Jennifer Holik

Honoring Our Heroes Program

August 28, 2023 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

Announcing the Honoring Our Heroes Program!

Starting Saturday 9 September at 10:00 a.m. CDT, I’m hosting six weekly webinars on researching your WWI and WWII service members and writing their stories. These will run weekly through 21 October. There will not be a class on 7 October.

In these 75-90 minute sessions before Q&A, you will get all the information you need to research and write your stories. I’ll even be sharing some travel planning tips for those who are traveling for the 80th Anniversary of D-Day in 2024 and the 80th of VE Day in 2025!

Early Bird registrants (offer expires 4 September) receive a discounted price and a 30-minute coaching session.

Programs include:

Research a Veteran (Research strategy part 1)
The Greatest Generation (Research strategy part 2)
World War II Sacrifice
Exploring the Online Battlefield
Your Doughboy’s Story (WWI research)
Battlefield Stories (start writing your stories)

Learn more about each program & register today.

The Early Bird Pricing and Coaching Session offer expires 4 September and then the price goes up. Grab your spot today!

New Program Available

August 7, 2023 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

Saturday 12 August I’m speaking for the Genealogy Study Group of West Michigan.

This NEW program is now on my website for booking at your society or organization through 2024. You can view all my program options here which includes a PDF download.

Program: 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 case studies, in this new program we will explore the FAN concept with an added F for FAMILY and create the web of who was involved in an ancestor’s life or even your own, that influence who you became, the beliefs, behaviors and patterns lived and possibly any traumas that may have been passed down.

Email me at info@wwiirwc.com to book a program for your organization.

Research a Veteran Workbook & Journal Now Available!

August 4, 2023 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

Available in Paperback

July 12, 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the fire that destroyed thousands of Army and Army Air Force and Air Force Official Military Personnel Files at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. Since then, countless families have been unable to obtain their veteran’s files because they were told, ‘All the records burned.’ However, this isn’t quite true that no information can be discovered.

Have you wondered if there were other sources to help you tell your veteran’s story? I developed a two-part strategy to help people research any veteran from any military branch in any 20^th century war. This workbook and journal provides you with that strategy and plenty of checklists, instructions, writing prompts, and pages to record up to five of your family’s veteran’s information so you can write your stories. Are you ready to find answers, closure, and peace in your family’s military history? If so, this workbook and journal is for you. This workbook also is an excellent resource for homeschool families wishing to learn more about their patriotic past.

WWII Discharge Paper Doesn’t Have All the Answers

July 18, 2023 by Jennifer Holik 2 Comments

WWI and WWII Discharge papers come in many varieties. Each document contains the same basic information but more specific data will vary based on branch. Many people think the information on this document is the end all be all for telling a veteran’s story but this isn’t quite true. The discharge paper is a great place to start your research, especially if your veteran was in the Army or Army Air Forces/Air Force and his service file burned, but it doesn’t provide you with all the answers you seek.

Let’s look at the discharge paper for my great uncle Frank J. Kokoska. This document was obtained from his WWII Veterans Compensation file. It is not in the best condition as far as being able to read everything clearly, although we can make out most of the information.

There is a misconception that the unit on a service member’s discharge is the unit in which they saw combat. This may be true. It may not be true. In Frank’s case, he did serve in combat areas with this unit. On some discharge papers, the unit listed is one in which the veteran was transferred only to be discharged. While that tells us nothing of his combat experience, it is a start point for military research. Never take the one unit on a discharge paper as total truth. You will waste time and money researching the history of a unit that may have nothing to do with your veteran’s service beyond discharge.

I’ve done several military projects, particularly for the Army where the discharge shows a job that isn’t a combat job and they may have been in campaigns that had nothing to do with the unit on the discharge paper. Additionally, I recently helped a client locate information on a family member whose MOS (job) said Cook, yet he had trained and qualified on many weapons and earned the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB). So when was he a cook and when did he train on all those weapons? More importantly, what campaigns and unit was he in while he earned the CIB?

We have to learn how to read what is and is not on the discharge papers to piece the puzzle together and then search for more information.

In another client case I had a discharge that showed a 2nd Division unit yet the soldier was given credit for an Italian Campaign – Po Valley. The 2nd Division never fought in Italy so he couldn’t have been in that unit for those campaigns. This was a red flag that he was in multiple units and more digging was required.

Question everything you discover on a discharge paper because there may just be some information missing or provide a clue to lead you to further records.

Let’s examine a Naval Separation paper. There is a box on the right side in the middle that says SERVICE. This is where the units/ships/stations in which a sailor served would be listed. In some cases this list is short because the sailor trained and may have been placed on a ship or station to serve. In other cases, there may be information missing due to space to record all the information. The Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) will be able to provide more information on ships and stations. Again, question everything and do your homework to ensure you captured all units/ships/stations, regardless of military branch.

