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Jennifer Holik

New World War II Quick Guides

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Several years ago I released some Quick Guides to help people research and write about their World War II ancestors. These guides provide answers to help you research any veteran from World War I – Vietnam.

This week I updated three of these Quick Guides and am offering them as PDF Books at the Ancestral Souls Wisdom School. Each guide is only $5.00.

Finding the Answers. The Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) is the most important file you need to help you find the answers to your questions regarding those who died while in service.

Finding the Answers. Discovering WWII Service Online. This book will introduce you to the most commonly used websites to locate military information. It may just get you through your brick wall!

Finding the Answers Through WWII Writing. This book is a great starter guide to help you bridge the gap between genealogy/military research and ancestral healing as we explore why we write; identity; perspective; transformation; and legacy. I am currently redesigning the course that inspired this book. The course will be available Fall 2025 in an expanded format with a lot of new information. If you are interested in learning how to find new research paths, clear old family beliefs, behaviors, and patterns, then this book and later the course are a good place to start your exploration.

Learn more and purchase the PDF Guides

Visit the Ancestral Souls Wisdom School Store and grab your guides today. While you’re there, explore the six-webinar series, Honoring Our Heroes. Those who purchase access to this program before August 31, 2025, will receive access for FREE to the updated and expanded program coming this fall 2025. Now is the time to start learning my two-part research strategy to research your World War I, World War II, Korea or Vietnam veteran.

Level Up Your Family History Research

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Many of us communicate with our ancestors. Perhaps it’s a slight nudge to keep going on a reel of microfilm. Maybe it’s a deep, intuitive knowing or whisper that suggests you visit a specific place in the world. Sometimes the information arrives in a dream or through conversation with another person. However it arrives, there is always room to incorporate more ways to communicate with your ancestors and learn more about your family history. Whether you are new to, or experienced with, ancestral communication and healing as part of your genealogical or military research, I created a journal to help you with deepen your communication and perhaps guide your research.

Introducing the Ancestral Messages Journal

The Ancestral Messages 60-Day journal includes everything you need to deepen your connection to your ancestors through your genealogical research. This journal was created with the intention to help you identify the unique ways your ancestors and guides communicate with you as you research your family tree.

Have you ever struggled with knowing if the universe really has your back? Have you wondered if your ancestors and guides are truly sending you messages or validation on things you ask for through writing or meditation? Has the way you receive information from your ancestors, angels, and guides changed as you vibrate at a higher frequency?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, that is precisely why you attracted this journal. You are a divine being capable of communicating with spirits in other dimensions. Sometimes it just takes a little practice tuning in and noticing the way information is being sent and received. This journal can help you deepen your practice by expanding your awareness.

Ancestral Messages 60-Day Journal Includes:

  • 60 Days of Journaling. 4-journaling pages per day.
  • Explanation of how to use the Ancestral Messages Journal.
  • Writing Prompts to help you connect with your ancestors and learn more about your family history.
  • Space to record your genealogical finds, questions, and next steps.

This journal is perfect for anyone on a spiritual path, genealogy, ancestry research, enjoys guided/channeled writing or automatic writing, wants to deepen their connection to their ancestors and other guides.

I wish you many new family history finds and interesting ancestral chats!

© 2025 WWII Research & Writing Center

What Are My Options for WWII Research?

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Online, In-Person, Hire a Researcher? A Combination?

Whew! I just completed another Part 1 of an Army client project and let me tell you – I’m glad I have both records from NPRC Morning Reports and have the option to attempt to find “missing” reports on NARA’s Catalog. Are you confused about why I would use both NPRC and the catalog? Let’s talk about it.

Are You Ready to Start a Project? I can help!

Are you ready to learn the bigger picture of your family member’s military service? I am taking new clients and can help you find the answers and tell a deeper story about your family member. Email me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com to set up your free phone consultation today to discuss project options, fees, and time.

© 2025 WWII Research & Writing Center

Ghosts, Grit, and Generations

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What I’ve Learned Writing Family History Books for Clients

Writing family history, veteran history, and personal history is soul work. Through the act of storytelling we preserve memories, teach lessons, give a voice to the voiceless, and quite possible heal deep pieces of our hearts and souls. This healing happens whether we write for a client or ourselves.

I wrote a bucket list book in 2010 that turned my life upside down. That one act opened my brand new genealogy business up to a new possible income stream (writing). Then my ancestors who died in war showed up to assist me in creating this life I never planned for or anticipated. Fast forward to the end of 2012 … I was one of many who consciously stepped on the spiritual path to help bring about change to the world. More ancestors appeared, including those of my clients, all ready and willing to tell me their stories and help heal their lineages. As a writer, I was the channel to do their important work. These are a few of the lessons I’ve learned over the last 15 years working with the dead and writing for clients.

The Family History Book Client

I’ve written several books for genealogy and military clients that never saw the public light of day. These were intimate and private family projects. Each one over the years taught me more about the art of storytelling; how this work helps others find answers and peace; gave a voice to the voiceless on the other side; and showed me that sometimes the client is on a soul journey with us. Together, we create what we could not do alone. In the end we both heal as we tell the story. We both create something unexpected in our lives. Our lineages heal. The collective heals. Let me tell you about one such extraordinary client.

