Online Military Records and Indexes Website (USA) - Latest Updates

The Online U.S. Military Records and Indexes website has been updated with links to the following items...

War of 1812
- War of 1812 Index to Pension Application Files, 1812-1910 from FamilySearch
- War of 1812 Pension Application Files at Fold3 (not yet complete; ongoing project)
- Michigan: War of 1812 Pensioners Index, 1883

Spanish American War
- Wisconsin Genealogy Spanish American War Database

Civil War
- United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933 at FamilySearch
- Kentucky: Battle of Perryville Casualty Database
- North Carolina Confederate Soldiers Burial Database (ongoing project)
- South Carolina: Confederate Rolls of South Carolina
- Texas: United Confederate Veterans Robert E. Lee Camp No. 158 in Fort Worth (from the Fort Worth Library Digital Archives)
- Washington: Civil War Veterans Buried In Washington State
- Wisconsin Genealogy Civil War Database

World War I
- Alaska WWI Military Service Records: Personnel Information and Death Statistics
- Arkansas World War I Discharge Records Index
- California: San Francisco World War I Enemy Alien Registration Affidavits, 1918, from FamilySearch
- New York Soldiers of the Great War: Fallen New York Soldiers of World War One
- Texas: A Short History and Photographic Record of the 359th Infantry Texas Brigade (scanned searchable book); primarily from 39 Northeast Texas counties, but some other counties are included

World War II
- United States Marine Corps Casualty Card Databases (for World War II, the Interwar Period 1946-1950, and WWII War Dogs)
- Arkansas First Registration Draft Cards, 1940-1945 from FamilySearch (index is not yet complete)
- Louisiana First Registration Draft Cards, 1940-1945 from FamilySearch (not yet complete)
- Michigan: World War II Honor List of Missing and Dead

Vietnam War
- Indiana Vietnam War Deaths

This is a list of the most recent additions. There are many more military indexes listed at: Online Military Indexes and Records

Online Military Records and Indexes Website - Latest Additions

The Online Military Records and Indexes website has been updated with links to the following...

Revolutionary War
 - Indiana Society Sons of the American Revolution Patriot Graves Registry

War of 1812
 - National Society United States Daughters of 1812 Ancestor Database
 - Pennsylvania: War of 1812 Index of Soldiers

Mexican War
 - Indiana Mexican War Veterans (from the Indiana Digital Archives)
 - New York: Pension Claims of First N.Y. Regiment Volunteers Who Fought in the Mexican War

Civil War
 - Indiana Civil War Muster Rolls Index (213,000 entries; from the Indiana State Digital Archives)
 - Kentucky Confederate Pensions 1912-1946
 - Mississippi Confederate Pension Applications, 1889-1932 (about 36,000 applications arranged alphabetically by name)
 - New Jersey Civil War Gravestones Database
 - North Carolina Civil War Confederate Soldiers and Widows Pension Applications, 1885-1953 at FamilySearch
 - Pennsylvania: Registers of Pennsylvania Civil War Volunteers, 1861-1865 (PDF images; not indexed)
 - South Dakota: Special Census of Civil War Veterans Living in Dakota Territory (South Dakota) in 1885

World War I
 - Mississippi World War I Statement of Service Cards and Indices
 - World War I Draft Registrations for Northern Virginia (Draft registrations from the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, and Fairfax County)

World War II
 - World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) at FamilySearch (includes digitized images) update: more states added
 - Georgia World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1942 for individuals born between 1897 and 1929 (at FamilySearch)
 - Indiana - St. Joseph County: South Bend Tribune Service Notes Database for World War II, Korea and Vietnam
 - Oklahoma Military Deaths - WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam

Korean War
 - Arkansas Korean War Project

Vietnam War
 - Michigan Military Personnel Who Died in the Vietnam War

This is a list of the most recent additions. There are many more military records links at: Online Military Indexes and Records

Online Military Records and Indexes Website - Latest Updates

The Online Military Records, Indexes and Databases of Soldiers Directory has been updated with the following links...

Revolutionary War
- General Section: Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogy Databases
- Illinois: Index to the George Rogers Clark collection of papers pertaining to the Illinois Regiment of Virginia State Forces

Civil War
- General Section: The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (searchable multi-volume scanned Civil War book series)
- Colorado Territory Civil War Volunteer Records
- Connecticut Civil War Manuscripts Project (from the Connecticut Historical Society Library)
- Michigan: Department of Michigan, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (includes databases for graves and GAR records)
- Missouri: State Historical Society of Missouri, the Civil War in Missouri
- Missouri: Index to the List of Union Veterans Buried in and about St. Louis
- New Jersey Civil War Treasury Vouchers, 1861-1865
- North Carolina: Index of Confederate Section Burials at Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, NC

