In honor of the many U. S. veterans that have served in our armed forces throughout the history of this great nation, the African American Genealogy Examiner column today will provide instructions on accessing several free records databases available online at the website of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
These records are available through the Access to Archival Database (AAD) section of Archives.gov. A link on the main page labeled “AAD” will take you to this section.
AAD is divided into several categories for easier access to these databases. Individual databases do appear in multiple categories. For the purposes of this article, we will address the category labeled, “Wars/International Relations.” The category is further divided into subcategories for individual wars, including “Civil War,” “World War II,” “Korean War,” and “Vietnam War.”The “Civil War” subcategory contains one series with two databases: “Records About Civil War Battle Sites, created, 1990 - 1993, documenting the period 4/12/1861 - 5/13/1865.” Its two databases are “Events File, 4/12/1861 - 5/13/1865” and “Counties File, 4/12/1861 - 5/13/1865.” Neither of these contain any personal names, but only information on specific battle sites.
The search form for the “Events File” allows you to search by any of the database fields, including the location or the date of the event. For example, a search for “Petersburg” shows a list of events that occurred in the siege on Petersburg.
If you are looking for more information on one specific event in the siege, you can click on the date. The screenshot below shows part of the entry for the Battle of the Crater, on 30 July 1864, a part of the Petersburg campaign.
AAD also contains databases containing personal information. The “World War II” subcategory contains a total of five series. We will examine “World War II Army Enlistment Records, created, 6/1/2002 - 9/30/2002, documenting the period ca. 1938 – 1946,” which consists of two files, “Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records),” and “... (Reserve Corps Records).” This series contains reconstructed World War II enlistment records based on microfilmed punch cards created to replace the records destroyed in a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973. Not all veterans are listed, though it does include both Women’s Auxiliary and National Guard enlistments. Nor are all records guaranteed to be perfect reproductions, due to the poor quality of the microfilm and the difficulty in reading all of the punch cards from the microfilm. Full information about this record set can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions.
Once again, the search form allows you to search by any of the database fields. This includes name, place of residence, or place of enlistment. It is relatively simple to locate individuals who enlisted in the U. S. Army during World War II using this database.
Individual entries in this database contain two columns: the original code and the plain-English translation. The fields on which these entries provide data are Army Serial Number, Name, Residence: State, Residence: County, Place of Enlistment, Date of Enlistment Day, Date of Enlistment Month, Date of Enlistment Year, Grade: Alpha Designation, Grade: Code, Branch: Alpha Designation, Branch: Code, Term of Enlistment, Longevity, Source of Army Personnel, Nativity, Year of Birth, Race and Citizenship, Education, Civilian Occupation, Marital Status, Component of the Army, Card Number, Box Number, and Film Reel Number.
The information contained in this database will certainly provide information on the veterans in your family.
For more articles about using Archives.gov, read these two past articles:
This article has been posted on November 11, in response to the NaBloPoMo challenge of posting one article every day throughout the month of November.
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