Until 2021 when he passed away, a local Italian-American client and I worked together for 11 years on his family history. Yes, 11 years is a very long time to work with someone. This client was not the normal client for me and I suspect many other professionals have not worked so long with one person. He showed up at a crucial crossroads in my life and may have saved me in a sense. It didn’t take this client and I long to realize we were on something of a soul journey.

It began with a short burst of genealogical research on his late wife’s family from Sicily and Italy. The first goal was to answer a question about a family story. The second was to put together a brief, spiral bound book the client could give his family at Christmas. However, once this was complete, we kept on going. The client needed to know more. To preserve his history for his (hopeful future) grandchildren.

The research expanded into his family as well, from one tiny mountaintop town in southern Italy, Ricigliano. Once he and I started researching, it never stopped, and only expanded more, until he died.

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

Just how did it expand? I began by researching his late wife’s family stateside to his family stateside. Then he asked me to help him organize his family archives of old documents, photos and photo albums, and other materials. This led to a large setup in the lower living room of his home with tables full of materials. I scanned thousands of photos, conducted research in the Chicago area and start writing family history books for every Christmas thereafter. Normally I also created a photobook to accompany the family history book. It was a lot of work

We later added an Italian researcher to the mix to help us obtain records from the places his late wife’s family was from and Ricigliano. We created the largest Ricigliano database over those 11 years. I’m not sure what has happened to it – whether his son and his wife put it on Ancestry or if it remains within the family but we researched back to the 1600s. We were able to identify the intermarriages between cousins which created family relationships in multiple ways between individuals.

Not only did we find documents but family members, cousins, and distant relatives began contributing photos, information to see if they could connect into the research we had done, and then came the stories and family recipes.

There was so much more we did together but in the end I had created a family recipe book which was celebrated by friends, family, and others. I created multiple photo books using the scanned photos the client had. I created descendant based family history books every year – the last set in 2019 which was three volumes running 600-800 pages a book. Do you know how crazy it is to create a descendant book starting in 1600 when lines overlap often?

Adding the Final Touch

A couple years before his death, the client wanted to write a biography about himself. Write a volume about his late wife and her life. A volume about his son. And, a volume about the work he’d done throughout his life. For these volumes I served more as a developmental editor and energetic healer rather than researcher. His drafts were deeply personal and for his son’s eyes only once we published the private books. I supported him through a lot of memory and emotion as he wrote.

Some part of me suspected he knew he didn’t have a lot of years left. This was his way to ensure his life lived on through more than his work or the family history books we created. We were able to publish all but one of his final books before his death.

What I Learned

As the wheel of time continued to spin, I realized that most of my clients have shown up to help me remember. Remember someone, something, to spread the word, or to help heal. I also learned that some clients show up to help you create the next part of your life. They are there to push you, challenge you, help you grow out of your comfortable box. This client absolutely did that for me. Having lost his wife he also was a support for me when my late Dutch husband Johan was so ill and dying. I also learned many new skills in order to work for him monthly on the multiple projects (archives, photo organization and scanning, photo books, genealogy, military research, writing and publishing).

I believe I also helped him through the last years of his life. While he already had a tremendous life purpose, this gave him even more. He knew I was on a different end of the religious spectrum than he – we shared some similar beliefs but he being very Catholic and me being very spiritual – sometimes we didn’t see eye to eye. That said, he and and I always took time to discuss these things and reach a mutual understanding. Sometimes those conversations were also focused on helping him process new information or stories about the family. Many conversations were held about family, life, beliefs, patterns, and trauma. There was great respect and sometimes we even changed our beliefs after hearing the other’s side.

I also felt very strongly that he and I knew each other in past lives and in this one we were working through a lot of karmic stuff. Exactly what I never knew, but I always had a sense that we were walking each other to the next phase. I am aware that he sensed that on some level as well. Through all the stories, research, scanning, writing, and publishing, we both changed and in the end, became better humans. That change also allowed me to pay it forward with many others, something he himself did in his work and life. He forever changed me and for that I’m grateful.

The Military Book Client

With all the military book clients I’ve worked with, the biggest lesson I’ve learned was to share the story, and sometimes the words, of the veteran from the other side. To help guide the client through some difficult memories and emotions which allows the best story to be written. The service members that I’ve written about often channel through me. This means different things at different times. Sometimes it comes as whispers to look for a certain record or book. To talk to someone who knows more than I. To ask the client questions or pass a message. To share lessons learned, mistakes made, and how terrible war is on everyone.

I’m currently ghost writing a book about a woman’s father who was a Japanese POW for 3 1/2 years after the Philippine Islands were captured in 1942. This book and this client have touched my soul. If you know anything about how Japanese POWs were treated, you know this is a horrific and emotionally difficult topic to explore. One that must be navigated with caution, care, and the energy of love.

Japanese POWs 1945. NARA.

For years I think energetically I was shutting out Pacific Theater clients who needed me to go into the depths of hell that a Japanese POW experienced. I don’t watch horror films. I can’t stand seeing humans hurt in any way. I also wasn’t ready to face this part of the war in such depth, until I was. This woman appeared and wanted to share the story of her father’s military experience. What has happened is much more than that.

Together through the research and writing both she and I have had to process some dark things. On her end, many hidden emotions and memories rose to the surface to examine, feel, heal, and release. She talks to me about some of this and the rest she keeps to herself. On my end, I’ve helped her process energertically some of this and faced my own fear of the horror of the POW experience. I realized I am more than strong enough to do this work and tell these kinds of stories.