World War I
- Hawaii World War I Service Records - Army and Navy
- Kansas WWI and Military Indexes (includes Kansas World War I Bounty Claims Index and Kansas Soldiers of the Great War)
- Michigan: Kalamazoo County World War One Veterans
- Missouri History Museum: Genealogy Index (includes index of Casualties, European War, July 20, 1918-September 8, 1939; and index of Persons Who Enlisted in St. Louis City and County Who Died in Service)
- Nebraska WWI Draft Registration Cards Database 1917-1918
- New Jersey World War I Casualties Database (includes descriptive cards and photographs)

World War II
- World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) Indexed for Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin at FamilySearch (includes digitized images)
- Kansas WWII and Military Indexes (includes Kansas World War II Selective Service Index, Kansas World War II Army Casualties, Kansas World War II Oral Histories, Kansas Burials/Memorials at World War II Military Cemeteries Operated by the American Battle Monuments Commission)
- Missouri: St. Louis in World War II Casualties, October 1941-March 1943, scrapbook index
- International Section... Russia: Soviet Union WWII Prisoners of War Database

See: Military Indexes and Records

Online Military Records and Indexes - New Additions and Updates

Links to the items listed below have been added to the Directory of Online Military Indexes, Records and Rosters of Soldiers

Revolutionary War
- Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements (partial collection)
- Alabama: Alphabetical List of Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama

War of 1812
- Indiana Territory: War of 1812 Collection (consists of muster, pay and receipt rolls of Indiana territory volunteers or militia)

Civil War
- Arkansas Confederate Pension Records Index
- Delaware: Records Related to Delaware's Involvement in the American Civil War (from the Delaware Public Archives)
- Georgia Confederate Veteran Grave Database (work in progress)
- Kansas Virtual Civil War Cemetery Tombstone Photos (not complete, but has over 11,000 photographs of grave markers of Civil War veterans buried in Kansas - searchable by name)
- Mississippi Confederate Grave Registry
- Nebraska Civil War Veterans Database
- Oregon: Index to 1890 Veterans Census
- South Carolina: The New South Newspaper 1862-1866, Port Royal and Beaufort, South Carolina (digitized and searchable)

Spanish American War
- Kansas Troops in the Volunteer Service of the United States in the Spanish and Philippine Wars

World War One
- Denver Public Library World War I Indexes (includes: Fallen Heroes of World War I from Denver, Colorado; Colorado World War I Draft Registration Cards Index; Colorado World War I Draft Registration Index - Minorities; Colorado World War I Casualties Buried in Europe)
- Oregon WWI Draft Registration Index
- International WWI Section, Australia: World War I Service Records
- International WWI Section, New Zealand: New Zealand and World War One Assorted Indexes

World War Two
- Iowa: World War II Iowa Press Clippings Digital Collection
- Ohio: Cleveland Servicemen's Photographs Index 1940-1955
- International WWII Section, Canada: Second World War Service Files Canadian Armed Forces War Dead

Korean War
- Korean War/Access to Archival Databases (AAD) includes Korean War casualties, wounded, prisoners of war and missing in action

Vietnam War
- Vietnam War/Access to Archival Databases (AAD) includes Vietnam War casualties, wounded, prisoners of war, missing in action, and more items

See: Online Military Indexes and Records

Some Confederate Civil War Service Records Now Online

This article was updated on 12 September 2011.

Fold3 (formerly Footnote) has digitized Confederate Civil War service records for Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia from National Archives (NARA) microfilm publications. The records they have scanned can be downloaded from their website for a fee. (Some of the individual state or territory databases may not yet be complete.)

• Civil War Service Records Online at Fold3 (formerly Footnote)
  

You can search the documents by name or browse the documents by military unit (regiment). Note that Civil War service records for one soldier can sometimes have as many as 20 pages or more.

Civil War service records sometimes include information about a soldier's age, residence, occupation at the time of enlistment, and physical description, along with basic details such as enlistment (and reenlistment) dates, and regiment. Some will show facts about a soldier's imprisonment if he was captured, or hospitalization if he was injured or ill.

Also Helpful:

• Online Civil War Indexes, Records and Rosters of Soldiers
• Civil War Pension and Service Records - How to Order Them

World War I Draft Registration Cards of Famous, Infamous, and Interesting People

While wandering around the National Archives website I came across several scanned World War I draft cards of a few famous and interesting people. I was fascinated by some of the details of the lives of these people, especially those who were not yet 20. Some were already well known. Some became famous much later.

The World War I draft card for legendary "Scarface" gangster Al Capone says the 19-year-old Alphonse Capone was a paper cutter for the United Paper Box Company in Brooklyn, New York in 1918.

