IIGS™ Newsletter - July 1998
English ~ Dansk ~ Deutsch ~ Español ~ Suomi ~ Français ~ Nederlands ~ Norsk ~ polski ~ Português ~ Svenska
IIGS™ Newsletter - July 1998
Two main sources for service records and pension records for ancestors who served in the United States military or a state or local militia unit exist. They are the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St Louis, Missouri, and the National Archives. This article's focus is on locating and obtaining military service records. Pension records will be covered in the August issue.
The NPRC holds the service and medical records of persons who served on active duty from about1900 to present. When sending for records, you should include as much information as you have, including full name, service number, branch of service and Social Security number. After about 1967 the Social Security number was used as a member's service number. Also include, if known, the person's rank. If the service member is still alive, he/she will have to request the information. If the service member is mentally incapacitated, his or her legal guardian can request the records.
The required form, SF 180, can be downloaded from the NRPC site and printed on your printer. If the information you are looking for pertains to a person who was discharged from the Army before 1960 or the Air Force before1964 and if that person has a last name which falls alphabetically between Hubbard, James E and Z, you also will have to obtain NA Form 13075. The records of such veterans may have been lost in the fire in 1973, and the additional information will be needed to locate alternate sources of information which may enable the Center to reconstruct service record data lost in the fire. Allow a minimum of 8 to 10 weeks for your order to be processed.
If you are requesting photocopies of records relating to service in World War I to present, you must write to:
National Personnel Records Center
(Military Records), NARA
9700 Page Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63132.To obtain the service records of Army officers who served before June 30, 1917 and Army enlisted men who served before October 31, 1912, Navy officers who served before 1903 and Navy enlisted men before 1886, Marine Corps officers before 1896, Marine Corps enlisted men before 1905, Confederate Armed Forces officers and Confederate Armed Forces enlisted men 1861-65 and for persons who served as volunteers in various wars (in the Federal Government's interest from the Revolutionary War through the Philippine Insurrection, 1775-1902), you will have to submit NATF Form 80.
You must submit a separate form for each category of records you are requesting (i.e. service record, pension record, Bounty-Land Warrant Application files.) Photocopies of the above types of records, if they exist, are only available from:
Textual Reference Branch (NNR1)
National Archives and Records Administration
7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
Washington, DC 20408.For more information you can write to them at the above address.
A word of advice: Military service records rarely contain family information. Pension application files are generally the most useful to those who are doing genealogical research and they contain the most complete information regarding a man's military career. It is suggested that you first request copies of a man's pension file. According to NARA, you should request copies of a bounty-land warrant file or a military record only when no pension file exists. If the veteran's service was during the Revolutionary War, bounty-land warrant applications have been consolidated with pension application papers. You can obtain both files by requesting the pension file only.
If you are looking for the pension records of a confederate soldier, the best place to start is with the state of his residence. Those pensions were paid by the various states and they have the most complete records.
In addition to the above resources, there are many unit organizations, such as the 4th Infantry Division Association, which maintain unit histories. These associations exist for all branches of the service. Many of them are online and welcome questions about their particular organization. Most are happy to provide a list of the battles and campaigns in which their unit participated.
From before the Revolutionary War through the War of 1812 and even after, each state and county formed their own militia units. Even some cities and towns did so. These units usually took the name of the commanding officer or of the locality and provided invaluable service to the country. Many state and local historical societies have fairly extensive records of the people who served and the dates. Even if you do not know if your ancestor served in one of these units, it is always a good idea to check because the original 13 colonies had compulsory militia service laws.
Some research sources:
- The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, known as DANFS, is the foremost reference regarding US naval vessels. Filling eight volumes, it gives histories for virtually every US naval vessel. To make DANFS accessible to a larger number of people, they are putting selected ship histories online through this site. Currently the online collection includes over 2500 ship histories, and more are being added.
- U.S. Army Center of Military History
- The United States Army Military History Institute. The United States Army Military History Institute, a department of the U.S. Army War College, is the U.S. Army's central repository for historical materials. It has a mission to collect, preserve, and make available to researchers source materials on Military History, especially American military history.
- Naval Historical Center
- Marine Corps History
- The American Civil War, 1861-1865
- Confederate Regimental History Links