Remember, a discharge paper can provide us with many research starting points but it’s vital you examine it in detail. Create your timeline of service so you document all the details and can clearly see what information is there, what might be missing, and write down questions you have about what is on the document.

Places to locate a discharge paper

Where might you discover the discharge paper for your veteran? Here are a few places. This is not an exhaustive list of possibilities but the most likely places to begin your search.

WWI or WWII Veterans Compensation Files

County Offices (inquire which holds discharge papers. In Cook County, IL it is the Recorder).

Family papers and archives

Funeral homes

VA Records

University records

Are You Ready To Learn More?

Are you ready to start your research or writing project? Do you need assistance in exploring family traumas, patterns and ancestral healing? Email me at info@wwiirwc.com to schedule a free consult to talk about your needs. All clients receive a research report so you know what was discovered, what was not, and what’s possible to still discover.

Research a Veteran Workbook & Journal

July 17, 2023 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

Available in Paperback

Are You Ready to Discover Your Veteran’s Story?

If you’d like to discuss what’s available to help tell your stories or perhaps you have researched and are ready to write the stories, email me to set up a free phone consult to discuss your research project. jennifer@ancestralsouls.com

Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to receive updates on books, classes, and other offers.

50th Anniversary of the NPRC Fire

July 12, 2023 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

50 years ago today, shortly after midnight, a fire raged at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, destroying vast numbers of Army and Army Air Force/Air Force Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) or service files. Read more about the fire. I was quoted in this article.

You can read all the statistics about what burned and what didn’t but no one has ever explained how files were arranged. It’s been said that certain letters (surnames) of the alphabet burned but I have often questioned if officer files had been kept in a separate location than enlisted men’s files. I’ve seen officer files full and complete within the surname range that burned, like Captain Paul White. Then I’ve been unable to get my enlisted cousin’s file, Frank Winkler, which logically comes after White in the alphabet. So the officer file is intact and the enlisted man’s is not? Crazy right?

So what do you do if your family member’s service file burned? I have the answer.

Reconstructing Military Service

More than a decade ago I developed a two-part research strategy to help anyone, regardless of military branch or 20th century war, reconstruct military service and tell their veteran’s story. There is a common misconception that if your family member was in a branch whose files didn’t burn, you don’t have to reconstruct service. This is not quite accurate. OMPFs are not set up in a way, regardless of branch, that easily tells a veteran’s story. They also do not give you all the information you may seek.

Explore my WWII research books. Everything I teach applies to all 20th century wars.

Yes, you will get the basics on a veteran like the units someone served in (usually there were multiple), what MOS or jobs they held, what kind of training they received, and maybe some medical information. There will be documents indicating transfers to units, changes in status for being a prisoner, missing, or Killed In Action. There will be changes in rank noted. Family letters, vital records, court documents, and other genealogical records may also appear in these files. But they will not tell the story in an understandable way until you reconstruct the service.

How do you reconstruct service?

Military research, for World War I, World War II, Korea, or Vietnam all follows a two-step process. First, locate information on the individual through family sources, local and state archives, and records you can obtain from the NPRC at St. Louis. For Army and Army Air Force/Air Force, this also includes Company Morning Reports. To access most of what you require, you have to go there, or hire a researcher. Email me to set up a free phone consult to discuss your research project. jennifer@ancestralsouls.com

Then you establish a timeline of service so you can see what units someone was in, where they served, and other details. Then, you access contextual unit-level records starting at the NARA College Park, MD facility where these records are held. These records contain histories, maps, photos, diaries, journals, and more to give you an idea of what training or combat was like for your veteran.

In all the projects I’ve completed for more than a decade, I’ve been able to help clients find the answers they seek. In only a couple rare cases, was this really difficult because the unit was obscure and the records simply didn’t exist to help reconstruct service. I’ve often been surprised at what I discover in the military records. I’ve learned family secrets, discovered men buried as Unknowns in our ABMC cemeteries that should have been identified. I’ve felt the pain of mothers, widows, fathers, and siblings after the loss of a loved one in war. I’ve even seen adoption paperwork, mental hospital commitment papers, divorce papers, and more. You never know what kind of story about your family exists in all the possible files.

There is not one location for all military records. Military records are not only held at NPRC and NARA so don’t stop your search there. You will find some things at State Archives, Presidential Libraries, local libraries, historical and genealogical societies, museums, and more.

Purchase my Military Research Bundle to get step-by-step instructions, a workbook, and plenty of examples and stories to help you learn the process.