George Gerswhin's draft card, filed in New York City, gives his occupation as "actor - composor (sic)" at age 19. He would go on to write Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and Porgy and Bess (1935), among other great works. Another 19-year-old New York resident, Frederick Austerlitz Astaire, was already an actor. His place of employment in 1918 was "Winter Garden, Broadway & 50th St. NY." Today you can go see the Abba musical Mamma Mia at this theater. On the back of the famous dancer's draft card it says "legal name is Austerlitz but goes by name of Astaire." Fred Astaire would later star in George Gershwin's musical, Funny Face, in 1927, and the film version 30 years later with Audrey Hepburn.

The 19-year-old Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was a Federal government messenger in the War Dept. in Washington, DC. Unlike Gershwin, his 1918 draft card gives no indication of his future as one of the 20th Century's greatest composers.

On his June 5, 1917 World War I draft card, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, age 28, lists his dependents as "wife and 2 children." His wife was Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald (1890-1995). His children at the time were Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (1915-1944), who died during World War II, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), who was elected president of the United States in 1960. JFK was born just a week before his father registered for the draft.

My favorite one is for master magician and escape artist Harry Houdini (1874-1926). On his 1918 draft card he put his middle name as "Handcuff," likely because he had become known as the "handcuff king."


These World War One draft cards of notable people at the National Archives website were scanned from the original cards, not microfilm, so you can get an idea of what the draft cards actually look like - they have been scanned in color and are reproduced fairly well. You can find scans of the cards mentioned in this article, along with draft cards of a few more famous people at: Selected World War I Draft Registration Cards: Famous, Infamous, and Interesting at the National Archives Southeast Branch

For help finding draft cards of your relatives and ancestors see:
How to Find World War One Draft Registration Cards 1917-1918

World War II Database of Missing U.S. Service Personnel Now Online

The U.S. Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) has compiled a database of service members still unaccounted for following World War II. The database contains nearly 78,000 names and was derived from records from the National Archives and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. You can access the database online here:

Service Personnel Not Recovered Following World War II (MIA)

Names will be removed from the database as remains are recovered and identified. A press release about the database is available here: U.S. Department of Defense News Release: Service Members Missing From WWII Now Listed In Electronic Database

For a directory of more online World War II databases see:

World War II Indexes, Records and Databases on the Internet

Newly Added Online Military Records Indexes

Links to the items listed below were recently added to the Directory of Online Military Indexes, Records and Rosters of Soldiers

Revolutionary War
- Sons of the American Revolution - Revolutionary War Patriots Index and Graves Registry
- List of 8000 Prisoners on the Old Jersey Prison Ship
- Georgia: List of Loyalists Banished from Georgia - 1783
- New Jersey: Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War
- New York: Index to New York Revolutionary War Invalid Pension Records 1801-1815
- New York Revolutionary War Pension Lists of 1792-1795

Mexican War
- Pennsylvania Soldiers in the War with Mexico, 1846-1847

Civil War
- Kentucky: Records of Death and Interment at Camp Nelson, KY, 1864-1865
- Michigan Civil War Principals and Substitutes Index
- Mississippi: Beauvoir Soldiers Home Veterans
- Missouri: Index to Descriptive Recruitment Lists of Volunteers for the United States Colored Troops for the State of Missouri, 1863-1865
- Pennsylvania Civil War Era Newspapers - Digitized and Searchable - a project of Penn State University

World War One
- Colorado: Fallen Heroes of World War I from Denver, Colorado

World War Two
World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, Data File (AAD)

American Merchant Marine Databases:
- Names of WWII Merchant Marine Killed
- Names & Fates of WWII Merchant Marine POWs
- Names of U.S. Naval Armed Guard Killed and Wounded

Vietnam War
- Names of Vietnam War Merchant Marine Killed

A Book About Researching World War II Army Service Records

Book Review: Finding Your Father's War - A Practical Guide to Researching and Understanding Service in the World War II US Army by Jonathan Gawne

If you have an ancestor or relative who served in the Army during World War II here is an entire book about researching records of individual soldiers and Army units. The book is divided into five distinct sections.

The first section, "Introduction to Army Units," discusses rank, branches of service and unit size. Don't know the difference between a squad, a platoon, a battalion, etc? Here's where to find out. A subsection on rank covers enlisted men, technicians and officers. For each rank (private, sergeant, etc) the insignia is shown along with the base pay.

Section two describes the types of records kept for an individual soldier and explains the Army's serial number system. There's even an illustration of a soldier's dog tag, explaining what each line and code means. Section three describes organizational records for army units.

The fourth section, "Finding Records," tells you where to look for many of the records discussed in the book. Here you can learn about using the Freedom of Information Act, the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, the National Archives, Veterans Affairs records, and other topics. The author lets you know that some records are only available to next of kin, while others may be public domain and available to anyone.

