STEPS IN RESEARCHING YOUR SOLDIER
As in any genealogical project, work from yourself backwards.
These titles are available in the Texana/Genealogy department.
When researching in military records, it is helpful to determine when and where in the armed service a soldier served, and whether he or she was in the enlisted ranks or an officer. Clues may be found in family stories, old newspaper clippings, correspondence, scrapbooks, journals or diaries, service medals and memorabilia, and photographs of the soldier in uniform. The grave marker of a veteran may contain information about military service as well. Military records may have been created in peacetime or during time of war, depending on the record type, and you may even find military records for ancestors who never served. For example, the U.S. World War I Draft Registrations (found in Ancestry Library Edition) include records for 24 million men, both immigrant and U.S. citizens, who were born between about 1872 and 1900. Many of these men were never called up for service.
One of the most valuable records in military research is the soldier's service record. Service records may be found in our Ancestry Library Edition and Fold3 databases for soldiers through the Civil War and a few from the Spanish-American War. To request service records for more recent soldiers, you must request service records from the National Archives through their e-VetRecs online ordering portal or fill out form SF-180 and mail it in. You can find out more about the process by clicking the blue links.
Databases available through the San Antonio Public Library
Other on-line resources for military research:
The Library of Congress provides a great source for primary source material for American military history. Items that can be found here include an electronic version of The Stars and Stripes, The American Soldiers' Newspaper of World War I; extensive maps from both sides of the Civil war; and Ansel Adams photographs of Japanese-American interment camps
This broad-based site offers a range of extended range of member articles on military history. It also offers a Civil War Genealogy Database and community forums
This site explores both major and minor wars around the globe from 1800 to 1999. Includes review essays, timelines, and chronologies of armed conflict. Major sections include WWII, Weapons of War, and Articles of War. Obtrusive ads on home page.
The Strategic Studies institute contains information on current military issues divided into Regional Issues and Strategic Issues. Regional Issues are presented as articles organized by global region. For example, the Middle East and North Africa section contains articles discussing the regional effects of the Iraq War and Hamas, while the Asia Pacific section contains articles on the escalating tension in Korea.
This timeline is presented in order to give the user the ability to see what major conflicts were going on across the globe in any given year or time period. With the thousands of conflicts that man has been engaged in over the past 5,000+ years of recorded history, the author been able to include the major ones and many of the minor ones.
Jensen is a scholar with many books and articles; he was professor of history for over 35 years at several schools, including the University of Illinois, Harvard, Michigan, West Point, and Moscow State University. His recent books (coauthored) include The Civil War on the Web (2nd edition 2003), Trans-Pacific Relations : America, Europe, and Asia in the Twentieth Century (2003), World War II on the Web (2002) and Americans at War: Society, Culture, and the Homefront (2005).
A Bibliography of Military Name Lists from Pre-1675 to 1900 by 
U. S. Military Records by 
World War II Military Records by 
