McMahon’s WWI Draft Registration Card at https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1968530

The identification code for Joseph McMahon’s local draft board is circled. This number is used by the NARA archivist to identify the book for the Classification List containing Joseph McMahon’s entry.

Courtesy of FamilySearch.org

I emailed this information with an attached image of his draft card to the NARA branch in Atlanta at: atlanta.archives@nara.gov

An automated response was sent to my email in reply. Shortly after that, a response from an archivist followed with confirmation that the record had been found, and how to pay for it. The cost was $20. The scanned record was emailed to me after the archivist confirmed the payment.

Human archivists are involved in the process of lookup, scanning, and communicating. That means the timeline for responses may vary based on archivists’ workload. Also know that payment must be verified before the record is emailed.

In the next blog post, we will take a look at the Classification List itself.

Special thanks to Peggy Ash and Michael Strauss for their informative, detailed, and motivating presentations about the US Drafts.

Reference from the Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs offers a useful and interesting resource that can be downloaded. It is titled “America’s Wars.”

As the title suggests, it contains a list of US Wars, as well as the years of the conflict. It goes beyond the dates to include the number of service members who were involved and the number of battle deaths. For most wars the number of non-mortal woundings is also reported along with other statistics. Notes that document estimated values are included.

The second page of the reference includes dates of death for the last veteran, the last widow and the last dependent of earlier wars. The U.S. Veterans and Dependents on the VA Benefits Rolls as of 2023 is included. There is also predicted estimates of the number of living WWII veterans until 2039. This is a reminder to interview those who are still among us!

This is a reference you will want to download.

UPDATE 5 AUGUST 2025

Although the original link no longer works, this fact sheet can be downloaded from the Internet Archive at: https://web.archive.org/web/20250401194915/https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf

An interactive fact sheet with history, statistics and additional data can be found at: https://department.va.gov/americas-wars/