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Picture
Picture
US Cemetery, Sicily, 1944
US Cemetery, Sicily, 1944
Web Sources
bigpigeon.us webpage WWII US > Web Sources - Personnel, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen​, links checked by RAC 31 Mar 2021, updated by RAC 11 Jan 2023. 
Below are links to personnel-related web sources used in Big Pigeon's WWII Roster & WWII modules.​
About the web sources cited below:
  • I use a combination of free and pay websites, although most are free.
  • After WWII ended, the United States classified all missing as dead. Thus, lists of the WWII dead include those whose remains were never found or identified.
  • Until 1947, the War and Navy Departments kept separate records and issued separate reports. The Air Force was part of the Army and the Navy Department administrated the Marine Corps. 
  • Key sources were the 1946 reports of WWII dead issued by the War and Navy departments.
  • In 1947, the War and Navy Departments were combined into the Defense Department.

WWII Web Sources - Personnel webpage organization:
  1. World War II draft records.
  2. World War II induction records.
  3. World War II personnel lists not casualty-related.
  4.  World War II wounded.
  5. World War II prisoners of war - POWs.
  6. World War II unaccounted for - 
  7. World War II dead - KIA, DOW, DNB.
  8. World War II burials and cemeteries.
A numbered arrow begins each section.

Some cautions about the databases cited below:
  • ​Some databases are incomplete.
  • Some databases include periods other than WWII.
  • Some databases include records for other than WWII decedents.
  • Some databases contain multiple entries for one person.
  • Army-specific databases include US Army Air Force.

==> 1 - World War II Draft Records:
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238/  - WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, 54,293,029 records. 
  • search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1002 - WWII Draft Registration Cards, 1942 (old men), 15,293,445 records.  
Commentary - World War II Draft Records:
​WWII Draft registration dates (courtesy of familysearch.org):
  • First Registration October 16, 1940: males ages 21 to 35 "within the continental United States"
  • Second Registration July 1, 1941: males "who had reached 21 since the first registration"
  • Third Registration February 16, 1942: between the ages of 20 and 45 "who had not previously registered"
  • Fourth Registration April 27, 1942: between the ages of 45 and 65 "not eligible for military service" This registration is not included in this collection.
  • Fifth Registration June 30, 1942: between the ages of 18 and 20
  • Sixth Registration December 10-31, 1942: "those who reached the age of 18 after November 12, 1942"
  • Additional Registration between November 16 and December 31, 1943: "citizens living abroad between the ages of 18 and 45"
Other dates:
16 September 1940: The Selective Service and Training Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt.
29 October 1940: The first draftees were chosen by lottery, 6,175 men with the number 158. 

==> 2 - World War II Induction Records
  • search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8939 - WWII Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, 8,369,212 records.
  • https://aad.archives.gov/aad/fielded-search.jsp?dt=893&cat=WR26&tf=F&bc=,sl
  • https://ia800906.us.archive.org/15/items/suppreportadjutant1941/suppreportadjutant1941.pdf - 1941 Iowa National Guard induction roster.
  • https://armyranger.com/world-war-ii-european/1st-ranger-battalion/ - original list of 1st Ranger Bn. members.
Commentary - World War II Induction Records: 
  • Nine million plus US Army/AAF WWII era (1938-1946) induction records (both draft and enlistment) in first two entries. The second entry is free courtesy of the National Archives.
  • The Jan/Feb 1941 Iowa National Guard induction roster was published 1944 by Iowa State Adjutant General. Slow loading.
  • The armyranger.com entry is taken from the original 19 Jun 1942 roster of the 1st Ranger Bn. (Darby's Rangers), the precursor of today's Army Special Forces. It includes a number of Pottawattamie area men. Entries are listed by rank.

==> 3 - World War II personnel lists not casualty-related (some are not specific to WWII)
  • search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1143 - WWII Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949, 33,039,896 records.
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/ - Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958, 39,841,896 records.​
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2441/ - Dept. of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010, 14,465,013 records.
Commentary - World War II personnel lists not casualty-related:
  • The Navy muster rolls were for crews on Navy ships.

