Finding Aids: Reference Information Paper 82 Preface
Reference Information Paper 82
A Finding Aid to Records
Relating to Personal Participation in World War II: American Military Casualties and Burials
Table of Contents
Preface
This reference information paper is the latest in a series that was begun by the National Archives while World War II was still in progress. The papers are part of a comprehensive descriptive program and are designed to provide researchers with concise information about Federal archival records relating to specific topics of current interest. The format and style of the papers have varied over the years, but they generally consist of an introduction that places the topic in the context of Federal recordkeeping, followed by sections that describe and discuss specific pertinent records.
Topics addressed in other recent reference information papers include: Audiovisual Records in the National Archives Relating to World War II (RIP 70); Records Relating to Personal Participation in World War II: 'The American Soldier' Surveys (RIP 78); "Records Relating to Personal Participation in World War II: American Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees" (RIP 80); "World War II Records in the Cartographic and Architectural unit of the National Archives" (RIP 79); and "Records Relating to the Early Involvement of the U.S. Government in Data Processing, 1880's to 1950's" (RIP 76). The descriptive program of the National Archives addresses topics of broader interest with a series of subject guides to its holdings. The most recent of these is American Women and the U.S. Armed Forces: A Guide to the Records of Military Agencies in the National Archives Relating to American Women (1992); A Guide to Pre-Federal Records in the National Archives (1989); Black History: A Guide to Civilian Records in the National Archives (1984); Documenting Alaskan History: Guide to Federal Archives Relating to Alaska (1982); and Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians (1981). The best overall source of information about Federal archives is the comprehensive Guide to the National Archives, revision of which is now in progress.
Our reference information papers and subject guides demonstrate that Federal records provide researchers with valuable information on a range of topics far broader than the history of the Federal Government. We are pleased to be able to make this rich resource available to researchers.Trudy Huskamp Peterson
Acting Archivist of the United States
Note: Compiled by Benjamin L. DeWhitt. Published by the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC, 1993.
Web version prepared 1999. Additions and changes incorporated in the Web version are between brackets [] and in italics.