Military Resources: Veterans
Veterans Information
NARA Resources
"20th-Century Veterans' Service Records: Safe, Secure — and Available"
Norman Eisenberg's Prologue article about veterans' records available from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri.
Access to Military Service and Pension Records
This site provides NARA information about ordering military service records.
Military Personnel Records
From the National Personnel Records Center, "This site is provided for those seeking information regarding military personnel, health and medical records stored at NPRC."
Veterans Service Records
Information for users about requesting military service records and conducting research with military service records.
Other Resources
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Official website of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Veterans Benefits Administration
Information about benefits available to America's military veterans and how to access them.
Center for Women Veterans
Resources from the Veterans Administration designed to meet the needs of women veterans.
Center for Veterans Issues
"We serve men and women of our armed forces who find themselves in need after returning to civilian life."
House Committee on Veterans' Affairs
"The House Committee on Veterans' Affairs reviews veterans' programs, examines current laws, and reports bills and amendments to strengthen existing laws concerning veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)."
Veterans
U.S. Army website that provides links to veterans' information and resources.
Veterans History Project
The Library of Congress Veterans History Project collects and preserves oral histories and documents belonging to America's war veterans.
Veterans' Issues
Information from the U.S. Department of Labor about workplace rights with regard to veterans, reservists and National Guard members.
Military Casualties
NARA Resources
Casualty Records in Electronic Format
The Electronic Records unit provides electronic casualty lists for World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, as well as POW/MIA lists for those wars.
"Electronic Records of Korean and Vietnam Conflict Casualties"
Theodore J. Hull's Prologue article describes NARA's electronic records of Korean and Vietnam War casualties.
"Honoring Our War Dead: The Evolution of the Government Policy on Headstones for Fallen Soldiers and Sailors"
Prologue article by Mark C. Mollan.
"The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers"
Trevor K. Plante's Prologue article about the facility built to care for disabled Civil War veterans.
State-Level Lists of Fatal Casualties of the Korean War and the Vietnam War
"The National Archives and Records Administration prepared these state level casualty lists by creating extracts from the Korean War Extract Data File and the Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File."
Statistical Information about Fatal Casualties of the Vietnam War
An Electronic Records Reference Report.
"World War I Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimages"
Part I of Constance Potter's Prologue article which discusses the experiences of Gold Star Mothers from World War I.
Other Resources
American Battle Monuments Commission
The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) "commemorates the service, achievements, and sacrifice of U.S. armed forces. ABMC manages 26 overseas military cemeteries, and 29 memorials, monuments, and markers." This site includes databases containing information about war dead interred in ABMC cemeteries.
American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistic
This Congressional Research Service report provides extensive statistical information about American wartime casualties.
America's Wars Fact Sheet
The Department of Veterans Affairs provides a brief statistical summary about military participation and casualties.
Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS)
"The central objective of DCAS is to collect and maintain U.S. casualty information on warfighters who have fallen in global or regional conflicts involving the United States."
Prisoners of War/Missing in Action
NARA Resources
"American POWs on Japanese Ships Take a Voyage into Hell"
Prologue article by Lee A. Gladwin tells the story of American World War II POWs who were transported aboard five Japanese "hell ships".
A Finding Aid to Records Relating to American Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War Era, 1960-1994
Reference Information Paper 90.
A Guide to Historical Holdings in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library: Prisoners of War (POWs) and Personnel Missing in Action (MIAs)
The Eisenhower Library's holdings relate to World War II, Korean War, Cold War era, and Vietnam War POWs and MIAs.
Presidential Libraries Holdings Related to Prisoners of War and Missing in Action
"This reference information paper describes records relating to prisoners war and missing in action that are preserved in the Presidential libraries."
Treatment of POWs
This NARA site highlights two letters concerning the treatment of African-American POWs during the Civil War.
Other Resources
Andersonville National Historic Site
Andersonville National Historic Site is the only park in the National Park System to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war throughout the nation's history.
Frequently Requested Records: POW/MIA
These CIA records concerning Vietnam-era prisoners of war and missing in action were located, reviewed and released as a result of requests from next of kin and other interested parties.
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command
This military agency's "mission is to conduct global search, recovery and laboratory operations to identify unaccounted-for Americans from past conflicts."
National League of POW/MIA Families
"The LeagueÂ’s sole purpose is to obtain the release of all prisoners, the fullest possible accounting for the missing and repatriation of all recoverable remains of those who died serving our nation during the Vietnam War."
The POW/MIA Flag
The history of the flag and guidelines for displaying it.
Report of the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs
The 1993 report of the Senate's investigation of the fates of American service members who remained unaccounted for from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War.
Vietnam-Era Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Database
From the Library of Congress, this site assists researchers investigating the U.S. government documents pertaining to U.S. military personnel killed, missing, or imprisoned in Southeast Asia during or after the Vietnam War. Searchable by last name, country name, service branch, or keywords.
Medals & Honors
NARA Resources
"The Army Civil War Campaign Medal "
Prologue article about the medal established in 1907 to recognize living veterans of the Civil War.
"The Army Medal of Honor: The First Fifty Years"
Mark C. Mollan's article on the history of the Army Medal of Honor appeared in the Summer 2001 issue of Prologue.
"A Heart of Purple: The Story of America's Oldest Military Decoration and Some of Its Recipients"
Prologue article by Fred L. Borch.
"'I Am Entitled to the Medal of Honor and I Want It:' Theodore Roosevelt and His Quest for Glory"
In this four part Prologue article Mitchell Yockelson recounts Theodore Roosevelt's campaign to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions at San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War.
Military Awards and Decorations
Guidelines for requesting replacement medals.
"The Only Medal"
Prologue article by Michael P. Musick describes the establishment of the Medal of Honor during the Civil War.
Other Resources
Armed Forces Decorations and Awards
This publication describes medals, ribbons, and devices, and provides the order of precedence for all branches of the military.
The Institute of Heraldry
"The Institute's wide range of heraldic services include decorations, flags, streamers, agency seals, coats of arms, badges, and other forms of official emblems and insignia."
Medal of Honor Recipients
From the U.S. Army Center of Military History, this index lists by war the entire transcripts of the Medal of Honor Citations for more than 3,400 soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen.
Military Awards
Army Regulation 600–8–222 "provides Department of the Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual military decorations, Good Conduct Medal, service medals and ribbons, combat and special skill badges and tabs, unit decorations, and trophies, and similar devices awarded in recognition of accomplishments."
U.S. Navy Service and Campaign Medals
The Naval History & Heritage Command provides information about Navy medals.