==> 4 - World War II Wounded Records
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61817/  - Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954 (Army/AAF only, cursory data), 6,886,199 records.
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1122/  - Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945, both dead & wounded, 150,715 records. ​
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/70837/ - Marine Corps Casualty Indexes, 1940-1958, both dead & wounded, 115,570 records.
Commentary - World War II Wounded Records:
  • The record counts on the casualty indices are inconsistent.
​
==> 5 - World War II Prisoner of War Records
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8919/ - WWII American and Allied Prisoners of War, 1941-1946, 143,374 records.
  • https://aad.archives.gov/aad/fielded-search.jsp?dt=466&tf=F&cat=WR26&bc=,sl  - WWII American and Allied Prisoners of War, 1941-1946, 143,374 records. 
  • https://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-description.jsp?s=644&cat=WR26&bc=,sl - WWII Prisoners of War Data File, 143,374 records.
  •  https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2178/ - WWII Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945, 29,877 records.
  • https://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-description.jsp?s=4277&cat=WR26&bc=,sl&col=1215 - WWII Prisoners of the Japanese File, 29,879 records.
  • https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/us-prisoners-war-civilian-american-citizens-captured.html - U.S. Prisoners of War and Civilian American Citizens Captured and Interned by Japan in World War II, The Issue of Compensation by Japan
  • http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/pacific_pow_roster.html - American POWs held by the Japanese in the Philippines. 
  • https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=BA8DF9397916A026!586992&cid=ba8df9397916a026&authkey=!AILhDGlwQ6jSixo - American POWS from the Philippines, processed through Bilibid Prison, and then transported on Hell Ships, Microsoft Excel file.
  • https://www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/Rosters.htm - links to various rosters containing information about US POWs held by the Japanese.
Commentary - World War II Prisoner of War Records: 
  • Several entries are from the National Archives Access to Archival Databases (AAD) series.
  • Most of those listed in the last three entries were captured during the Fall of the Philippines, in early 1942.
  • The sixth entry, the work of the late Roger Mansell, includes Philippine Scouts, coded as PS, who were Filipino members of the US Army. It includes most POW deaths in the Philippines.
  • The seventh entry, the work of Robert Logan Hudson, lists those who passed through Bilibid Prison (evidently most were captured at Corregidor). Most were transported from the Philippines on Hell Ships or were found alive in Japanese POW camps in the Philippines in early 1945. Most POW deaths in the Philippines are not listed. 12,710 Army (including a few British) and 310 civilians are listed.
  • I doubt if members of the Filipino Commonwealth Army, who were mostly reservists, are included in any of these lists. However, I believe Philippine Scouts are included in appropriate lists.

==> 6 - World War II Unaccounted For Records 

Defense POW/MIA Accounting  Agency (DPAA) links:
  • https://www.dpaa.mil - Defense POW/MIA Accounting  Agency (DPAA) website.
  • https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaOurMissing - master list of US unaccounted for from all wars starting with WWII.
  • https://www.dpaa.mil/portals/85/Documents/WWIIAccounting/iowa.html - list of WWII Iowa unaccounted for - all services.
The following seven links access lists of WWII unaccounted for by branch of service. Current counts are in parens.
  • https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/Documents/WWIIAccounting/united_states_army.html - WWII US Army ground troops (about 16,000), often with unit identification.
  • https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/Documents/WWIIAccounting/united_states_army_air_forces.html - WWII USAAF  (about 20,000), often with unit identification.
  • https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/Documents/WWIIAccounting/united_states_navy.html - WWII US Navy  (about 31,000), often with unit identification.
  • https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/Documents/WWIIAccounting/united_states_marine_corps.html - WWII US Marine Corps  (2,837), lacks unit identification.
  • https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/WWIIAccounting/wwii_una_CIVILIAN_20210326.pdf - WWII Civilian (874).
  • https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/WWIIAccounting/wwii_una_COAST%20GUARD_20210326.pdf - WWII Coast Guard (613).
  • https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/WWIIAccounting/wwii_una_MERCHANT%20MARINE_20210326.pdf - WWII Merchant Marine (429), includes the decedent's ship.
 Commentary - World War II Unaccounted For Records:
  • In WWII, missing status was changed to dead, usually after one year. The unaccounted for status includes those whose bodies were not recovered, or were recovered but not identified.
  • The US Army list includes Philippine Scouts, Filipino members of special US Army units.
  • The Merchant Marine list is incomplete.

Other Unaccounted For links:
  • https://www.fold3.com/search?general.title.id=95%3AMissing+Air+Crew+Reports%2C+WWII - WWII USAAF Missing Air Crew Reports.
  • https://www.fold3.com/title/1089/wwii-buried-at-sea-2016-dpaa-list - WWII Burials at Sea (6,329 records).
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1199/  - WWII Military Personnel Missing In Action or Lost At Sea, 1941-1946, 80,427 records. 
Commentary - Other Unaccounted For links: 
  • The Missing Air Crew Reports include all crew members, whether they survived or not.

