Researching the Veteran in Your Family

A 2-part program about Military Research Strategies

Presented by Jennifer Holik and co-hosted by the North Suburban Genealogical Society

Honor the veterans in your family by discovering their military story. This all-afternoon program will feature two distinct parts, with a break in between. 

12pm - 1pm: Research a Veteran: Exploring the Basics of Military Research (Part 1)

All the records DID NOT burn. Have you ever wondered what dad or grandpa did in the war? What happened to your uncle who died? What was training and combat like? How did grandpa get wounded? What happened to the family during and after the war? Answers can be found. In this session you will learn:

• Where to begin your research at home.
• What questions to ask.
• The first part of the research strategy to learn any veteran's story from any 20th century war and and military branch.
• What records you need to establish the foundation and where to locate them.
• How to create a timeline of service.
• How to begin writing the story.

Jennifer Holik will use storytelling along with the records to help you understand the deeper impacts of service. You might want a tissue for the story at the end of this session! While this program is WWII focused, these strategies also apply to WWI, Korea, and Vietnam military research.

1:30pm - 2pm: Break with refreshments

2pm - 3pm: Exploring the Greatest Generation: Adding Context to the Veteran's Story (Part 2)

Contextual records are everywhere, not just the National Archives! Once you have established what units your service member was in and where they served, it is time to explore unit-level records.

In this program you’ll explore:

• The second part of the research strategy to piece together your veteran's story.
• How to add to your timeline of service and expand the narrative.
• Explore various histories, journals, photos, and maps for all the military branches.
• You will learn about the most valuable foundational records to put your service member into context and write a richer story everyone will want to read.

These records help you write the narrative to your stories. They will also help you understand why your veteran was who they were after service, and probably bring up more questions for you to consider.

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