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Jennifer Holik

Learn How To Research a WWII Veteran

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We are just a month and a half away from the 80th Anniversary of D-Day. Have you started researching your World War II veteran’s story? Did you know next year is the 80th Anniversary of VE and VJ Days? Many newspapers, TV shows, museums, and others will be looking for stories. Will your veteran’s be among them?

To help you learn how to research and find answers, even if the 1973 Fire at the NPRC burned your veteran’s records, I have a five-seminar program starting in May. This seminar will help you learn the two-part research strategy I developed more than a decade ago, along with how to research online and start writing the stories. This program is called, Guardians of History.

This program includes:

Five military research webinars.  One 30-minute private coaching session. Workbooks or worksheets and resources for each program. One bonus webinar on researching WWI Army Service.

Program Dates: Wednesday, May 29, Wednesday June 5, Thursday June 20, Thursday July 18, Wednesday July 31. All classes begin at 7:00 p.m. CDT.

Live Webinars:

  • Research a Veteran (Part 1 of the strategy).
  • The Greatest Generation (Part 2 of the strategy).
  • Virtual Vaults of Valor: Exploring WWII Service Records Online.
  • WWII Sacrifice. Researching the Prisoners, Missing & Dead of World War II.
  • Words That Heal. The Power of Writing a Veteran’s Story.

You can learn more about this program at the Guardians of History registration page. This is a program you will not want to miss!

Discover Your Veteran’s Story

If you’d like to learn your veteran’s history, I take research and book clients. Email me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com and let’s set up a time to chat. I offer free consults to discuss the research strategy, fees, time, and possibilities.

You can also pick up a copy of my book Research a Veteran which will guide you through the initial information gathering.

© 2024 WWII Research & Writing Center

Top 5 Mistakes in WWI & WWII Research

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Get unstuck and discover your veteran’s story

Military Research from World War I to Vietnam can be tricky, frustrating, time consuming, and at the end, you may not have the correct answers. So what can you do to ensure you are finding your veteran’s story? Avoid these 5 Mistakes when doing research and learn how to find the answers.

Mistake #1: The Discharge Paper has a unit. This may not be the combat unit or only unit.

One thing many people tell me when they hire me to do a research project or attend one of my classes is that they can’t find information on their veteran using the unit listed on the Discharge & Separation Paper.

Sometimes that unit is a discharge only unit. All is not lost if this is the case because that unit is a start point to move through the records, especially if you are researching Army or Army Air Corps/Army Air Forces/Air Force service. Additionally, on Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine papers, the space to list all ships/stations/units is small and all units may not be present on the discharge so you’ll need the service file to discover more information.

How to avoid this mistake

Use the discharge paper as a start point. It is full of puzzle pieces to help you start building the puzzle of your veteran’s service. Create a timeline of service using the discharge paper to create the foundation of service. This allows you to see where your gaps and errors are; help you formulate better research questions; and ultimately find answers.

Mistake #2: The Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) contains everything you want to know.

The OMPF contains the building blocks of someone’s service. You’ll learn about enlistment and discharge or death. Medical information. Next of Kin information. Training stations, MOS (jobs), rank, where they served, promotions, court martials, and so much more. Often these records contain letters or official documents regarding family members. You just never know what you’ll discover.

That said, these files provide the foundation for you to add dates and facts to your timeline of service. They do not give you the context of service unless someone was taken Prisoner, Missing, or Killed In Action – then there may be some additional context. Use the OMPF as a start point but realize there is so much more to discover.

How to avoid this mistake

Recently I wrote an article, Reconstruction WWII Veteran History, about the military service file on my WWII Research & Writing Center website. The information in this article also applies to the Separation and Discharge paper for WWII. It’s a puzzle piece but not a veteran’s entire story. This document does contain vital information about service that may contradict a veteran’s story.

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Mistake #3: All the Records Did Not Burn

Society has been programmed to believe All the records burned in the 1973 NPRC fire. This is not true. In fact, previously damaged files are being reconstructed or “healed” in some way using new technology at the NPRC in St. Louis. While you might not receive every page that was in a damaged file (water, fire, mold), chances are better today than even a few years ago, that you will receive something.

What burned? They said about 80% of Army and Army Air Corps/Army Air Force/Air Force OMPFs.

What didn’t burn? Navy, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine and Marine Corps OMPFs.

There are plenty of records in the NPRC, NARA, Presidential Libraries, online websites, University Archives, Museums, Genealogical Societies, and many other places to help you discover information so you can conduct research.

