2023 Fall Seminar

The Twentieth Century Wars: Military Records and Research

September 23, 2023

Michael L. Strauss, AG is a research manager for Ancestry ProGenealogists and was previously employed as a forensic investigator for thirty years. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and a resident of Utah and is a veteran of the United States Coast Guard.

Michael is a court qualified expert witness in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

He is a national genealogical lecturer and instructor, and faculty member at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), and the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research (IGHR), where he is the coordinator for the military courses held on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens.

The Twentieth Century Wars: Military Records and Research

• The Great War: Researching your World War I Ancestors – Fought between 1914-1918, in the beginning of this global conflict the United States had officially declared neutrality. On April 6, 1917 President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany and to mobilize the resources of the United States. By searching for our ancestors’ World War I records, we may also learn more about the feelings and attitudes of the public to this conflict.
• World War II – With the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941 the United States was plunged into another global conflict. On the battlefield and the home front alike, our country mobilized to defeat the Axis Powers. Resources including service records, draft registrations, morning reports, and records from the home front. This lecture will also focus on ways to reconstruct those records most affected by the fire of 1973.
• Researching the Korean and Vietnam Wars – Following the end of World War II the United States became involved in two wars beginning in 1950 to 1953 with the Korean War. This war is often referred to as the 20th century’s forgotten war as it is overshadowed by World War II and Vietnam. The second war is the Vietnam War also called the Second Indochina War that was fought between 1955 and 1975. This lecture focuses on records for both wars including service records, draft records, morning reports covering all of the military branches.
• Tracing the Movements of a Military Unit – Knowing where your ancestor’s military unit served will help determine the events in which the unit was actively engaged. Understanding the lineage, and order of battle for the military unit will help in knowing the command structure of the organization. This lecture focuses on a wide variety of records to trace the steps of military units over multiple war periods.