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