What I Learned

While many veteran stories focus on the combat experience overall, this client chose to go further into the man her father was after he was liberated. This included the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful. She has shown me once again that everyone can forgive and move forward. Create a life full of purpose and meaning without holding a grudge against the “enemy”. Her father’s voice has come through beautifully in this book and we can see how he struggled and how he overcame. The most important lesson he teaches is that we must forgive and love one another.

This project is soon coming to a close and the client will have her private book for her family. One that honors her father’s life, his military experience, his struggles, and his incredible faith and heart. A book that shows how a veteran struggled and still overcame the ghosts of war. A story of how his family was impacted due to his trauma, yet still rose in the end. We can all learn a lot from veterans like this.

This is Soul Work

The soul work of writing a book about a client’s veteran or family members is not just about the research and putting words on a page. It’s about helping the client process the emotions that arise as we research, write, and ultimately publish. When I work with a client as a ghost writer, writer, developmental editor, researcher, or book designer, I am holding space for them as we move through this sacred work.

Researching and writing brings up a lot of memories, both positive and negative. As an empath and spiritual healer, I am able to help the client process some of what appears. I ask questions and give them things to sit with as they process. Sometimes I’m the only one they have to talk to about such things due to breaks in the family or being the only one left. This is sacred work.

I believe every client project serves a greater purpose than just research or writing. Through these acts we shed old beliefs, behaviors, patterns, and trauma. We grow and heal. We preserve the memories of those now gone. We may also inspire someone else to take the first steps into their veteran histories to learn how their family was impacted through the generations.

It’s time to do this deeper work. All of humanity needs us to heal the energies of war. Are you ready to begin?

Are you ready to start writing your own book? Do you need a developmental editor or someone to ghost write for you? Email Jennifer to schedule a free consultation to discuss your writing project today. You may also explore all my writing services.

© 2025 WWII Research & Writing Center

What If There Are No Answers?

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Some stories take decades to tell. Not because we don’t have the genealogical or military records to shape the story, but because we are not emotionally or energetically ready to speak it into life. We fear the impact of breaking the family silence. Of speaking truth to secrets and lies. We are afraid of being shamed and hated because the truth we speak offends or triggers others who are not willing to look at the shadows within their own self and family. Humanity is at a crossroads where we must break our silence and speak our truth, filled with love and healing energy. Are we courageous enough to start?

Frustration

If you don’t already know this about me, I like to know things. When I find a topic I’m interested in, sometimes I want to know everything. This is particularly true when it comes to my family history research and my personal and ancestral healing journey. It frustrates me greatly when I can’t find the answers I believe should exist somewhere – and not just with the dead.

The past few years I’ve been frustrated over the lack of information around my grandpa Joseph Holik’s WWII Naval Armed Guard story. Although, I am very aware that military records content ranges from the basics of what has to be documented to what read like novels. Within me was a sliver of hope that I would find a novel-like record about my grandpa’s ships that would tell me what happened to him.

Sadly, nothing like this exists.

The Family Story

The story I was told as a baby genealogist in 1996 was that grandpa went crazy after the war. I heard a couple stories about experiences he had on his ships and nothing else was said. I wasn’t allowed to ask questions. After receiving grandpa’s death certificate I learned he was employed at the Downey Veterans Hospital at the time of his death. I didn’t think much of this at the time…at least not until I received his military records.

By 2013-2014 or so I obtained grandpa’s Navy OMPF which included a few medical documents which diagnosed him with schizophrenia. I also had in my possession the Naval deck logs from the three vessels on which he sailed as Armed Guard from 1943-1945. Not one of them had engaged with the enemy. Not one of them had anything happen like the stories I’d been told. By this time, the only person left to ask questions of was my dad and he had little to say. Daddy was the bonus boy, born after grandpa was discharged. He grew up technically without a father and only knowing his dad as someone who spoke to little green men and lived at the hospital. Remember that death certificate that said he was employed at the hospital? Perhaps he was, but he actually lived there the last 17 years of his life. It seems all visits took place at the hospital and outside the buildings, based on photos I have.

Schizophrenia or Spiritually Connected?

I’ve always felt that my grandpa was spiritually connected like I am. I can see it in several of his photos when he was younger. I believe he probably knew things, heard, smelled, tasted, and felt things others could not. I sense he had to keep himself hidden to not be labeled or put away. My family would probably disagree but I see and feel it.

Joseph Holik 1928. Private Collection.

Grandpa and I have had many channeled conversations over the years. The more I do my inner work, the more he shifts on the other side from this frenetic energy to something more calm and stable. I have felt his pain, his grief, his trauma. I have even lived some of it. Grandpa has asked for someone to know him without the schizophrenia label. I have done my best.

When There Are No Answers

I have desperately wanted to know what happened to grandpa on those ships during the war to trigger the schizophrenia. 37, 38, 39 years old is “old” to have that appear, or so I’ve been told.

His Naval Deck Logs, Armed Guard Reports and other records do not provide that information. It’s incredibly frustrating. All I wanted was a snippet of information that he was disruptive on the ship or something else that had happened. Anything that would help me understand what led to his breakdown, removal from the ship and into the Naval hospital.

For now all I can do is tell his story with the information I have. Talk about how I was living out his war trauma and my grandma’s. Talk about how I healed and moved forward. Continue to connect with him to his voice is heard even if he’s in pain and no one else can hear him.

