The Twentieth-Century Wars: Military Records and Research Presented by Michael L. Strauss
The Fall 2023 Seminar, September 23, 2023
by Suzan Younger
Michael L. Strauss joined the Dallas Genealogical Society for their 2023 Fall Seminar in person on Saturday, September 23, 2023. His presentations on twentieth-century military records and research were in person at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library and virtually on Zoom. DGS recorded the four lectures and they will be available for the September 23 attendees until October 8, 2023. Don’t worry if you missed the live presentation, you can still register and view the lectures online.
There were four lectures: 1) Finding your World War I ancestors, 2) World War II, 3) Korean and Vietnam War research, and 4) Following a Military Unit. You can read a description of each lecture here. Michael presented the four wars in chronological order. In doing so, he compared and contrasted the records and forms as they developed from 1917 to the late 1970s. The government renamed and modified forms and records to reflect new laws during military events. Draft and conscription laws were some of the most significant changes that genealogists need to consider. Michael covered the changes for conscription between the four wars.
A second important group of laws deals with access and restrictions to records of individual military personnel. Laws dictate when records can be available, who can access the records, and the records’ repositories. The lectures provided information on repositories holding the records and when and where to look for them. A fire at the National Personnel Records Center destroyed millions of U.S. Army and Air Force records in 1973. Micheal suggested alternative solutions for this loss. We heard about organizations that are making these records available online by digitizing them.
In the last lecture, we learned how to research a person’s military units. This includes what the unit was doing, what campaigns it took part in, the duty stations, and the type of reports available. The syllabus includes links to online resources and many valuable reference sources. One such resource is The World War I Genealogy Research Guide by Debra M. Dudek which is available for free at the Doughboy Foundation website.
You still have until October 8, 2023, to register for the online version of this set of lectures that will jumpstart your military research.
