Indivuals born 20-30 yearrs before a war began are the likeliest candidates to have served in the military, or to have married a serviceman
You can request copies of military services records by following the instructions here
DD-214 Forms, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, have been issued for all military services since January 1, 1950. They generally contain a wealth of information. Visit National Archives and Records Adminsitration (NARA) for information on ordering these records.
Useful Websites
- American Battle Monuments Commission is dedicated to American war dead buried in overseas cemeteries
- Ancestry has over 1,000 military records collections
- $ Fold3 is a paid site that allows you to search U.S. military records
- FamilySearch has multiple military collections including:
- Australia, New South Wales, Cemetery, Military and Church Records Transcripts, 1816-1982
- Austria, Carinthia, Military Personnel Records, 1846-1897
- Colombia, Military Records, 1809-1958
- German, Bavaria, Traunstein, Military Records, 1830-1918
- Italy, Napoli, Pomigliano d’Arco, Military Conscriptions (Comune), 1898 -1929
- Italy, Torino, Torino Military Conscriptions (Comune), 1790-1886
- U.S. Headstone Applications for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1949, and
- US. Military Personnel who Died During the Vietnam War, 1956-2003
- Heritage Quest is available at all AZRLS facilities through Galileo
- A useful guide for Heritage Quest can be found here
- The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) allows individuals to order military veterans’ service records
- CMSR’s = Compiled Military Service Records are held at NARA. They are a set of cards that provide an overview of an individual’s service in a military company. These were compiled prior to WWI
- National Gravesite Locator is a great resource to search for veteran graves within the U.S.
- Navy and Marine Information can be found here