Isn’t that really what our ancestors want most – for someone to HEAR them? To reach out, tell their stories, share their knowledge, and heal the lineage? Grandpa, I will tell your story and our story in the hope it will help someone else heal.

Author and Joseph.

Are You Ready to Start a Project? I can help!

Are you ready to learn the bigger picture of your family member’s military service? I am taking new clients and can help you find the answers and tell a deeper story about your family member. Email me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com to set up your free phone consultation today to discuss project options, fees, and time.

© 2025 WWII Research & Writing Center

Are You Telling the Truth in the Military Story?

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Truth is defined as the reality of a situation. But whose situation? Can there be variations of a truth? How in genealogy or military research do we decide which truth is accurate? How do we decide if a family story that has been passed down through the generations contains any truth? Maybe the most important question to ask: Do we want to believe a story that is not backed by a paper trail, because we admire and love a family member so much that to not believe it would be disloyal to that person’s memory?

Throughout the years I’ve heard a lot of stories from clients, people I meet when I teach, and on social media, about their hero veteran. When presented with facts that go against the story they’ve grown up believing, many enter a state of cognitive dissonance. After some processing of information, some people choose to accept that the stories they were told were not quite accurate. Others choose to remain faithful and believe they would have never been lied to. All of life is a choice, but when we publish the story or present it on film or other media – are we telling the truth?

Does it even matter?

John G. Wells, France WWII. Private collection.

Did We Get the Story Wrong?

I have had the experience of a client telling me a family story which does not appearing in any official records. Therefore, we have no way to verify if the events described, actually took place. What do we do with this story then if we can’t verify it? Place it in the book anyway? Preface the story with something like, ‘I was unable to verify this story through official records but my grandpa told me…’ What is the truth of this story?

Before we decide how to proceed, I often ask a few questions for the client to consider. The questions and discussion can lead to insights for the client and allows them space to consider all options. These questions may be helpful to you as well as you begin your storytelling projects.

  1. How old were you when you heard this story? Children process information differently than adults. Children tend to “fill in the gaps” when they hear whispers or partial stories, or stories they are not old enough to process. As they grow and retell a story, the facts they originally heard may be muddled and the story comes out differently. Is it possible you combined a couple of stories and the one you describe now didn’t happen to your grandpa?For example: As a child your grandpa told you about his Army Air Force experience during World War II. He said he crashed and was taken prisoner but escaped. As an adult, you conduct military research and discover there is zero evidence for the crash, his prisoner status or escape. The usual records were examined to see if he appeared and he did not. What do you do?
  2. Is it a tall tale? You heard a story as a teenager about your grandpa who fought in the Army in the Pacific and did all these big things to save his fellow soldiers. The research is done and you discover he was not on the front lines; he was never overseas; or he was overseas and he was a cook behind the lines. What do you do? How do you present this?
  3. There are multiple accounts of the event. You heard a story about a battle that took place and your grandpa gave you his account. In reading the unit histories and battle reports, you find some of his facts match and others do not. What do you do with this?Where there are multiple accounts of an event, I tend to look at the big picture rather than solely individiual accounts. I use the idea of perspective as well to help someone identify the truth in a story. Let’s say you have two soldiers in a foxhole facing you. The battle begins in front of them and one guy turns to the right and the other to the left and now they are facing two different ways, fighting two different battles. Whose truth is accurate?
  4. There are no records to prove or disprove. In some cases, the story can never be verified by official records because those records simply do not exist. For example: Many of the records created by Americans who were taken as prisoners of the Japanese may not have survived and returned stateside. Records created after liberation of the prisoners may tell a story, provide facts, but are they totally accurate since the information was given weeks, months, or years after the fact? How do we handle this?
Perspective.

How Do We Proceed in Telling the Story?

How exactly do we proceed? In my opinion, it in part depends on who the audience is for the story or book. The stories we write, or share in other ways, may provide education for those who are new to research. Keep this in mind when you write your stories.

Family-Only Book. Many clients will place all the stories in the book, whether or not there are official records to back them up. I suggest if you choose this, to put disclaimers in with the stories you could not verify, that let readers know you were unable to verify x, y, and z.

Public Book or Project. If you are telling the story to the general public, some of whom may be historians or those deeply and emotionally invested in a certain part of the war, carefully consider what you include. I’ve seen people attacked because they included a story that could not be verified or was too much of a tall tale. On the flip side I’ve seen others praise and be inspired by the story.

I suggest to clients that they consider the implications of sharing volatile stories. Can they handle the repercussions, especially in this day where keyboard warriors can be so brutally horrible to other people just because they have the safety of their screen?

In the end, the decision is up to the client or person creating the storytelling project. What is the story they want to tell? How do they want to tell it? How does this honor their veteran and family? Ultimately…what is more important – the entire truth with every fact documented, or honoring a memory and the life of a veteran?

Only you can decide.

Would you like help with your WWI or WWII Research or Writing?

I am taking new research clients and have space for new book clients. To learn more about a possible research or book project, email me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com to set up a free consultation to discuss your needs.

© 2025 WWII Research & Writing Center

Special Offer! Honoring Our Heroes Program

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A short but sweet invitation to anyone ready to learn how to research any veteran from World War I, World War II, Korea, or Vietnam, even if the records burned. I have a special offer for you.

I will be redesigning my military research classes and launching them this fall. They will be expanded with smaller sections of deeper and NEW information to help you find the answers you seek. Additionally, there will be more extensive workbooks.

