United States War Dead
Nov 15th 2008, 6:56 am
#1
Heading for Poppyland
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,727
United States War Dead
I have a question for some of you family historians. For UK and Commonwealth War Dead, I've used the excellent database maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Debt of Honour Register;
http://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp
This lists (or seeks to list) everyone who died, whether their bodies were recovered or not. I have a whole raft of folks in my family history who died in two world wars, RAF, Merchant Marine, Army, etc., buried & not buried, and I've managed to find records in the Debt of Honour Register for every last one of them (well, the ones I know about!)
Is there something similar for US Forces? I've found the American Battle Monuments Commission;
http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwii.php
But, in their WWII search they state "We only have the records of those casualties that are buried in our cemeteries or listed on the Walls of the Missing -- a total of 176,399 records. There were 405,399 American casualties in World War II."
Anyone know if the US Government has an agency with comprehensive records online, equivalent to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission?
http://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp
This lists (or seeks to list) everyone who died, whether their bodies were recovered or not. I have a whole raft of folks in my family history who died in two world wars, RAF, Merchant Marine, Army, etc., buried & not buried, and I've managed to find records in the Debt of Honour Register for every last one of them (well, the ones I know about!)
Is there something similar for US Forces? I've found the American Battle Monuments Commission;
http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwii.php
But, in their WWII search they state "We only have the records of those casualties that are buried in our cemeteries or listed on the Walls of the Missing -- a total of 176,399 records. There were 405,399 American casualties in World War II."
Anyone know if the US Government has an agency with comprehensive records online, equivalent to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission?
Nov 15th 2008, 7:19 am
#2
Not dead yet
Joined: Apr 2004
Location: In a world of my own where I know everyone
Posts: 15,042
Re: United States War Dead
I have a question for some of you family historians. For UK and Commonwealth War Dead, I've used the excellent database maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Debt of Honour Register;
http://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp
This lists (or seeks to list) everyone who died, whether their bodies were recovered or not. I have a whole raft of folks in my family history who died in two world wars, RAF, Merchant Marine, Army, etc., buried & not buried, and I've managed to find records in the Debt of Honour Register for every last one of them (well, the ones I know about!)
Is there something similar for US Forces? I've found the American Battle Monuments Commission;
http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwii.php
But, in their WWII search they state "We only have the records of those casualties that are buried in our cemeteries or listed on the Walls of the Missing -- a total of 176,399 records. There were 405,399 American casualties in World War II."
Anyone know if the US Government has an agency with comprehensive records online, equivalent to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission?
http://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp
This lists (or seeks to list) everyone who died, whether their bodies were recovered or not. I have a whole raft of folks in my family history who died in two world wars, RAF, Merchant Marine, Army, etc., buried & not buried, and I've managed to find records in the Debt of Honour Register for every last one of them (well, the ones I know about!)
Is there something similar for US Forces? I've found the American Battle Monuments Commission;
http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwii.php
But, in their WWII search they state "We only have the records of those casualties that are buried in our cemeteries or listed on the Walls of the Missing -- a total of 176,399 records. There were 405,399 American casualties in World War II."
Anyone know if the US Government has an agency with comprehensive records online, equivalent to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission?
Nov 15th 2008, 8:21 am
#3
Boomshacalaca!!
Joined: Dec 2005
Location: South of the North Pole.......Colorado
Posts: 5,066
Re: United States War Dead
just a thought but you might want to try the national archives, provide various bits of info and links etc.
http://aad.archives.gov/aad/
http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2...ticipation.pdf
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/index.html
You might be able to get more detailed info by contacting the branch of the armed forces. At present only the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps offer such detail from a record known as the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF). Getting access to this information is possible under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. Write to:
FOIA OFFICER, Department of the Army
ADMIN Section, ATTN: TAP-ALP-A (FOIA)
DCS Personnel and Logistics
200 Stovall St., Alexandria, VA 22332-0405
For Marine Corps casualties write to:
Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
Manpower and Reserve Affairs (MRC)
3280 Russell Rd.
Quantico, VA 22134-5103
One may have to find the mailing addresses for the Navy or Air Force.
You may also try The Veterans Administration - you may find thought that they are prohibited by law from giving out information on living veterans in their files, but they will forward a message from you to someone for whom they have an address.
http://aad.archives.gov/aad/
http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2...ticipation.pdf
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/index.html
You might be able to get more detailed info by contacting the branch of the armed forces. At present only the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps offer such detail from a record known as the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF). Getting access to this information is possible under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. Write to:
FOIA OFFICER, Department of the Army
ADMIN Section, ATTN: TAP-ALP-A (FOIA)
DCS Personnel and Logistics
200 Stovall St., Alexandria, VA 22332-0405
For Marine Corps casualties write to:
Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
Manpower and Reserve Affairs (MRC)
3280 Russell Rd.
Quantico, VA 22134-5103
One may have to find the mailing addresses for the Navy or Air Force.
You may also try The Veterans Administration - you may find thought that they are prohibited by law from giving out information on living veterans in their files, but they will forward a message from you to someone for whom they have an address.
Nov 16th 2008, 12:34 am
#4
Heading for Poppyland
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,727
Re: United States War Dead
Thanks for the tips, guys. I'm just surprised that the US doesn't seem to have an agency like the CWGC ... especially since there is such respect paid to military service here compared to the UK. I know in Vietnam the US took accounting for MIAs very seriously, but not in WWI and WWII?
Here's another example of the difference; many British aircrew who died over Germany in 1939-45 are buried in German civilian (not CWG) cemeteries. The CWGC website lists those. But Americans in a similar situation would not be listed in the Battle Monuments Commission site..??
Here's another example of the difference; many British aircrew who died over Germany in 1939-45 are buried in German civilian (not CWG) cemeteries. The CWGC website lists those. But Americans in a similar situation would not be listed in the Battle Monuments Commission site..??