==> 7 - World War II Dead Records
​
1946 official War Department WWII casualty lists for Iowa (Army & Army Air Force): 
  • https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/army-casualties/iowa.html - WWII Honor List of Dead & Missing - Iowa, organized by county; not searchable, 31 pages.
  • https://www.newspapers.com/image/322800834 (Adair-Johnson Counties) and https://www.newspapers.com/image/322800842 (Johnson - state at large) - searchable Honor List from 27 Jun 1946 Des Moines Tribune. 
1946 official Navy Department WWII casualty lists for Iowa (Navy, Marine Corps, & Coast Guard):
  • https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/navy-casualties/iowa.html - includes wounded & POW, alphabetical by casualty type; not searchable, 45 pages.
  • https://www.naval-history.net/WW2UScasStateIowa.htm - searchable version of above with dead only.
Commentary - official War & Navy Department casualty lists:
  • Near the top of these lists are links for other states.
  • The Navy Department lists exclude Individuals who died from non-combat causes.
  • All lists exclude individuals who died from service-related causes after release from service.
  • The Navy Department lists include next of kin name and address but don't include service numbers.
  • I have excerpted from these official lists two reports, namely Pottawattamie Area Army WWII Dead and Pottawattamie Area Navy & Marine Corps WWII Dead. You can access these reports from WWII Dead > Roster Outliers. 

Other Nationwide WWII Dead Lists:
  • http://usaafdata.com/?q=search - WWII Army Air Force dead, 74,242 records.
  • http://www.naval-history.net/WW2USCas.htm - WWII Navy, Marine & Coast Guard WWII dead with unit information, organized alphabetically.
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1122/ - Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945, both dead & wounded, 150,715 records. 
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/70837/ - Marine Corps Casualty Indexes, 1940-1958 - dead & wounded.
  • https://www.fold3.com/browse/hUe8IYLaS?military.conflict=World+War+II​ - WWII US Marine Corps Casualty Indices with unit information.

Service-wide list of the US WWII dead:
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1102/ - Rosters of WWII Dead, 1939-1945 
Commentary - Service-wide list of the US WWII dead:
  • This is the only service-wide list of WWII dead known to me. 
  • It is barely legible in places and lacks some names.
  • 357,086 records. Officially, about 405,000 US military died in WWII. Limited checking suggests that stateside deaths are not included.
  • Each record has eleven fields (more about these fields at https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/569303-redirection): 
  • 1 - permanent cemetery code (see https://www.7tharmddiv.org/cemeterycodes.pdf).
  • 2 - overseas cemetery plot, row, & grave nbr.
  • 3 - name
  • 4 - rank
  • 5 - service nbr.
  • 6 - service branch (1-army, 2-navy, 3-marine, 4-coast guard, 5-merchant marine, 6-civilian)
  • 7 - temporary cemetery code (see https://www.7tharmddiv.org/cemeterycodes.pdf)
  • 8 - religion
  • 9  - race
  • 10 - 1 if USAAF member
  • 11 - disposition code 

Index to Iowa partial lists of WWII veterans by county (includes most dead, with brief biological information):
  • https://www.iagenweb.org/wwii/WWIICountyIndex/​
Iowa WWII Bonus Case Files: (require ancestry.com membership).
  • search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8825 - Iowa WWII Bonus Case Files, 1947-1954, 240,951 records. 
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61186/ - Iowa WWII Bonus Case Files for Beneficiaries, 19,760 records.
Commentary - Iowa Bonus Case Files:
  • After WWII ended, the Iowa legislature awarded a bonus of up to $500 to Iowans who served in WWII, or to their beneficiary if deceased. Subject to certain rules, most WWII veterans deceased before 1950 were entitled to a payment. For unmarried decedents, the primary beneficiary was the mother. This was hard for some fathers to grasp; thus many ineligible fathers applied for the payment. This partially explains why the official WWII Iowa dead count is 8,398 but the Bonus Case Files for Beneficiaries include 19,760 records.
Iowa Veterans Remembrance Project:
  • https://iowaveterans.uni.edu
Commentary - Iowa Veterans Remembrance Project:
  • ​This is a recent effort to list Iowa deaths from all wars; currently 8232 WWII names.

​WWII Deaths for selected units or actions:
For the US Army:
  • http://www.34thinfantry.com/documents/doc-cas-168.html - WWII KIA & WIA 168th Inf. Regt. members; peacetime headquarters Council Bluffs, IA; access remaining 34th Inf. Div. deaths from this webpage. Broken link Mar 2021.
For the US Army Air Force:
  • http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person - list of 232,544 Eighth & Ninth Air Force personnel; from the American Air Museum in England; over 20,000 died.
For the US Navy:
  • https://www.usswestvirginia.org/ph/phlist.php - full 1941 Pearl Harbor death list, including Army & civilians.
  • http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/wwii.htm - WWII US Submarine Service deaths.
For the US Merchant Marine:
  • http://www.usmm.org/casualty.html - WWII US Merchant Marine casualties.  