For a limited time, I’m offering my current program Honoring Our Heroes for only $100 and six months access to the program. PLUS those who purchase access by 31 August 2025 will receive FREE access to the revised programs this fall.

Program Details

Do you have a relative who served in World War I or World War II, Korea, or Vietnam, but you’re not sure how to uncover their story? Are you interested in learning more about their military service and discovering the history behind it? Would you like to learn about the historical events of World War II and also gain insight into the impact of inherited trauma and ancestral patterns? Look no further than our comprehensive research webinars.

Program includes:

  • Six webinars. Each runs 75-90 minutes.
  • Multiple workbooks full of checklists, resources, and more!
  • Certificate of Completion.
  • Access to these programs is six months.

Purchase Access Today

Purchase access to the program Honoring Our Heroes for only $100. Access ends after six months. Those who purchase access by 31 August 2025 will receive FREE access to the revised programs this fall.

Questions? Please reach out to jennifer@ancestralsouls.com.

WWII Research 101: Don’t Make These Beginner Blunders

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We don’t know what we don’t know. This is true whether we are talking about military research, genealogy, real estate, or money. The thing that holds us back, wastes our money and time, and prevents us from finding answers is not asking the questions and following through with the research required to learn what we don’t know.

Each of us comes to military research in our own way. My introduction to it came in 2010 as I wrote my bucket list book about my AVG Flying Tiger cousin Robert Brouk. I knew basically nothing. Not much was online back then and the genealogy community said all the Army and Army Air Force records burned.

My ancestors who died in war told me there were answers and I better figure out how to find them. So I did. My investigation into WWII research led to me writing several books, taking research clients, and teaching people how to research. I’ve also spent a lot of time observing people in FB groups and other social media sites, to see where they are falling short because they don’t know what they don’t know. Observing has allowed me to learn a lot about what’s missing in military education.

I have a few tips to help you save time and money and find some answers. Are you ready to dive in? There are a lot of men and women on the other side just waiting to help you find their stories.

5th Division Soldiers. NARA.

Blunder #1. Trust Everything.

We have been so conditioned by our families to be loyal. To trust. To believe that every story that’s told over dinner or dessert or by the fireside is true. But what if it isn’t?

When I was a baby genealogist in 1996, my 91 year old grandma told me about my cousin Frank Winkler. She basically said he was with the 29th Division on Omaha Beach, received head wounds that day and died a few weeks later of those wounds. He spoke German and was in reconnaisance. When his body came home his parents didn’t think it was his.

That story set off some questions and red flags that I had no time to investigate then. I was basically just gathering as many facts, photos, records, and stories as I could on my short visits with my grandmas. In 2010 when I started the actual research, I learned the story contained grains of truth but her story was not the actual truth. We have to do the research and see how stories sort themselves out.

Blunder #2. The Separation & Discharge paper or death record tell me the unit to research.

Many people think the Discharge Paper will give them everything they need to start research. The unit listed on the Discharge was the combat unit. But it wasn’t always.

On the Discharge paper or within the death records or IDPFs (Individual Deceased Personnel Files) will be a final unit. This doesn’t mean the only unit in which someone served. Sometimes that final unit wasn’t even one the veteran was in combat with. It was simply for discharge. Bottom line – you always have to reconstruct military service to learn the story. Plus, there might even be a twist you didn’t expect!

My recent twist – I just completed a project for an Army Air Force waist gunner. This man went through 22 different units throughout his WWII experience. Plus his bomber crashed October 1944 and he and the crew were listed as Missing In Action. Normally when this happens it is assumed they all died or were taken prisoner. Most people stop researching after an MIA notice. BUT – PLOT TWIST! His crew, minus one who was taken prisoner, were on the run for 2.5 months before they were returned to Allied control and then shipped stateside. Their time in Europe was over. This man went on to complete his service in WWII stateside and then re-enlisted in the Army Air Force the day he was discharged! His discharge paper didn’t tell me all this.

The OMPF was the service file. Created for every veteran. Civilians who worked for the Federal Government have a similar file. The IDPF is a death file created while someone was in military service. If that individual died the day after discharge, there is no IDPF. People often confuse these two files so I have an article to help you understand what they are and how they are useful in family history research.

Learn more about why the Discharge Paper doesn’t give you all the answers in my article at the WWII Research & Writing Center.

Blunder #3. The Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) or Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) tells me everything about my veteran’s service.

The OMPF and IDPF are puzzle pieces. They are never the entire story of service or death. You can however use these files and their contents to put together a timeline of service which allows you to see where the holes and errors are in the research and service history. Yes, military records sometimes contain errors.

These records will often also contain family letters and next-of-kin details which can be helpful in finding family members you didn’t know existed. Like that wife a soldier married before going overseas where he was KIA and she later marries his brother – yet all Ancestry family trees never record the first marriage. Learn why in my article and read the soldier’s file.

Use what you discover in those files and then expand the search into company level and unit level records. You may be surprised at what you discover.

To learn more, read my article Shocking Family History.

St. Avold (Now Lorraine ABMC) Cemetery, WWII. NARA Photo.

Blunder #4. I can do all the research myself. No need to hire anyone.

Some people are absolutely capable of doing their own research. This means they have the education or drive to learn how; the financial means to get to repositories; time to sit and learn the process and go through records; time to piece it all together.