If you are researching Army or Army Air Force service, you must have a unit at some point in time to do any research if the file burned. There are Company Morning Reports, Payroll Records, and Rosters to help you reconstruct service and the footsteps of your veteran. However, the archivists at the NPRC will not do this research for you. You have to go there or hire a researcher like me to get the records. You’ll need a unit to search these records. It isn’t enough to tell us your dad was in the 90th Division. If you can say 358th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Division, we can work with that but if you can go down to the Company level, it’s much easier and faster for us to search.

Don’t have a unit? Ask me how to start research by emailing me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com. I give every potential client a free phone consult and help you find information so a project can be started. There are many ways to find a unit.

How to avoid this mistake

Remember there are many other records available to help you reconstruct military service. It’s important to find as many clues about your veteran as possible using home sources and online sources. There are also some records at NPRC we can access and other places, to help you find answers.

You can read more about some of these records at my WWII Research & Writing Center website.

Mistake #4: The Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) is not the OMPF and Did Not Burn

Camp Butner, NC Winter 1943/1944. James Privoznik standing on right. James was KIA 11 January 1945.

There are two main files people confuse.

OMPF: Official Military Personnel File. This is the veteran’s service file.

IDPF: Individual Deceased Personnel File. This is a veteran’s death file IF they died while still in military service.

If your veteran survived the war, he will not have an IDPF. If he was discharged and died a day later, he will not have an IDPF. If he died of illness or wounds, as a POW, was Missing In Action and never recovered, or was Killed In Action, he will have an IDPF.

The IDPFs have been in various locations within the National Archives system since 2010. How to obtain copies of these files has changed many times. This is a file you will need if your veteran didn’t survive the war. It will contain information on the death, temporary burial, permanent burial, personal effects, possibly information on the circumstances of the death or Missing status. There may be legal papers for family members, especially if the legal Next-Of-Kin changed. There may be (rarely) a photograph. These files range from 20 pages on average to over 360.

The IDPF was never in the NPRC when the fire took place. They never burned. They also do not contain the full OMPF. Many people think the OMPF was merged into the IDPF but it was not. There may be some documents that were copied and added, but overall they were not.

How to avoid this mistake

Learn more about these two files in my article at the WWII Research & Writing Center.

Learn current ways to access the IDPFs for surnames A-L and M-Z in my article.

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Mistake #5: All the Records are not Online

Online and everywhere I teach I hear complaints that more records are not online. There are many records available to help you tell a story, but it is extremely rare to find everything you need online. The 7th Armored Division website may come close as they seem to have all IDPFs, Morning Reports, Unit Records (but not OMPFs).

You will find some records to help you reconstruct service on Ancestry, Fold3, Newspapers.com, FindAGrave, NARA, Branch-Specific Military museums, and many other sites. Use these as puzzle pieces to help you build the larger puzzle. Then visit a library or archive and do some old fashioned research! It really can be fun!

TIP! No matter where you get information – online or through archives – VERIFY the information you find against other sources. Military records do contain errors and sometimes other people’s documents.

How to avoid this mistake

Use online sources to help reconstruct service and find unit level records. Use online Finding Aids to discover what records still exist at a repository from the war. Then work with an archivist, librarian, or professional military researcher to obtain paper records stored in archives.

Work with a researcher who knows how to obtain records and will get you what you require – not just take your money and give you what they think you need. Learn more in my article A Word of Caution When Hiring a Military Researcher.

Explore your World War I or World War II Veteran’s Story

If you’d like to learn your veteran’s history, I take research and book clients. Email me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com and let’s set up a time to chat. I offer free consults to discuss the research strategy, fees, time, and possibilities.

I also offer the Honoring Our Heroes program consisting of six webinars with workbooks to help you research any veteran from WWI-Vietnam, even if the records burned.

You can also pick up a copy of my book Research a Veteran which will guide you through the initial information gathering.

© 2024 World War II Research and Writing Center

The Things We Choose To Believe

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We love our parents. Our grandparents. We grow up believing (usually) that they are all knowing, tell us the truth, and were these amazing, heroic, accomplished, keep adding the words you use to describe your family, individuals. Sometimes it is difficult, if not impossible to change the perspective we have of family. To change the identity we assigned them. To see they are HUMAN and capable of embellishing stories or making them up to appear more “worthy”, feel less “shame”, or whatever energy they feel they lack. The same can be said of those listening to the stories of a veteran. We want to believe them and normally we take their word as the truth.

Often, we will fight to the death to preserve the idea we have of our veteran or any veteran, because in our minds, and what society would tell us, Why would they lie? Why would a World War II veteran lie about his service? This was the “Greatest Generation” after all.

That’s a lot to live up to, especially if you were in a support role behind the lines and were afraid to be seen as a coward because you weren’t on the front lines.

80th Anniversary of D-Day Stories Coming Out

I was contacted recently by a woman working on a D-Day Documentary for the BBC and History Channel. She wanted help in verifying a veteran’s service, particularly as it applied to his D-Day story. I connected her with my researcher and he has been verifying that the veteran’s story. This veteran gave as an interview for the WWII Museum in New Orleans which is available online. The records show his service isn’t at all what he described in his oral histroy. In fact, based on the records, he was never even in Europe during the war.

From the emails going around, it appears to me that this woman and her producer may be trying hard to prove this veteran was there rather than accept what the military records show.

You might call this cognitive dissonance. This is defined as: The psychological tension that occurs when one holds mutually exclusive beliefs or attitudes and that often motivates people to modify their thoughts or behaviors in order to reduce the tension.

We have all experienced this in our life as our strongly held beliefs are challenged by new information. Sometimes we aren’t sure what to do with the new information and we end up in denial that anything but what we believe, have been told, or learned could be true.

When we look at the lives and stories of our veteran, it may also make us question, if they embellished or lied about that, what else did they tell me that wasn’t quite true? Most of us don’t want to explore this possibility as it would likely dredge up deep seated memories, fears, traumas, wounds, shame, guilt, anger, or grief.

Why Might the Story Be Different From The Military Records?

One of the more difficult parts of the work I do with military research clients when we research a veteran, is telling them the story they grew up hearing is not accurate based on the records. People do not like to hear that their father, uncle, grandfather, brother, or whomever, embellished or lied about pieces of their service history. I understand this and only provide the information. It’s not up to me to decide how they process the data.

When I work with a client or teach a program and someone tells me a story, I take it all with a grain of salt. I know there are events which are never documented. However, when I look at a set of records and reconstruct the history in a timelime, examine the Separation and Discharge paper and see certain things are not listed, like a campaign the veteran claimed to be a part of, or a wound that doesn’t exist, I start to question. I invite the client to question and also seek additional information they may have at home to back up the story they tell me before we start research.

It’s best to not judge the veteran’s story. We weren’t there so we don’t know how it all actually played out. We don’t know why a veteran might have said this or that because we don’t know their experience or how they processed any of the propaganda, familial or societal expectations, or their emotions.

I step back, look at the story and records and then use words like “It’s possible this happened but the records don’t show this.” Sometimes it’s more of a blunt narrative of “The veteran said this but the records give no evidence this happened.” The client or individual can then decide how to process this information. Accept, deny, or be somewhere in between.

Recently I wrote an article, Reconstruction WWII Veteran History, about the military service file on my WWII Research & Writing Center website. The information in this article also applies to the Separation and Discharge paper for WWII. It’s a puzzle piece but not a veteran’s entire story. This document does contain vital information about service that may contradict a veteran’s story.

Can We Change Our Mind? Can We Accept Our Veteran Even If They Embellished or Lied?

Joseph Holik USNR Armed Guard 1943-1945

My uncle Rich told me about my grandpa Joseph’s World War II Naval Armed Guard history with some elaborate stories. Grandpa died in 1964 in a Chicago Veteran’s Hospital where he had lived since 1946, when my dad was 16, so I never knew him. All I knew was his talked to little green men and was “crazy” thanks to the war.

As a baby genealogist in 1996, I took this as “truth” and put it into my database like a good researcher and moved on. It wasn’t until I actually received his military service file (OMPF) and some medical records that I understood what really happened to my grandpa. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the end of the war before being Honorably Discharged.

When I discovered this truth a few years after my uncle died, it took me a long time to make peace with these stories, how my uncle could lie to me instead of telling me the truth, and how it was a big family secret. It’s also taken me years to make peace with my grandpa’s story. I’ve written a little about this on Substack and am writing a book about this as well.

You might find it surprising I also had to change my idea of who I thought my grandma was, based on all this knowledge. As a child and teen, I assigned a certain identity to her. As an adult that changed slighty. Once I had children and then years later began to heal our family trauma that I carried based on the war experience she and grandpa shared, I again changed my mind about who she was. You know what… the world didn’t end because I learned new information and was open to changing my perspective or mind.

This is how we heal ourselves and our ancestral lineage.

What do you think about this? Have your family or military stories always aligned with your research? What did you do to make peace with the discrepancies? How did you heal and move forward?

Explore your World War I or World War II Veteran’s Story

If you’d like to learn your veteran’s history, I take research and book clients. Email me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com and let’s set up a time to chat. I offer free consults to discuss the research strategy, fees, time, and possibilities.

I also offer the Honoring Our Heroes program consisting of six webinars with workbooks to help you research any veteran from WWI-Vietnam, even if the records burned.

You can also pick up a copy of my book Research a Veteran which will guide you through the initial information gathering.

Reconstructing WWII Veteran History

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There is a big myth that surrounds military research which is, If I have the Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) also known as a service file, then I’ll have my veteran’s entire story.

Nope. You won’t.

I hear a lot of people tell others when they teach or write or give an interview that the OMPF is the goldmine and that’s basically all you need. That if you have this file you never need to reconstruct service (because it didn’t burn). Nope. It’s not the only piece of gold you need. Everyone is reconstructing military service even if you have the OMPF. It IS a goldmine of information but it’s also just one large piece of a big puzzle.

Before the pitchforks come out and people start coming at me, let me explain.

The OMPF is a vital record set for your research. It will:

  • Contain a lot of puzzle pieces for your research project.
  • Contain information on enlistment; discharge or death; wounds or illness; awards and commendations; training; POW experience; MOS (job); rank(s); overseas service; places where training took place; major battles or campaigns fought; medical information; possible Court Martial information; photos (sometimes); family letters (sometimes); vital records/divorce papers/court docs/mental health papers, adoption papers (sometimes) and many other pieces of information.
  • Provide you with enough information to create a timeline of service and then proceed with unit level records for context and other records and resources.

It will not:

  • Arrive in complete chronological order.
  • Give you the context and full details about an illness, wound, or death (usually).
  • Provide all details about POW experience.
  • Will not give you the context of every battle and experience in training or combat.

If the OMPF burned in the 1973 fire at the NPRC in St. Louis, then you have a more challenging job, but answers can still be found. Schedule a free consult with me to research your veteran’s WWI-Vietnam service today by emailing me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com and I’ll help you find answers.

Example: USMC WWII OMPF

I’m putting together a report for a client whose father was in the Fourth Marine Division during World War II. I have his full OMPF. When I received it, I looked it over and started putting the pages into more of a chronological order. Now, it’s important to note that no file can be in complete chronological order because some pages have multiple dated entries that may not be in order.

As I put together this Marine’s timeline of service, I’m jumping from 1943 to 1944 to 1945, back to 1944, back to 1945, as I review the information on each page.

Example #1: At the beginning of the file there is a slim document that lists all the units this Marine was in along with dates and some ships on which he sailed when leaving the U.S. and returning. This is a skeleton for my timeline of service – knowing what dates and where he was. But there is more later in the file.

Example #2: one page lists multiple detailed paragraph movements of the men via LSTs or LSMs, ships or airplanes from 1943 to 1945. I have dates, vessel numbers or names, and where they were going. Some of this information is on other pages but with additional details. So it requires maneuvering all over the research report to enter information.

Example #3: Within many pages of this file I can also find additional unit details along with the rank changes for this Marine. Those also jump all over the timeline.

There are many other details within this file but the bottom line is, using this file I can put together a good foundation of the units, where someone was, and what the basics were of his experience. If I want to know more and understand the context of his experience, I have to consult many other records. This is why research should be done in two parts to accurately reconstruct someone’s history and tell the correct story.

Every record we obtain helps us tell the greater story. If the basics are all you need, the OMPF may be enough for you. Just know, there is so much more we can get to fill in the gaps and really understand someone’s journey through war. When we understand their experience, it helps us understand who they were once the war ended, how they raised their family and lived, and what may have been passed down through the generations to us to carry and heal.

Would you like to know how to reconstruct service on your own? I have a six-webinar program with workbooks and a coaching session available in my Honoring Our Heroes program. You can learn more and purchase access using the link.

Do you need help researching your WWI or WWII veteran?

I can help! Schedule a free consult with me to research your veteran’s WWI-Vietnam service today by emailing me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com and I’ll help you find answers.

© 2024 World War II Research and Writing Center

Why Can’t We Get Military Records?

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In November I helped someone fill out two of NARA/NPRC’s Standard Form 180s to get Navy personnel files. Only a miniscule number of Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Corps OMPFs were affected by the fire. So one would think if you send in Form 180 you’ll get a copy of the full service file. Right?

WRONG!

The man I helped fill out the forms brought me one response to his requests. The other we expect to arrive shortly. NPRC wrote in the letter, about the Navy OMPF, the following:

“We are unable to completely fulfill your request at this time and have focused all available resources to providing a Report of Separation (DD Form 2014 or its equivalent) for records requests. This is the most pertinent document needed to secure veteran’s benefits like medical emergencies, aid and attendance and final military honors. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding.”

Let’s be honest – this makes me angry. I realize the priority is living veterans and the spouses or kids of veterans who need the benefits. However, there are plenty of people also seeking answers and closure to their family histories and these service files can provide that. So where is the balance or is this now standard operating procedure – give as little as possible. Do as little work as possible.

There are many people who prefer not to hire a researcher like myself because they want to do the research themselves or do not have the funds to do hire a researcher. They know the OMPF is available and not burned because of the military branch – and yet NPRC won’t release it to them.

This kind of response will likely result in more requests being placed which will mean more work for them, when they could have handled the first time the request came in. It will also mean that the backlog they just celebrated being finished or almost finished since the 2 year shutdown- by closing the facility for a day so they could celebrate – may begin again once word spreads that the archivists aren’t providing the information requested.

What is the answer here? I don’t know because the archives operate by their own set of rules which doesn’t always seem to benefit the taxpayer, family historian, and often not even the veteran.

As a side note – those Surname A-L IDPFs that are being held at NPRC. They were digitized years ago, through taxpayer money, as have the M-Z being held at Ft. Knox. I learned if you send in a request to NPRC for an IDPF – you will be charged. However, if you are on-site and request it – there is no charge and it’s emailed to you. Interesting right?

What Is the Current Solution?

If you received a letter like what my friend did above, and the file should be intact you have two options. 1) Send in another Form 180 and see if they answer your request. If not, request again and make sure to let them know you’ve requested before and not gotten the results you need. 2) Hire a researcher like myself to get you the records. We are on-site and will follow up to make sure we get the information we need. I offer a free phone consultation to discuss your research needs. Email me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com to set up a call. Every client receives a customized quote for both parts of the research project that fits their research needs. Clients also receive two full research reports with information on what was searched, discovered or not discovered, all documents we receive and answers, peace, and closure. Are you ready to start your research project today? I can help you with WWI, WWII, Korea or Vietnam.

© 2024 World War II Research and Writing Center

Explore Family Patterns Through Genealogy in a New Program

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Navigating Life’s Labyrinth. Decoding the Circle of Influence.

Saturday, March 16, 2024 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CDT

A labyrinth symbolizes journeys, both physical and metaphorical, and are often associated with introspection, self-discovery, and the search for meaning. Finding meaning is what we do as family historians and healers using our genealogical records.

Join me for a two-part workshop using my Circle of Influence tool to discover what’s hidden in your family history. Workshop includes:

What the Program Includes

50-Minute Webinar – Circle of Influence. Using Genealogy & FAN to Identify Family Patterns and Trauma.

We’ve heard of the FAN concept in genealogy – Friends, Associates, and Neighbors – as a way to locate genealogical records to prove the “John Smith” in the records is or is not your John Smith. Have you ever considered using this concept another way to help you identify why an ancestor was the way they were or carried certain patterns? Using storytelling, the circle of influence tool, writing prompts and research, we will create the web of who was involved in an ancestor’s life or even your own. Then we will explore how that may have influenced who you became, the beliefs, behaviors and patterns you live and possibly any traumas. gifts, and blessings that may have been passed down.

15-minute Q&A to discuss what you discovered.

Short Break.

50-Minute Webinar – The Ripple Effect. Mapping the Intersections of Family, Trauma, War, and Patterns.

This program will help you use the Circle of Influence in a different way as we explore the impacts of war on our service members, civilians, and children of war. The material will pave the way for you to understand your family better, create new research paths and ask better questions so you can write better stories. You may walk away with big ah-ha moments about who your family members really were!

15-minute Q&A to discuss what you discovered.

You Also Receive

30-Minute Private Coaching Session

   – Receive personalized guidance and feedback from an experienced coach to explore the depth of your family’s patterns and life. Ask research and writing questions. Share your stories and see what else is possible. This session must be scheduled and used by Thursday, April 11 or you lose it.

Workbooks

   – Each webinar comes with its own workbook with notes and resources.

    – PDF Guide full of writing prompts, resource lists for your circles of influence and additional resources so you can take what you learn further.

Learn more about this new program and register to save your spot today!

© 2024 WWII Research & Writing Center

A Word of Caution: Hiring a Military Researcher

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We don’t know what we don’t know.

Over the last few months, I’ve had many people contact me to ask questions or hire me to do military research projects after they hired another firm. Why? Because the other firms gave them records without understanding what the client needed. Gave no explanation through a research report to explain what was discovered and what was not. Never gave the option for customized research. Never offered to pull all available records.

And, in one recent case, the research firm copied hundreds of pages of Morning Reports that were for the wrong unit and never once checked to make sure the veteran was ever listed in the reports. On top of that, her veteran died while in service but the research firm didn’t give her the IDPF (death file) because she didn’t pay for that “Package” of research. So she was left with hundreds of pages of paper she had no idea what they meant, what to do with, and no answers about the death of her veteran. I was amazed at what she gave me to review before our consultation. My team is working with her and she is now getting answers.

How does this happen?

Because many research firms have a form for you to fill out asking what you need. They give you a package price for whatever they think is going to fill your need. Then they take your money and give you records that may not be helpful at all and probably don’t answer your questions. Additionally, many of them quit researching if it gets too difficult to find the records.

This is not how I work with clients.

A Bit of Archives History

Researching WWI, WWII, Korea or Vietnam veterans has been difficult and complex since the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) Fire of 1973. You may know that the archives told us 80% of the Army and Army Air Force/Air Force service files burned. So you can go to the NARA website, download Form 180 and request a records search but you are likely to only get a Final Payroll document back if the file is gone, which doesn’t help you at all with research. Yet NARA has never give more explicit instructions on how to actually do the research and what you really need to have done – the archivists will not do for you.

What options do you have to learn about your veteran’s history if you don’t know how to do the military research, even if you are a seasoned genealogist? Well, you can hire a researcher, but be aware there are questions you need to ask before investing your money with one.

Questions to Ask

  1. What are the questions I have about my veteran’s service? What questions do I have because of things I’ve heard whispered in the family or through family stories?
  2. Do I know what records I need to be able to reconstruct military service if the file burned? For many people, even seasoned genealogists tell me – they have no idea how to do military research beyond sending in Form 180. They don’t know that having a unit at some point in time can make or break a project sometimes. They don’t know what records can be helpful in doing a project. Even seasoned genealogists can’t know every record that exists whether military or genealogical, no matter how many years they study. There are always new records to discover.
  3. Do I know what information I need to obtain military records? Where can I find out?
  4. Will a firm that only asks me to fill out a form without talking to me know what records I need to answer my question?
  5. Is the firm going to only scan a time period of records like Morning Reports for the months of June, July and August 1944 without ever checking to see if my guy is listed? Is any customization available or can I only get weeks or months worth of reports? I recently had a client come to me that hired a firm that uses forms and has this approach to research. She gave me 369 pages of Morning Reports that she received and was completely overwhelmed and had no idea what to do with it all. She didn’t even really know what it all meant or if her veteran was listed anywhere. When she asked me for a consultation I looked through all of those 369 pages, which covered about a year of service in one unit. Her veteran appeared 3 times. Had he been transferred out of that unit after the first 10 pages, the other 359 would have been completely worthless and a waste of her money. Thankfully he was in the unit and but the clerk who created the reports gave almost no daily information so much of the paperwork was useless considering the amount she paid to have research done.
  6. What happens if they can’t find a unit and the record burned? Do I lose my money?
  7. Will I get a detailed explanation via email or a research report to know what records were searched? Why a dead end was hit? Or what all these records mean?
  8. Can I ask the research firm questions about the records after I receive them? If not, where can I go to find answers?

It’s important to realize that even if you have a full service file for your Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Merchant Marine service member of even a Civilian Army Transport Service Employee or other federal employee, you are still reconstructing service history. Why? Because a file has clues but never the entire story of your veteran. It’s also never given to you in a format that’s easy to understand as you read through it. You still have to create the timeline, understand the lingo and abbreviations, and piece the history together.

Which Type of Researcher Do I Hire?

The best advice I can give you is to do your homework and ask yourself what you really need and what your knowledge level is as far as military records are concerned.

Are you knowledgeable and know what records you need? Or do you need just a time period of certain reports? If you are knowledgeable and only want a certain time period of reports copied, hiring a firm with a form on their page to just scan records may be fine for your needs.

If you do not need customized research to receive answers about your veteran, hiring a firm with a form to fill out may be what you need.

Read research testimonials.

If you are not sure what you need and require an explanation about the records you receive, hiring someone like me is a better option. Why? I customize every project and get to know the client and their needs. My business model is not how much money can I make today by just copying records for people. I also have the gift of healing and many clients come to me because they want more than paper records. They want answers, closure, and peace, especially if their relationship with their veteran was rough or non-existent for whatever reason. Schedule a free consult today.

  1. I give every potential client a free consultation via phone or Zoom to listen to their stories, ask them questions and listen to their response, and find out what they really want out of the research.
  2. I take time before the consult to dig a little so I make sure I have enough information to start a project, especially if the record may have burned. This means time emailing the client asking more questions, asking if they have certain records, etc. This is helpful to them because often they have the information, but didn’t realize it.
  3. Every client I work with receives information along the research process. They receive a research report with source citations along with all the records I obtain from NPRC or NARA and many other sources. The research report has the information presented in a way that is very easy to understand by the client. They can clearly retrace the footsteps of their veteran through the timeline I provide. They also get narrative sections which explain discrepancies or sometimes what couldn’t be found or shocking things discovered that the client didn’t mention (or maybe didn’t know).
  4. I created a two-part research strategy over 10 years ago to research any veteran even if the service file burned. My projects are done in two parts so clients receive the reconstructed history and then the narrative to understand the context of their experience. By the end of a project, the client receives at least two reports.
  5. For clients who wish to have a book written after research, I can also easily move from research into writing for them. For others, I often serve as a developmental editor. The transition is smooth.

The most important thing when hiring a research is asking yourself what you really know and what answers you want to find. Then find a firm that will help you accomplish your goals.

Would you like to discuss what’s possible to tell your veteran’s story and help you find answers and closure? Schedule a free consult today.

© 2024 WWII Research & Writing Center

Last Chance to Register!

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Words That Heal: A Transformative Program for writing veteran stories!

Let’s make 2024 a year of profound transformation by honoring the heroes who fought in World War II. As we approach the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings on June 6, it’s time to capture and share the stories of bravery, sacrifice, and resilience.

Have You Shared Your Veteran Stories?

If not, fear not! Our exclusive program is designed to help you effortlessly and swiftly bring your veteran stories to life. Join on Saturday February 17 at 10:00 a.m. CST, for an enlightening 75-minute webinar on writing your veteran stories. This is your chance to embark on a journey of self-expression and healing.

Learn more & register at the Ancestral Souls Wisdom School.

What the Program Includes

75-Minute Webinar

   – Gain insights and inspiration during an engaging live webinar that guides you through the art of crafting compelling veteran stories.

30-Minute Private Coaching Session

   – Receive personalized guidance and feedback from an experienced coach to enhance the depth and impact of your narratives. This session must be scheduled and used within 30 days of the program or you lose it.

500+ Writing Prompts Book

   – Unleash your creativity with a comprehensive book of over 500 writing prompts tailored specifically for capturing the essence of veteran and civilian experiences.

PDF Guides

   – Navigate the writing process seamlessly with our detailed PDF guide, packed with tips, Do’s and Don’ts, writing themes, outlines, and more.

 – Military Service Questionnaire.

 – A guide on the emotional toll of research and writing.

Why Join the Program?

– Transformative Experience. Rediscover the therapeutic power of storytelling as you embark on a journey of healing through the written word.

– Honoring Heroes. Pay homage to the brave men and women who shaped history by immortalizing their stories for future generations.

– Guidance Every Step of the Way. Benefit from expert insights and personal coaching to ensure your narratives resonate with authenticity and emotion.

Learn more & register at the Ancestral Souls Wisdom School.

© 2024 WWII Research & Writing Center

Writing the War

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On A Foreign Shore

From my book Stories of the Lost.

We stand on a foreign shore surrounded by a thunderous, deafening noise. War is definitely hell. Men are screaming in agony and shadows of death can be felt and seen everywhere. You can smell it in the air. Corpses lie scattered , bloated, and rotting on the land.

We are somewhat in shock. The fear we feel is overpowered by the ferocious desire to fight and live through this hell.

In training they used words like ‘determination,’ ‘courage,’ and ‘sacrifice.’ Training is one thing but the reality of war is a different experience. Will I be able to rise to the challenge when faced with danger or will my fear overtake me?

Destruction surrounds us as we march. Do we march toward our death? Is God watching us and protecting us with his shield? Or has he abandoned us completely? Some say there is no God. There cannot be a God who allows death and destruction on this scale.

My thoughts move from God to those I left behind at home. If I return, will they listen to my stories of war? Will they understand all this? The danger, death, sound, taste, feel, smell and horrors of war? They are not here standing in my shoes so doubt clouds my thoughts. How could they possibly comprehend all this? I have trouble processing this even as I stand here amidst the rubble and death.

So many thoughts race through my mind. I think of my parents, wife, siblings, children, and friends at home. Will I return unharmed, unchanged, whole? Or will I sleep forever in this foreign soil.

Will I be among the lost?

If I am, who will tell my story?

And, will anyone listen?

Writing the Story

Writing family history or veteran stories is an important part of the work we do as researchers and historians. Some might argue the veteran’s story is the most important to tell because they sacrificed so much for our freedom. Some even made the ultimate sacrifice. As I wrote above in my book Stories of the Lost, if our family lost a veteran, will they be remembered? Will anyone tell their stories?

It’s been said that no one can be forgotten as long as someone speaks their name. By writing our stories, we enable many others to speak our ancestors’ names, long after we are gone. So what holds us back from writing?

Usually the answer is FEAR.

Are You Ready to Write?

I have a solution to the fear and a few tips to help you write your stories.

  1. Everyone can write. It just requires us to start putting our thoughts on paper or onto the computer.
  2. We will never be done researching so you might as well start today.
  3. You don’t have to publish for the entire world to read. Please do share with your family so they know the stories.
  4. Start by writing one or two page veteran biographies.
  5. Expand from there into longer stories.
  6. Cite your sources so if you choose to publish, you know exactly where you obtained the information. Trust me on this. I’ve edited several client projects where a new writer is telling a story and didn’t cite sources. It adds a lot of time and frustration to writing and editing when we have to go back and figure out where the information came from, so just do it from the start. Add your footnotes and keep writing.
  7. Do NOT extensively quote or copy from other sources.
  8. Use credible sources like physical records rather than books, websites, and magazines. Definitely avoid Wiki sites because those can change based on the whim of whomever is in charge of the page or whomever is contributing to the page.
  9. Keep it simple to start.
  10. Join a writing workshop or writing group.

If you would like to start writing and need a little support, I have a workshop called Words That Heal. The Power of Writing a Veteran’s Story. This workshop includes a private coaching session with me. Register for this transformative workshop.

What the Program Includes

60-Minute Webinar

   – Gain insights and inspiration during an engaging live webinar that guides you through the art of crafting compelling veteran stories.

30-Minute Private Coaching Session

   – Receive personalized guidance and feedback from an experienced coach to enhance the depth and impact of your narratives. This session must be scheduled and used within 30 days of the program or you lose it.

500+ Writing Prompts Book

   – Unleash your creativity with a comprehensive book of over 500 writing prompts tailored specifically for capturing the essence of veteran and civilian experiences.

PDF Guide

   – Navigate the writing process seamlessly with our detailed PDF guide, packed with tips, Do’s and Don’ts, writing themes, outlines, and more.

Why Join the Program?

– Transformative Experience. Rediscover the therapeutic power of storytelling as you embark on a journey of healing through the written word.

– Honoring Heroes. Pay homage to the brave men and women who shaped history by immortalizing their stories for future generations.

– Guidance Every Step of the Way. Benefit from expert insights and personal coaching to ensure your narratives resonate with authenticity and emotion.

Learn more & register for this transformative workshop.

Have you written your stories and published? Share your book titles in the comments.

© 2024 World War II Research and Writing Center

Ancestral Codes Community Gatherings

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I love community conversations. Gatherings where we can share experiences, face some fears, learn something new, and heal. Is this something you enjoy as well?

Are you interested in genealogy, military research, writing, energy work, ancestral and personal healing, inherited or generational trauma, ancestral communication and related topics? If so, come join us on select Wednesday evenings for the Ancestral Codes Community. It’s a free gathering on Zoom meeting.

Our next gathering is Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. CST

Join me for a discussion on genealogy research, family patterns, inherited trauma, and ways we can deepen the connection we have with our ancestors. 

This is a free Zoom meeting. No replay will be provided so please attend live. Check back at the Ancestral Souls Wisdom School for additional dates. Registration will be required for each date.