Military Research

Since today is Remembrance Day I thought I would wright a little bit about doing research for individuals who have served in the military.  I will be honest I haven't done a ton of military research.  One thing about the military is that they keep a lot of records.

My Grandfather was in the US Army Air Cor during WWII.  Most of the records and documents I have found about his military service were found on ancesty.com.  I found his WWII draft registration card and his military enlistment record.  As we do military research we should never forget to search what we have at home and what family members have.

This is a picture of my Grandfather in front of a junked B-17.  He served in England as part of the grounds crew as a mechanical engineer.  I got this picture from my Grandma several years ago.  I was also lucky enough to be given a copy of a person history my Grandpa wrote.  He wrote about some events that happened while he was overseas.  When I was a teenager I also got to hear him share some of his experiences in person.

One place that I haven't used much personally but I know has a lot of great information is 3fold.  It is a subscriptions site so there is some cost to it.  News paper articles are another great resource.  There are many ways to access these.  I do google searches.  There are some on Ancestry and I know there newspaper.com which is also a subscription site.

Another thing that I find interesting is to study the events my Grandfather was involved in.  It is a great way to understand and appreciate what my Grandpa went through and how it became a part of who he was.  You can't be involved in a war and not have it influence your life.

I have great respect and gratitude for those who have served in the military.  I am glad we have a day to honour and remember these brave men and women.  When we find one of our ancestors have bene in the military it brings these historical events closer to home.