The last section has all sorts of useful information and illustrations of insignias, badges, uniforms and medals - things you might find in the attic and are wondering what they mean. Insignias for WWII Armies, Army Groups, Corps, Major Army Commands, the Army Air Force, and Divisions (Infantry & Airborne, Armored, and Cavalry) are shown in appendices. Most of the book's illustrations are in color.

Overall this book contains a wealth of information about a soldier's World War II Army service and how you can find many of the records that have survived. I found it to be a nice resource for U.S. Army WWII genealogy research.

Also helpful: Online World War II Records and Indexes

World War II Army Enlistment Records Database

If you have any ancestors or relatives who enlisted in the US Army during World War II, you might be able to find them listed in the Army Enlistment database provided by the National Archives (NARA). The original computer files for this database were created in 1994 by the Bureau of the Census at NARA's request. The Census Bureau used their "Film Optical Sensing Device for Input to Computers" (FOSDIC) system from a series of 1,586 microfilm rolls of computer punch cards. The original punch cards, which had basic information about enlistees when they entered the Army, were destroyed after being microfilmed in 1947. Unfortunately 212 microfilm rolls could not be converted to computer files because the card images were too dark. In 2002 NARA edited, merged and cleaned up these files, then later put them online. They can be searched from: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) Click on "World War II" when you get there.


click the image to see a larger view

The Army Enlistment database contains 9,200,232 total records. You will find some errors in the database due to all the changes and editing the originals went through from punch card to microfilm to computer files. Also, about 1.5 million punch cards were not readable by the FOSDIC system from the original microfilm so the database is incomplete. NARA considers the database with its 9 million entries to be a "best guess" file. Note that the database is for United States Army enlistments, including the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC or WAC), and not other branches of the service. Despite the errors and omissions this is still a great tool for finding basic information about WWII Army enlistments.

The National Archives also has an excellent article about the creation of this database: The World War II Army Enlistment Records File and Access to Archival Databases

For more online WWII indexes see: Online World War II Indexes & Records

Civil War Pension & Service Records - Tips for Finding Them

This article was updated on 6 September 2011.

This article has tips for obtaining service and pension records for your Civil War ancestor, beginning with some online indexes. Copies of these records can usually be ordered by mail. Some service records and most Confederate pension files are also available on microfilm.

Civil War Records Indexes on the Internet
Not all Civil War records are indexed online, but there are many helpful starting points.

For online indexes to some Civil War service records, pension records, veterans census schedules, rosters of soldiers, and prisoners of war see: Online Civil War Indexes, Records & Rosters

To find a Civil War service record you will need to know the soldier's name, allegiance (Union or Confederate), and the regiment and state (example: 10th Missouri Infantry). You can usually find this information in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System Online Database.

Civil War Pension Records - Union
Most (but not all) Union soldiers or their widows (or other dependents) applied for and received a pension. Civil War pension records for Union soldiers are held by the National Archives, and can be ordered online or by mail from them for a fee. For information see...

• Online ordering: Order Civil War Records Online - National Archives
• Ordering by mail: Start by ordering this form: "Military Pension/Bounty Land Warrant Applications (NATF 85)" at: National Archives - Order a Form. After you receive the form in the mail, fill it out and mail it back to them. There will be a fee for ordering copies of the records. Ordering the form is free.

Civil War Pension Records - Confederate
Confederate soldiers or their widows usually were only able to apply for a pension if the soldier was disabled or indigent (poverty-stricken). This varied by state. These records are held by a state archives (where the soldier was living at the time he applied for the pension) or similar repository. You can find a list of links to indexes of Confederate pension records for Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia at this website: Civil War Pension Records

For information on pension records for the other Confederate states not listed above see... Confederate Civil War Pension Records

Also, the LDS Family History Library has Civil War pension files on microfilm for all states that offered Confederate pensions except Louisiana.

Civil War Service Records - Union and Confederate
The National Archives has compiled service records for most volunteer Union soldiers and Confederate officers, noncommissioned officers and enlisted men. Some of the records have been microfilmed (these are organized by state). The microfilmed records are available at the National Archives and some of its branches, and at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. For a guide to ordering these records or finding them on microfilm see... Civil War Service Records Research Guide

Union and Confederate Service Records Online at Fold3 (formerly Footnote)
Fold3 has Confederate service records for Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia; and Union service records for Alabama, Arkansas, Dakota, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Colored Troops. (Some of these individual state databases are not yet complete.) You can download digitized copies of these records for a fee. See: Civil War Service Records at Fold3 (formerly Footnote)

Note: these suggestions may not work for everyone who fought in the Civil War for a variety of reasons. And be sure to try alternate spellings when using indexes.