Military Records

Online Military Records in AAD

Using the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) System, you can access and search some of the National Archives' holdings of databases and other electronic or computerized records. These include many military records, such as Enlistment Records, Casualty Reports, Prisoner of War Data, and other records that may be of interest to anyone doing veterans or military research.

For example, if you are looking for information about someone (U.S. military or civilian), who may have been a prisoner of the Axis Powers during World War II, you now have the ability to search online for his or her record.

The Combat Area Casualties File from the Vietnam War, was one of the primary sources used to determine the names of casualties for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The most up to date casualty records are in the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) Files accessible via our Access to Archival Databases (AAD) resource.

Electronic Military Records in AAD

New records are added to AAD on an ongoing basis. Listed below is just a sample of some of the records that may be of interest to veterans, their families, or researchers. A complete list is available within the AAD resource.

World War II
To locate these records within AAD, click on World War II on the AAD homepage.


To read about other World War II related electronic records series, see Records Related to World War II.

Korean War
To locate these records within AAD, click on Korean War on the AAD homepage.

Vietnam War
To locate these records within AAD, click on Vietnam War on the AAD homepage.


To read about other Vietnam War related electronic records series, see Casualty, POW, and MIA Records Descriptions and Electronic Data Records Relating to Military Objectives and Activities During the Vietnam War.

 

Other Military Records
To locate these records within AAD, click on Military Personnel on the AAD homepage.

Note that most of the electronic records in AAD were created by Federal agencies to meet their own program or business needs. These records were not created with history or general public access in mind. As electronic data files, there may be limited textual or readable information, and some information may be stored in an abbreviated or coded format (although a code list is generally provided for these records).

 

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