This is the 5th installment of articles regarding current events that are related to WWII or Pearl Harbor. Today’s article is about a website called Ancestry.com. I am sure you have seen TV commercials trying to convince you to sign up for the website. It is honestly a great way to search for your family history. They have records from the census, military, marriage and death certificates. Ancestry.com is offering free use of a database with 60 million records on U.S. servicemen of World War II to mark the Dec. 7 anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.
The Provo, Utah, company says one in five Americans is a direct descendant of a World War II veteran.
One notable database opened for viewing are Navy muster rolls, which consist of more than 33 million records detailing nearly all of the enlisted personnel who served aboard a Navy ship from 1939 to 1949.
Those rolls list the 2,402 servicemen killed in the surprise attack by hundreds of Japanese fighter planes.
The company’s entire World War II collection will be open until Wednesday.
My Grand Father served in WWII and was one of the soldiers in the troops who liberated the Dachau Death camp. I looked him up in their records and came up with this limited information.
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Name: Douglas W Johnson Birth Year: 1924 Race: White, Citizen (White) Nativity State or Country: Georgia State of Residence: California County or City: Alameda Enlistment Date: 8 Apr 1943 Enlistment State: California Enlistment City: San Francisco Branch: No branch assignment Branch Code: No branch assignment Grade: Private Grade Code: Private Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men) Source: Civil Life Education: 3 years of high school Civil Occupation: Semiskilled chauffeurs and drivers, bus, taxi, truck, and tractor Marital Status: Single, without dependents Height: 63 Weight: 097
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I also found this document with very limited info on my Uncle, John Angel, who served in WWII in the Guadalcanal Campaign.
Although I did notice that other names in the records had more info. So if you were to search for a family member of yours you may get more info than I did. But it was interesting to know that my Grand Father and I were exactly the same height. I hope you find information that you can add to your family tree.
Thanks for reading,
[...] 5. (Posted on December 5th 2011) Titled “The December to Remember: Ancestry.com allows users t… [...]
This is a great way to get some preliminary information as far as a relative or ancestor’s military service.Military research is an exciting tool for understanding one’s family history and uncovering the mysteries surrounding a veteran’s service. In addition to using online records I recommend actually tracing the footsteps of individual veterans during wartime showing where they were and what they did throughout the war. This process can help to uncover one’s military heritage and preserve the memory of our heroic soldiers during wartime. I recommend also researching personnel records like unit rosters, morning reports, and medical records which are often not available online and which can uncover a wealth of knowledge about a veteran’s service.