Others do not have all of that at their disposal or the desire to learn how to do the research. They may also not be in the best health to travel to take care of the research. Others simply are overwhelmed by where to begin and how to find the paper trail. And there may be those who are stuck after attempting their own research and need an expert’s help.

Professional researchers will often ask questions you may not know to ask. We also see things you may not and can piece together clues that you may not know to even consider.

There is no wrong way to approach research. Saying you never need to hire anyone or it’s wrong to have to pay someone is the wrong attitude. You’d pay a plumber to fix your pipes so why not a professional researcher to help you find the answers?

Example: Client who didn’t want to invest his personal time and money into trying to figure out how to find answers hired me. He said his dad had been wounded. We discovered this and verified it in the Army Morning Reports, although they didn’t provide much detail. His OMPF had burned so that was not an option. Once we had a timeline of service and investigated unit histories, I shockingly found a narrative about his wound!

Sometimes it is helpful to hire someone like me to help you find the answers and understand what all the records and military lingo mean.

Unit History 2199 QM Truck Co (AVN). NARA.

Blunder #5. Everything is digitized online.

While we have seen an incredible increase in military records online since 2020 when the archives closed for two years, that doesn’t mean everything is there. The OMPFs are not online unless someone has digitized them personally. Only a tiny handful of IDPFs exist online. Muster Rolls and some unit histories are available, free or for a fee, depending on where they are housed. There are many factors to why something exists or doesn’t right now. Regardless, it’s still important to dig into the NARA archives as a first stop for research.

Additionally, there are things to learn even when some records do exist online. Let’s look at the Army Morning Reports for an example. If you haven’t used these – read my articles on why they are a required record for all Army and Army Air Force research.

NARA Catalog Army Morning Reports.

The Morning Reports are digitized online right now through about mid-1944, depending on unit. You can search by ASN (service number) or name and see what shows up. NARA will often give you the page to visit to see that potential match.

Sometimes the information appears to not exist in this catalog. There are a few reasons for this. OCR may not have picked up exactly the ASN or name or unit or other search terms. Why? The records may be too light or damaged to read.

The information may be there but the way you searched for it may impact how it appears. If you enter “Peter P Selensky” – see what appears. Then try it without quotes. Then try it as “Selensky, Peter P” and again without quotes. Try his ASN. Try just Selensky, P. You have to be creative and see what shows up. NARA Catalog is a valuable resource but not all military records are clean and readable.

Tip! New records are being added to NARA, Fold3, Ancestry, and many other sites every week so be sure to check back often as your research progresses.

Where To Go From Here

There is so much I could tell you about military research. For more information, please visit my Substack articles; the articles from my WWII Research & Writing Center website. That site includes 10 years of articles, documents, videos, books and tips. You can also take a class – I’ll be adding a brand new research and writing series classes to my websites soon. Start researching. Hire a researcher or writer to help you get your story out there. And don’t forget the stories of women who served.

WACs overseas 1945. Private Collection Virginia Davis.

Do you have questions about your military research from WWI – Vietnam? Please ask in the comments.

Would you like help with your WWI or WWII Research or Writing?

I am taking new clients and have space for new book clients. To learn more about a possible research or book project, email me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com to set up a free consultation to discuss your needs.

© 2025 WWII Research & Writing Center

Is It Ok to Say Their Names?

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Are veterans allowed to share names in their books?

The pain and trauma of war live on in the minds, hearts, bodies, and souls of veterans, long after the guns fall silent. The memories, the bodies, the combat experiences, and even the good times, can blur together. Some are even blocked, forgotten. Safely behind a shield the veteran carefully constructed while overseas. At discharge, veterans returned home, started a family, went to school, got a job and tried to appear “normal,” as if nothing had changed. But nothing is normal. Nothing can ever be the same but it is safely locked away.

Have you ever noticed 40 years is the amount of time it takes before we mere mortals experience some profound change? An awakening or opening of our hearts, souls, and pain? I’ve noticed after World War II, it took about 40 years (1980s) for veterans to start opening up more about their experiences. For Korea (1990s), and Vietnam (2000s). Many women report having an awakening and an ‘I no longer give a f*&k about….’ moments after hitting the age of 40. If you start investigating, 40 years seems to be some magical marker to create openings in our souls. I can say for sure I had one at 40 that transformed my entire life.

What might 40 years mean to a veteran who has held his or her story close? It might mean his or her family has grown and left the house. Grandchildren have been born. Spouses have died. Jobs ended as retirement age approached. Old memories surface, ghosts reappear and it becomes clear it is time to tell the stories of war.

Photograph 111-SC-651408; Soldiers Carry a Wounded Comrade Through a Swampy Area; 1969; Photographs of American Military Activities, ca. 1918 – ca. 1981; Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, Record Group 111; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.

Naming Names

I’ll be honest, in my 15 years as a military research expert, writer, and teacher, I’ve written books for families of veterans. I have not yet written one for a veteran or helped a veteran write his or her story. I’m not sure why that is. I only know that the universe sends me the clients at a time when we are both ready to work together to tell a story.

I have however, received emails and comments on my website from veterans asking questions about telling their stories. A common question I receive, and actually just received an email about this recently, is Am I allowed to name names, especially of the dead?

Photograph 428-N-1142176; South China Sea….A nurse tends a patient just out of surgery in the intensive care ward of the hospital ship USS Repose (AH-16). The ship is steaming off the coast of Vietnam a few miles south of the 17th parallel.; 10/1967; General Black-and-White Photographic File of the Department of Navy, 1958 – 1981; General Records of the Department of the Navy, Record Group 428; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.

