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Genealogy Research
Military and Veteran Records in the U.S.
I have numerous veterans in my family tree — from the Colonial militias in the French & Indian War and Revolution, to the World Wars and late 20th century. I know about their service for various reasons. Some during the Colonial era kept their ranks as titles later in life. Genealogies often noted service, as did obituaries. Others were buried with military honors or had a pension.
But what happens when you want to find the actual military or personnel records of a veteran’s service to confirm the details?
Databases for Research
Ancestry has several databases of military pension records and draft cards. These have helped me immensely. There is also Fold3, which is associated with Ancestry but dependent on access to the databases and/or public records. However, I know a few people who have not had luck with these resources.
So what to do?
The National Archives has a page dedicated to researching the branches of the U.S. military: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard. National Guard service is managed at the State level. So how to request records varies by which branch you need information from.