County-Specific WWII Dead Lists:
For Pottawattamie County, Iowa:
  • http://iagenweb.org/wwii/WWIIRollofHonor/PottawattamieRollofHonor.html - brief records for known Pott. Co. WWII dead, compiled in 2013 by the late Sharon L. Becker. Some include cursory information such as parents’ names and address. Ms. Becker used Council Bluffs Nonpareil issues from 1943-1945, as well as official sources. Other counties have similar honor lists or rolls of honor, but many omit Navy and Marine veterans or are incomplete in other ways. For Iowa, most such lists are accessible through iagenweb.org; you can click on the map at http://iagenweb.org/state/map.php to see what's available for your county.
  • http://genealogytrails.com/iowa/pottawattamie/veterans_plaza.htm - war dead from the Pott. Co. Veterans' Plaza wall in Bayliss Park, Council Bluffs; all wars included.
  • http://genealogytrails.com/iowa/pottawattamie/wwii_army_air_casualties.htm - 1946 War Dept. list of WWII Pott. Co. dead, transcribed by Kathy Danielson, searchable, no service numbers.
  • http://files.usgwarchives.net/ia/pottawattamie/military/pottwwii.txt - 1946 War Dept. list of WWII Pott. Co. dead, transcribed by Nettie Mae Lucas, searchable, some transcription errors.
  • http://iagenweb.org/wwii/WWIICountyIndex/Pottawattamie/Pottawattamie.html - mostly Council Bluffs Nonpareil articles about WWII dead, some recent articles about survivors are included.
  • https://www.councilbluffslibrary.org/archive/files/original/f0e919e097cbef16856e57375811b47e.pdf - 1946  Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln High School Crimson & Blue yearbook. The Last Full Measure page lists  students who died in WWII.
  • For my home town of Avoca, I used a small book entitled Service Record - World War II - Avoca and Community, produced by Glen Henderson and his local Boy Scout troop after WWII ended. I believe this is my only non-web source.

==> 8 - World War II Burials and Cemeteries Records

Government-Supported Cemeteries  

1 - American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC):
  • http://www.abmc.gov - basic ABMC information.
  • https://www.abmc.gov/database-search - search ABMC cemetery burial lists.
  • http://www.abmc.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/ABMC-Commemorative-Sites-Booklet_DEC2020.pdf - additional ABMC information (62 pages), slow to load.
Commentary - American Battle Monuments Commission:
  • The ABMC manages 26 overseas cemeteries for WWI and WWII dead.​
  • The ABMC also manages memorials within WWII ABMC cemeteries and in several other locations. These memorials list the WWII missing (i.e., unaccounted for).

2 - National Cemetery Administration (NCA):
  • https://www.cem.va.gov
  • https://www.cem.va.gov/cem/cems/allnational.asp - list of all 155 national cemeteries.
  • https://www.cem.va.gov/cem/cems/allstate.asp - list of all state veterans cemeteries.
  • https://m.va.gov/gravelocator/index.cfm - search national and state veterans cemetery burial lists.
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2462/ - Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S., National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), 1941-2011, 78,192 records. 
Commentary - National Cemetery Administration:
  • The NCA, which manages the 155 national cemeteries,  is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  • The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is the largest NCA cemetery.
​
3 - Arlington National Cemetery:
  • https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/#!/ - ~300,000 burials. 
Commentary - Arlington National Cemetery:
  • Arlington National Cemetery is managed by the US Army.
  • I was unable to get the search feature to work on 22 Mar 2021.

National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) holdings via ancestry.com (some are from other wars):
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2375/ - Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1970, 2,905,615 records. This was a key database for my Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster project.
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8750/ - U.S., Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2019, 9,365,082 records.
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3135/ - Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries, 1862-1960, 556,034 records.
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9170/ - headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949, 461,322 records. 
  • https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4283/​ - WWII and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas, 159,582 records.

Additional United States Military Cemetery and Memorial Information:​​ 
  • https://www.7tharmddiv.org/cemeterycodes.pdf - temporary US cemeteries during WWII.
  • https://www.fold3.com/title/1089/wwii-buried-at-sea-2016-dpaa-list​​ - buried at sea (6,329 records).
  • https://www.abmc.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Cabanatuan%20Memorial%20Names%2018FEB2015.pdf - Cabanutan Prisoner of War camp, Philippines known dead, almost all were US servicemen.
 
​Findagrave entries for US WWII dead who served in Army and Marine Corps divisions:
  • https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/search/47296194 - virtual cemeteries compiled by Jeff Hall.
  • https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/734151 - 34th Inf. Div. virtual cemetery, 4092 records (includes Japanese-American units). May 2021: I need to check the following cemeteries for possible additions: Atlantic; Evergreen (Red Oak); Morton Mills; Rose Hill (Shenandoah); Victoria, Villisca.
Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Web Sources - Personnel webpage:
  • The webpage header photo, US Cemetery, Sicily, 1944 shows one of the temporary cemeteries used to hold our overseas war dead in WWII. These cemeteries held the dead reinterred from battlefield burial sites. After WWII ended, next of kin chose to either repatriate the dead or have the dead interred in a permanent overseas cemetery.
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