They Will Not Be Forgotten

It has been said that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken, that we are only truly gone when we’ve disappeared from the memories of those who loved us, meaning a great artist never dies. As long as his books are read, his paintings admired, as long as our songs are sung, we may each of us live forever. Henry Morgan

I believe we have a duty to speak their names. Too many have been forgotten. Over the years I’ve read hundreds of World War II Individual Deceased Personnel Files (IDPFs) that document the death details, recovery, and burial of our war dead. I’ve read World War I, Korea, and Vietnam files as well, but World War II has been my focus. In many of those files for young men who were not married and had no children before they were killed, their memories die with with them. I’ve heard many stories from clients and others that their families never spoke the name of the fallen again and forbid others in the family from naming children or grandchildren after the fallen.

The pain was just too great to bear. A name a constant reminder of who was lost.

Many of those IDPFs have crossed my path and I have shared their stories so their names would live on. Now as veterans ask if it is ok to share the names of those with whom they served, those who they cared for after death, my perspective is yes.

But…

Please do some research first.

If a veteran wishes to write about those with whom he served – first find out if they are still alive. This might define how and what you write about them and your experiences with them. If possible, try to contact them and let them know if you are publishing a public book or story. There may be additional steps to take legally – names to be changed or written permission to talk about certain events. Do your homework to ensure you aren’t stepping over any lines.

If the veteran is writing about someone who died in the war, try to get the death files to learn more and provide a source within your story or book. See if you are able to learn more about the fallen’s repatriation or continuing Missing In Action status. Perhaps check Ancestry or other sites to see if the family has published anything about their fallen.

There are so many families searching for information, that your book and that one source you share, may open a new research path for someone. It may also bring some answers, closure, peace, and healing to that individual who is searching or their family.

I believe all our veterans deserve to have their stories told – whether they were honorable or not. War was not all ‘good guys and bad guys.’ There were a mix of both on every side. Sometimes even those dark stories need to be told so people have answers, can process, heal, and grow. Sometimes the stories, good and bad, need to be told so we can forgive – ourselves and others. Again, do your homework to ensure you aren’t legally crossing any lines that will damage you.

I Don’t Know Their Names

There are cases where a veteran will have helped save a life or recovered remains of the fallen and they have no idea, or can’t remember, the names of those individuals. What happens then?

In cases like this where a veteran recovered remains of Marines and that experience stuck with him for decades, the story can still be told. Even without names, a description of the event, where it took place, timing (even Month/Year) can be enough information. The details a veteran provides may be enough to spark a memory of a similar/same event in a reader’s family that sparks research. It might take a while but the names may surface months or years after the book is published. Try to provide details (declassified of course) where possible. Your story may be the key to someone else’s healing.In the end, I believe our veterans have stories to tell. In those stories will be names of those who lived and those who died. Everyone deserves to be remembered.

Are you ready to write your stories of war – for your veteran or your own military experience?

Public or Private Stories and Books

What do we share and how do we share it? Will anyone read my story? Will the details be too graphic? What if someone asks me to give a book talk and share my book in public? These are additional concerns for veterans.

I believe there are many people waiting for our veterans, especially Korea and Vietnam, to start telling their stories. Will they be easy to read on an emotional level? Probably not – the graphic details of those wars may exceed what we’ve learned about the brutality of World War I and World War II. This doesn’t mean it should be hidden – humanity needs to know so we can process and heal this energy of war.

If a book is too graphic, this doesn’t mean you have to read it in one sitting. Honest stories of war are something to take slowly. Allow your mind and heart to process the information. The stories might trigger you to start digging into your own family’s past.

Book talks and sharing of the new book in podcasts, libraries, and other venues is not something an author is required to do. Many veterans quietly publish their stories without a lot of fanfare and people find them. Others publish more loudly to allow for their stories to be found quickly. It’s all a matter of personal choice.

Writing the story is a personal act of processing and healing. The writing is all a veteran may need to heal. Public speaking and sharing may not be needed. Again, it’s all a choice based on a veteran’s journey.

Want to go further? Read my article When One Voice Breaks the Silence.

Are You Ready to Bring Your Veteran’s Story to Life?

Whether you’re just starting to research or write and need guidance and a plan to draft your book or you have been writing for a while, I can help. I can help you move through the overwhelm, uncertainty, stuckness, and emotions that rise as you craft your story. I offer personalized research and developmental editing to all clients. All it takes is a free phone call to discuss your specific project.

Your story or your veteran’s story isn’t just a research project. It’s a healing tool, a legacy for the veteran, and a gift to your family, or perhaps the world. Who needs to hear YOUR family’s story? I can help you make it one that lasts.

To learn more, email me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com to schedule a free phone consult to discuss your project and how I may be able to help now or in the future.

© 2025 WWII Research & Writing Center

When One Voice Breaks the Silence

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Veteran Stories Can Be Someone’s Healing Medicine

I wish I would have known when I started having children that they don’t only inherit eye color, body shape, gifts, or jawlines. They also inherit pain, trauma, resilience, silence, and the many untold and unhealed stories of their parents and ancestors.

I wish I would have known that my ancestral stories of war permeate much of our family history. They shaped who we became, both consciously and unconsciously. You see, war doesn’t end when the guns fall silent. War has aftershocks that continue to ripple through peacetime, families, and communities. Often these ripples create enough shame, grief, anger, and fear that we remain silent, feeling alone. The truth is, most families feel and carry the impacts of trauma, war, and survival. What if you writing your veteran’s story is exactly the medicine someone else needs to heal themselves and their ancestors?

