Military Records & Genealogy

Photo by Samuel Branch on Unsplash

Happy Veterans Day to you and your family. A family friend’s funeral will be on Veteran’s Day which seems appropriate as he served during the Korean Conflict.  I thought this was a great time for us to re-visit what records are available for our military veteran ancestors. Let’s look.

The big four (Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast, and FamilySearch) have added to their offerings of military records over the years. For example, in Ancestry there are over 49 pages of titles related to military records for various states spanning from the Revolutionary War to World War II. Try looking at the Ancestry Card Catalog and searching by your state or by U.S. Military records to receive a similar list of titles. It is good practice to check out what has been added or is new or updated in your area of interest periodically as new records are onboarded.  If you have the world or all access, you will find records for Canada and several European countries. One I found seems bittersweet: “UK, Wills of Royal Navy and Royal Marines Personnel, 1786-1882”. In this case, these were officers. I imagine there could be a treasure trove of information in this offering.
 
Here are a few links to help with your military research.
 Find Your Ancestors & Family History - Genealogy & Ancestry - findmypast.co.uk | findmypast.com  Find My Past is free from November 9 -November 13 to honor Veteran’s Day.
 
Fold3 - Historical military records - Fold3  Fold3 is free until November 12th.  You also can sign up for a 7-day trial. Both options require you to create an account.
 
How to Find Military Records Free eBook (familytreemagazine.com) FamilyTreeMagazine.com has a free eBook on how to find Military records.
 
Here’s an interesting article about the history of Veterans Day.  Veterans Day 2023: Founding, Fact & Meaning | HISTORY
Let’s take time this weekend to honor Veterans. Happy Veterans Day!