How to Find Military Records

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Military service is an integral part of anyone's personal history and so is an important part of family history. From knowing if your great-great grandmother feather in the Civil War to seeing what branch your cousin served in Persian Gulf War, finding military records can add a richness to your family story. You may also want to verify military service for a perspective employee. Whatever your reason, here are some ways to access military records.

First, you can try the National Archives. Most veterans and their next-of-kin can get free copies of DD Form 214, which is the Report of Separation, discharge papers, medical information and more. To request these reports, they have to provide the veteran's service number and Social Security number, branch of service and dates of service, and date and place of birth. The National Archives also allow members of the general public to access some military records as well. Here is some of the information that you can access without violating the veteran's privacy: service number, dates of service, branch, rank, assignments and geographical location, military education, transcripts of Court Martial proceedings, and place of entry and separation.

This does not help much if you want to research a family member who succeeded in the Revolutionary War, so there are sites that can help you focus your research on more distant veterans. These require no permission because they do not violate the Privacy Act of 1974.

Finding military records is more challenging than finding other types of records, such as birth, marriage, and death records. It is still worth your time, however, to do a military records search because it can add a lot of detail to your family history.

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Source by Matthew Beeson