Our stories hold immense power. Power we are often afraid to wield or we’ll be seen as the the crazy one who may be tossed out of our families. But what if the power we hold and the ancestral knowledge we carry can recount acts of sacrifice, courage, and resilience? What if this invites us into more truth?

The stories we tell, the medicine it creates can break silences in the family. It can heal what was passed down and remove the fear, emotional beliefs, behaviors, and patterns we all carry about self-worth and safety. In naming these things through our stories, we unbind them and can weave something new, safe, full of love and truth. This is the medicine we can create by writing our veteran stories.

This is the medicine that someone out there is looking for that only YOU can provide. Are you ready to share your stories?

The Unspoken Legacy of War

Trauma is the result of what happened to you. It is not the action itself, but how our nervous systems, bodies, and energy fields trapped the experience and kept us safe until we had time to process the experience. However, most veterans never got the opportunity to process anything because they were constantly living trauma. Once home, unless they had severe mental issues, resources and help were limited. Therefore, they struggled in silence, nightmares, alcohol, anger, and emotional withdrawal.

You can’t heal in the same environment that created the trauma, pain and silence. Without the ability or knowledge that they needed to process and heal, veterans had children that grew up sensing something was wrong, even when they couldn’t name it. They FELT it. Emotional patterns of hypervigilance, shame, grief, dissociation or detachment – emotions that didn’t belong to them, yet did. This is inherited trauma. We forget that the stories and pain that left untold, unhealed, are the most potent in shaping how we see and live in this world.

Korean-War era photo of a soldier comforting a buddy. National Archives.

Telling the Story Changes Everything

Whether we are the veteran, a child, or descendant – when we crack open the door and tell the story, we begin to heal. Our words give voice to the pain that was unable to be acknowledged. The words allow the soul of the veteran to be witnessed in their full humanity rather than just a survivor or war. The veteran can be seen as a person with dreams, wounds, complexity, and great love.

For many of us who research our family history, this is a sacred act. It is soul work. For us it becomes more than just the bare facts of names, dates, and place. Our research turns into writing that quickly become more about emotions, context of the experience, awareness of the war’s impact on us, and healing. The process may begin with military research but ends with the story that changes lives. The records help us see how the war didn’t only shape our veteran but our family as well.

When we are brave enough to share our stories, others see themselves reflected in the words, photos, pain, resilience, and healing. Your words may create a medicine that a stranger required to keep going through their own struggles. Weights may be lifted in some lives as the individuals realize they aren’t alone in their feelings and what their family endured. This is how your story can become medicine.

37th Field Hospital performance by USO, Panay, Philippine Islands 31 July 1945. NARA Photo.

The Medicine is in the Witnessing

Song, storytelling, speeches, films, are all ways we can witness our ancestors with new eyes. As we do so, we are also witnessing ourselves. As we dissect the military records, family stories, and pain, we can begin to see a grandfather as not only “emotionally distant” or a “raging alcoholic”, but begin to understand his scars of battle that manifested in these ways so he could cope. Not all coping mechanisms are healthy but we are human and do the best we can. A little empathy for others can go a long way to better seeing who they were at the core of their soul. Witnessing may help us stop blaming our parents and ourselves for the family dysfunction that has seemed so “normal”. We are able to trace the dysfunction to it’s original generational wound.

Some may believe that witnessing excuses harm done. In reality it doesn’t. It brings context to what created the harm. Through context we can find compassion. Through compassion and choosing a new belief, behavior, or pattern, we break old toxic cycles. This ripples out not only to our ancestors and descendants but all of humanity.

One story, honestly told, can help an entire family shift and feel safer, whole, and full of love. Whether this story is told through fiction or non-fiction, it may be the medicine someone needs to release lifetimes of pain. Remember, you and your words are more powerful than you’ve been led to believe.

From Silence to Soul Legacy

Anyone can tell a veteran’s story. You don’t need to be a professional writer, only the willingness to listen and be open to the context that arrives. Your ability to piece together the fragments of family story with military fact can open space in your heart and expand your intuition. Your intuition may lead you to things unspoken and this is ok. Simply naming the silence you feel can shift powerful forces.

Your words have the power to transform a veteran’s story from a source of pain into a legacy of light. Their story and yours, do not have to end in trauma and heartbreak. As we reflect, remember and create ritual around this work, it evolves into strength for us, them, and the world. Your act of remembrance matters. Your words can be the medicine someone didn’t know they needed. Are you ready to break your silence today and create your veteran’s story?

Are You Ready to Bring Your Veteran’s Story to Life?

Whether you’re just starting to research or write and need guidance and a plan to draft your book or you have been writing for a while, I can help. I can help you move through the overwhelm, uncertainty, stuckness, and emotions that rise as you craft your story. I offer personalized research and developmental editing to all clients. All it takes is a free phone call to discuss your specific project.

Your veteran’s story isn’t just a research project. It’s a healing tool, a legacy for the veteran, and a gift to your family, or perhaps the world. Who needs to hear YOUR family’s story? I can help you make it one that lasts.

To learn more, email me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com to schedule a free phone consult to discuss your project and how I may be able to help now or in the future.

© 2025 WWII Research & Writing Center