Finding Your Past 

Many Americans are interested in finding the roots of their families. “How do I find out about my parents/grandparents during World War II?” is a commonly asked question. The answer is far easier to find than it was when I began the search for my family’s past in Forever and a Day.  

1.      Old letters from the period that provide indicators of the branch of service?

2.      Military ID or “dog tag” number.

3.      Approximate dates of military service and age.

4.      Military enlistment and severance papers or military death certificates. If you do not have these records in your possession, contact in writing the National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration in St. Louis, Missouri.

5.      Veterans’ organizations that were founded to support the personnel who served in a particular unit. Many groups have active websites. Be quick about this one; each day thousands of veterans die.

6.      Contact the American Battle Monuments Commission for the locations of service men and women killed in action and interred overseas.

7.      The Naval Historical Center, National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, Maryland provide access to after action reports, officers’ papers, and oral history transcripts. You can find out what happened on your father’s ship at any time during the war.

8.      Google Records of the U.S. Marine Corps and then click on 127.9—Records of Marine Units (1914-1949). Because the records of the Marine Corps are scattered throughout the nation, make your inquiry with the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.

9.      If your mother or grandmother worked in a factory on the home front, find out the name of the company and, if still in existence, write them. If she served in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACS or WAC), Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service in the Navy (WAVES), or the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, their records are also kept in the Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration, St. Louis.

10.  The indices or accounts in these sources may help:

Ambrose, Stephen. Citizen Soldiers and The Victors.

Griess, Thomas E. West Point Atlas for the Second World War (two volumes).

Leckie, Robert. Delivered from Evil: The Saga of World War II.

Manchester, William. Goodbye Darkness: A Personal Memoir of the Pacific War.

Morrison, Samuel Eliot. A History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II (in

fourteen volumes).

Twichell Jr., Heath. Northwest Epic: The Building of the Alaska Highway.

Whitlock, Flint. The Rock of Anzio.