U.S. military service record
The National Archives has the best collection of military records. To get an individual's military service record or pension application file, follow the instructions in the topic Researching through military records.
If you don't want a complete military service or pension record, but just want to know what branch of the service someone served in, try looking up obituaries, family histories and biographies, cemeteries and cemetery records, or for Civil War Union soldiers, using Genealogy.com's Roll of Honor CD.
If the individual was a veteran who served and was killed in the Korean or Vietnam War, you may be able to find military records through the death records in the Military Index on the FamilySearch computer at your local Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Family History Library has all other wars indexed on microfiche. You only need to know the war and the veteran's name. Local community and genealogy libraries may also have war indexes. Contact individual libraries for their holdings.
Make sure to check photo albums, scrapbooks, diaries, and family Bibles at home. See the topic Finding information at home for more information. Also check for local histories. See the topic Finding previous research.
Finding military records with newspapers
An obituary often describes a veteran's military service. The most interesting part about looking up obituaries is that you may also find a picture of the individual.
The directories listed below will help you find the current owners of old newspapers from the time and place when the obituary was published. If the individual spoke a foreign language, check to see if there was a newspaper in that language, too. Once you have located the current owners, you can request to search the appropriate copies. The current owners should be able to direct you in your search.
- Ayer Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals, available at most community libraries.
- Winifred Gregory's American Newspaper, available at community and genealogical libraries
The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) microfiche. The OCLC has a database of the U.S. Newspaper Program National Union List. You can access the OCLC at most university libraries and some community libraries.
Finding the minimum information for newspapers
To find an individual's military record in an obituary, you must at least know the approximate date of death, the full name of the deceased, and the state and city or town where the death took place (or where the obituary was likely to have been published).
Get help finding some of the minimum information by selecting one of the following items:
Finding military records with family histories and biographies
If your ancestors had a family history or biography written about them, it can be a great place to look up information about military service. You may not only find the information that you are looking for, but also all sorts of other interesting information about the family.
To find a family history or biography, you need to spend some time at a few libraries. Probably the best libraries in which to search are genealogy and public libraries in the area where your ancestors lived. In addition, you may want to check in larger libraries, such as state or university libraries in the area where your ancestors lived. If you are unable to go to those libraries in person, find out if they are part of an interlibrary loan system. Finally, try checking the catalog of the Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at your local Family History Center. They may have some appropriate books in their collection. For information about other libraries with a national focus, see the topic Libraries with a national focus, including LDS.
There are two other places to check for family histories. Try genealogy lending libraries -- these are companies that have book catalogs and will lend books through the mail for a fee. The addresses for three such libraries are listed below. If you have a modem, you can also search selected library catalogs through the Internet. For example, part of the Library of Congress catalog is accessible via modem.
Genealogy Lending Libraries
American Genealogy Lending Library
P.O. Box 329
Bountiful, UT 84011-0329
Telephone: (801) 298-5358
National Genealogy Society
4527 17th Street North
Arlington, VA 22207-2399
Telephone: (703) 525-0050
New England Historical and Genealogical Society
101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
Telephone: (617) 536-5740
Finding the minimum information for family histories and biographies
To get a copy of a family history or biography, you must at least know the full name of your ancestor and the approximate area (state or county) in which the family may have lived.
Get help finding some of the minimum information by selecting one of the following items: