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National
Veteran’s Cemetery, Fort Logan, Colorado |
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INTRODUCTION
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Wars have
been an integral part of American history and, as such, have produced
indispensable genealogical records of literally millions of persons. These are records that not only hold the
key to successfully extending many pedigrees, but also contain valuable
family history information that helps one to see their ancestors as the real
persons they were and not just names on a chart or in a database. This web-page entitled “Researching our War
Veterans”, has been designed to provide a researcher with the following: A Listing Of Important Wars,
Conflicts, And Military Events Each is linked to
information that will provide the
researcher with additional insight regarding the key aspects of each
conflict. General
Military Information Links
to additional U. S. Military websites of a broad nature can be found in a
dedicated section near the end of this page. A Guide to U.S.
Military Records The section of
this webpage entitled “U.S. Military Record Research” is linked to the U.S. Military Records
Research Outline at the Family Search website. This outline introduces strategies and
records that can help one to learn more about ancestors who served in the United
States military. Use of this information will assist an investigator in
setting meaningful research goals, evaluate the likelihood that an ancestor
is found in military records, and select the records that will help to
achieve defined goals. This outline
describes the content, use, and availability of major sets of records created
mostly by the federal government. It does not discuss historical sources
about military institutions, weapons, battles, or tactics. There is no specific time during a search
when military records should be used but one must know that they are one of
the first sources to consider once research has begun on an individual who
may have had military service or may have been closely related to someone
else who did. This is because the
information found in military records is often of such a nature that it
facilitates the use of other sources and suggests new possibilities. Military Gravestone Inscription
Abbreviations Gravestones provided by the U.S. Government to
deceased military veterans contain a wide variety of inscriptions that can
give a researcher much valuable information about that person’s service to
their country. |
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Military record research
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Your ancestor's birth date tells you what wars he may have fought in. Look over your family tree to find ancestors, especially men, who were born during the following time periods, then check military draft, service or pension indexes for the corresponding conflicts. (These are general guidelines; men and women who served at very young or old ages may fall outside these ranges.) |
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Birth
years: War (battle years) 1726-1767: Revolutionary War (1775-1783) 1762-1799: War of 1812 (1812-1815) 1796-1831: Mexican War (1846-1848) 1811-1848: Civil War (1861-1865) 1848-1881: Spanish-American War (1898) |
Birth years: War (battle years) 1849-1885: Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) 1872-1900: World War I (1917-1918) 1877-1925: World War II (1941-1945) 1900-1936: Korean War (1950-1953) 1914-1955: Vietnam War (1964-1972) |
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Military records identify individuals who served in the armed forces
or who were eligible for service. This outline introduces strategies and
records that can help you learn more about your
ancestors who served in the United States military. Use this outline to set
meaningful research goals, evaluate the likelihood that your ancestor is
found in military records, and select the records that will help you achieve
your goals. This outline describes the content, use, and availability of major
sets of records created mostly by the federal government. The Family History
Library’s research outlines for the separate states have more information
about state military records. This outline discusses only sources that identify personal information
about individuals in the armed forces and their units. It does not discuss
historical sources about military institutions, weapons, battles, or tactics.
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Introduction
Step
1. Identify Ancestor You Wish To Find In Records Step 2. Decide What You Want To Learn
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Spanish-American
War, 1898 World War
I, 1917 To 1918 Vietnam War, 1964 To 1972 U.S. Air Force Service Records
* |
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* = In July, 1973 there was a fire at the National
Personnel Records Center, < http://www.archives.gov/facilities/mo/
>. About eighty percent of Army
Records of those discharged from 1 November 1912 through 1 January 1960, were burned.
About seventy-five percent of the Air Force files were destroyed. These were files of those who were
discharged between 25 September 1947 and 1 January 1964, and whose names were
from Hubbard, James E. through Z. |
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WARS OF THE UNITED
STATES
The following is a
listing of important wars, conflicts, and military events identified as
integral to the history of the United States of America. Each is linked to information that will provide the researcher with additional insight
regarding the key aspects of each conflict. |
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1622-1644 Anglo–Powhatan Wars 1637 Pequot War 1675-1676 King Philip's War
1676 Bacon's
Rebellion 1677-1679 Culpeper's Rebellion 1689-1697 King William's War
1689-1691 Leisler's
Rebellion 1702-1713 Queen Anne's War
1711-1713 Tuscarora War
1715-1716 Yamasee
War 1739-1742 War
of Jenkins' Ear 1744-1748 King George's War
1754-1763 French
and Indian War 1758-1761 Anglo-Cherokee War 1763-1766 Pontiac's Rebellion 1763-1764 Paxton Boys Uprising
1765-1766 Stamp
Act Revolt 1764-1771 War
of the Regulation 1770 Boston Massacre
1773 Boston Tea Party
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1774 Lord Dunmore's War
1775-1783 American
Revolutionary War 1786-1787 Shays' Rebellion 1790-1812 Ohio Valley campaigns
1794 Whiskey Rebellion 1798-1800 Quasi-War 1801-1805 First Barbary War 1812-1814 War of 1812
1815 Second Barbary War
1817-1818 First
Seminole War 1832 Black Hawk War
1835-1842 Second Seminole War
1836 Texas War of
Independence 1838-1839 Trail of Tears
1838-1839 Aroostook War
1839-1846 Anti-rent War 1842 Dorr Rebellion
1846-1848 Mexican-American
War 1864-1868 Navajo wars
1855-1858 Third Seminole War
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1857-1858 Utah War
1860-1900 American Indian Wars 1861-1865 American Civil War
1866-1871 The Fenian Raids 1898 Spanish-American War
1899-1902 Philippine
Insurrection 1900 Boxer Rebellion
1898-1934 The Banana Wars
1916-1917 Pancho Villa Expedition
1917-1918 World War I
1919-1920 Russian Revolutions of 1917–23 1941-1945 World War II
1950-1955 Korean War 1961-1975 Vietnam War 1982-1984 Lebanese Civil War
1983 Grenada Invasion 1989-1990 Invasion
of Panama 1990-1991 First Gulf War 2001- Global
War on Terror |
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Military Gravestone Inscription
Abbreviations
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Gravestones provided by the U.S. Government to
deceased military veterans contain a wide variety of inscriptions that can
give a researcher much valuable information about that person’s service to
their country. In many cases it may
be difficult to figure out the military terminology utilized to identify the
nature of their military experience.
This difficulty is compounded by the many abbreviations used because
of the limited amount of space available on the headstone. More often than not these abbreviations may
not be well understood by many family historians. Below we have provided a brief lexicon of
the type of abbreviations used to describe U. S. military service in the 18th,
19th and 20th centuries. |
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TERM / DEFINITION |
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1C /1ST
CL = 1st
class petty officer (US Navy rank) 2C
/2ND CL = 2ndclass
petty officer (US Navy rank) 3C /3RD
CL/ = 3rd
class petty officer (US Navy rank) 1812
vet = War
of 1812 Veteran ACW =
American
Civil War ADC =
Aide-de-Camp Adm = Admiral App =
apprentice,
as in Seaman Apprentice Armr = Armorer Art /
Arty = Artillery Batt Bat
= battery
as in a military regiment Batt / Bn / Bttn = Battalion Bglr = bugler Bgd
/Brig = Brigadier BGen
/ Brig Gen = Brigadier
General Bosn = Boatswain (enlisted
rating U.S. Navy) Brev /Bvt / Brvt = Brevet Capt/Cap
= Captain Cav /Calv = Calvary Campn = campaign Chp / Chpn = CivW = Civil War Cmdt. = Commandant Co /
Comp = Company Comdr
/ Comm = Commander Col =
Colonel Commo / Comm = Commodore Confed = Confederate Contl =
Continental (Continental
Army, American Revolution) Corp
/ Corpl / Cpl = Corporal Cox =
Coxswain CPO =
Chief
Petty Officer (U.S. Navy) CSA,
CS = Confederate
States Army, Confederate States of America CSN
= Confederate States Navy CWO =
Chief
Warrant Officer CWV =
Civil
War Veteran Dr / Drm / Drum = Drummer Drgns = Dragoons Eng =
Engineer En / Ens = Ensign (U.S. Navy) FO = Field Officer F/O =
Flying
Officer FSgt. = Flight Sergent Farr
= Farrier (Army horse shoer) G.A.R.
= Grand
Army of the Republic (veteran’s group of Union soldiers) Gen/Genl/Gen’l = General (military
rank) Gnr = Gunner GSO =
General
Staff Officer HA/ H
Arty/ Hvy Art = Heavy Artillery |
IND =
Independent Inf / Infty = Infantry Ka /
KIA = killed
in action Kw =
killed in war LA /
Lt Art / Lgt Art = Light Artillery
(military regiment) Lds = Landsman (naval
rank) Lt / Lieut =Lieutenant L1 /
1Lt = First
Lieutenant L2 /
2Lt = Second
Lieutenant LC / LtCol / LCol / Lt Coll = Lieutenant Colonel Legn = legion LGen / Lt
Gen = Lieutenant
General LI = Light Infantry LCpl = lance corporal
(USMC) Lt Battry = Light Battery Lt
Cdr / Lt Cmdr / Lt Comm = Lieutenant
Commander Maj / Mj =Major Maj Gen
/Major-Gen / MGen = Major General Mar =
Marines MIA =
Missing
in Action MO = Medical Officer MP = Military Police MSgt./mr sgt = Master Sergeant M Att = Mess Attendant MOH =
Medal
of Honor Mus / Musc / Musn = Musician N = Navy NG = National Guard Noncom
= Non-Commissioned
Officer OS = Ordinary Seaman Of = Officer (rank
unknown) Pat
= patriot (Revolutionary War Service) Pfc.
= Private
First Class PH = Purple Heart PO = Petty Officer POW =
Prisoner
of War Pvt.
= Private QM / Qtm =Quartermaster QMC =
Quartermaster’s
Corps Qm.Sgt / QMSgt = Quartermaster Sergeant R / Reg / Regt / Reg’t = Regiment RA /
Rear Adm. = Rear
Admiral Rev /Revol / RevW / Rev War / RW = Revolutionary War Rngr = Ranger Sea/
SN = Seaman S /
Sgt / Sergt = Sergeant Sig =
Signal
(as in Signal Corps, Signalman) SP. AM. = Spanish-American War |
TA = Territorial Army TM = Teamster (military) Tr / Trp = Troop UCV =
United
Confederate Veterans Unk/unkn = unknown US = United States USA =
United
States Army USAAC
– United
State Army Air Corps USAAF
= United
States Army Air Force USAC
= United
States Air Corps USAF
= United
States Air Force USA
Inf. = United
States Army Infantry USAR
= United
States Army Reserve USARV
= United States Army Vietnam USC
Art = United
State Colored Artillery USC Cav = United States Colored Cavalry USCG
= United
States Coast Guard USCGR
= United
States Coast Guard Reserve USC Inf = United States Colored Infantry USCT
= United
States Colored Troop(s) USM =
United
States Marines USMA
= United
States Military Academy USMC
= United
States Marine Corps USMCR
= United
States Marine Corps Reserve USN =
United
States Navy USNA
= United
States Naval Academy USNAC
= United
States Naval Air Corps USNG
= United
States National Guard USNMC
= United
States Navy Medical Corps USNR
= United
States Naval Reserve USV /
US Vol = United States Volunteers USWV
= United
Spanish War Veterans Vet =
veteran Vol = Volunteers WAAC
= Women’s
Auxiliary Army Corps WAAF
= Women’s
Auxiliary Air Force WAC =
Women’s
Army Corps WAF =
Women
in the Air Force Wag /
Wagr = Wagoner War
Ser = war
service WASP
= Women’s
Air Force Service Pilots WAVES
= Women
Appointed for Volunteer Emergency Service (US Navy) WIA =
Wounded
in Action WO = Warrant Officer WT = Water Tender WW = World War WW1 /
WW2 = World
War One / World War Two |
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Website Resources
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This
search engine may provide
you with additional |
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information
to assist with your research about this
topic. |
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General Resources
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·
Access
Genealogy - Military Resource Center ·
Alex Chirnside's Military History Page ·
Ancestor Search - Military Genealogy and Family Tree Surname
Search Engines ·
·
The History Guy: United States Military History ·
Military History Research Sites ·
Ruth Ann's Military Links Page ·
American Merchant Marine at War ·
WorldVitalRecords.com - Military ·
Naval History and Heritage
Command –
U.S. Navy ·
Our Military
Heritage –
Allen County Library |
·
FamilySearch.org - Research Guidance - U.S. Military Records
Research Outline ·
American
Women in Uniform, Veterans Too! ·
Ancestry.com - Clues in Military Photos . ·
Online Military
Indexes, War Records & Databases of Soldiers ·
U.S. Dept of
Veterans' Affairs - Guide for Submitting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Requests ·
Research in Military
Records - National
Archives ·
Military
Personnel Records - National
Archives ·
Access to
Military Service & Pension Records ·
Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements
& Rosters |
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Colonial Wars
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·
King Philip's War -
Wikipedia ·
FREE U.S. Military Databases
– King Philip’s War |
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American Revolutionary War
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·
Chronology of the American
Revolutionary War ·
Guide to the
American Revolution –Lib. of Congress ·
Global Gazetteer of the American
Revolution ·
Rev.
War Pension & Bounty Land Apps. 1800-1900 $ ·
FREE U.S. Military Databases
– Revolutionary War ·
Sons American
Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 $ |
·
Battlefield atlas of the American
Revolution ·
American Revolutionary War History
Resources ·
D.A.R. Genealogical
Research System |
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War of 1812
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·
Library of Congress Guide to the War of 1812
·
War of 1812 in the South
- William C. Cook Collection |
·
American Military
History – The War of 1812 ·
FREE U.S. Military Databases
– War of 1812 |
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Mexican –American War
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·
Library of Congress
Guide to the Mexican War · FREE U.S. Military Databases
– War with Mexico |
·
The Mexican-American War,
Illinois Historic Digitization Proj. |
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American Indian Wars
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American Civil War
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·
The Civil War Archive
Regimental Index - A Listing of all Regiments that Fought During the
U.S. Civil War ·
Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System
– 6.3 million names ·
FREE U.S. Military Databases
– Civil War |
·
Civil
War photos at the National Archives |
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Spanish-American War
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·
Spanish-American War
- Library of Congress Guide ·
Spanish-American War Service Summary Cards (Georgia Archives) |
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World War I
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· A
multimedia history of World War I · The World War I Document
Archive · FREE U.S. Military Databases
– World War One |
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World War II
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·
Directory of Online World
War II Indices & Records ·
FREE U.S. Military Databases
– World War Two |
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Korean War
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·
The Center for the Study of
the Korean War ·
FREE U.S. Military Databases
– Korean War |
·
US
Army Korea Media Center official Korean War online image archive |
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Vietnam War
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· FREE U.S. Military Databases
– Vietman
War |
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Gen. Ref. Library
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Within our Genealogy
Reference Library (U.S.A.) page where you will find U.S. military
histories from the American
Revolution to World War One at the following link. If you are looking for the history of a specific state or local U.S. military unit
take a look in the Genealogy Reference Library U.S.A. Locations
pages. In addition, we have general military reference texts as well as other
books that will assist you with your research. |
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This Link will take you to our |
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collections of military reference books. |
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Free Military Records
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All
of the records and databases listed on our Military webpage are FREE
and can be accessed and searched online without having to pay for a
subscription. We try not to list any
sites that have only a few records for the purpose of getting you to a
website that will charge a fee to actually see the record beyond just a name. |
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This Link will take you to our |
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collections of FREE Records. |
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About this webpage
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CONTACT INFORMATION
We do
like to hear from others who are researching the same people and surnames. We
need your help to keep growing! So
please Email
photos, stories, and other
appropriate information about this topic. RULES OF USE We only ask that if you have a personal website
please create a link to our Home Page. -- This webpage was last updated on
-- 01 July 2013 |
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