Other Reasons Records Do Not Exist

The 1973 NPRC fire is not the only reasons some families can’t get answers they seek. We need to keep in mind that records existed and were created not only stateside but overseas. If records were traveling with airmen on a bomber and the bomber crashed, those records likely were destroyed and not recovered. If records were being transported on a Naval Ship and the ship sunk or there was a fire on board, records may have been lost. In a Marine Corps case I worked on, I located a unit history that indicated some of the information in the history had been reconstructed from other sources previously sent stateside prior to a fire on board the ship. The history states the dates of missing records which makes it possible for researchers to then seek out alternate records to possibly fill in the gaps.

Regardless of whether records exist or not, answers can be found. Stories about your family’s veterans can be told. If you’d like to discuss what’s available to help tell your stories or perhaps you have researched and are ready to write the stories, email me to set up a free phone consult to discuss your research project. jennifer@ancestralsouls.com

Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to receive updates on books, classes, and other offers.

Ancestral Messages Journal

July 6, 2023 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

Announcing a new genealogy journal to help you connect more deeply with your ancestors!

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.

Why You Need a Research Report

June 27, 2023 by Jennifer Holik 2 Comments

Yesterday I had a consultation with a potential research client who was seeking answers about his family’s history and his father’s military service. He had previously hired another military researcher who gave him a couple of documents and no other information. He was a little confused about why this other researcher did what he did, why he only obtained a couple of documents, and where he actually got the records when I asked questions. Had the other researcher provided a research report, even a brief summary instead of a formal report, things would have been clearer.

This isn’t the first time someone has come to me with a few documents, no answers, and no research report to document what was searched. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily – but it depends on what you need.

What Kind of Research Do You Need?

The first question to ask yourself is what kind of research do I need? Am I capable of understanding the genealogy and military documents without help, so I only need someone to pull records for me? Do I have people I can ask for help if I get stuck? If your answer is yes, then great.

Now, I will also say, if you are a family history researcher doing this on your own, keeping track of what you have searched, what you discovered, or did not, is also important. This advice isn’t just for those seeking to hire a professional genealogist or military researcher. A paper trail of documents received, where they came from, notes on what you discovered in each document, and maybe most important – the discrepancies, conflicting, or bizarre information you discover, should be documented so you can find other records to help determine what information is accurate and what is “possibly” accurate and what may be an error.

Another question to ask yourself is, do I need assistance because this is outside my wheelhouse and I need records pulled and also explained so I know how to proceed and what it all means? If your answer to this is yes, then great!

The choice you make depends a lot on your knowledge level, budget, how much time you have to dedicate to a project, what you would like to learn, and your goals for the information received. There is no right and wrong but there can be a considerable waste of time and money if you don’t first consider what you really need and what a researcher provides.

Some professional researchers provide only records. You request certain things within a certain period of time for the ancestor you seek information on and you receive the records. Other professionals provide a more comprehensive approach which includes not only the records obtained but a research report so you, the client, knows what your money was spent on and what information did and did not exist.

A research report is extremely helpful if you need to hire someone else or need a paper trail because you are doing research in chunks as time and money allow. The researcher you hire next will find the information valuable and will know what not to duplicate which saves you time and money.

Why might researchers offer one service versus another? It depends on the business goals of the professional. Are they only interested in pulling records for clients or do they choose to do more in-depth projects? It’s all professional preference although some of it is also impacted by the level (or lack of) education and experience a professional has. A lot of professionals throw up a shingle after doing a personal project and little to no education – whether formal or self-taught or a mix.

How can you know what a professional really knows and how much experience they have? Read their website. Do they demonstrate they have the knowledge? This goes beyond client testimonials. Is there evidence they been educating themselves – whether through a degree, continuing education, or exploring a niche and developing research strategies and techniques? Do they publish? Do they teach or speak? No matter what field a professional is in, when they are willing to learn new things, explore what others are not, develop strategies, techniques, and solve problems, those are normally your better researchers.

In the end, hiring a professional genealogist or military research is about personal preference and what you need. There is no right or wrong – just information on options available.

Are You Ready To Learn More?

What have you discovered about your ancestor’s war traumas through the military or genealogical records? Are you ready to start your research or writing project? Do you need assistance in exploring family traumas, patterns and ancestral healing? View all my services and book a free consult today and let’s talk about your needs. All clients receive a research report so you know what was discovered, what was not, and what’s possible to still discover.

A Family’s Mental Health

June 26, 2023 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

Our veterans were not the only ones to suffer with mental health issues and grief because of war. Families at home also suffered, often quietly. Have you explored the grief and mental health of your family due to war or the loss of a family member to war? This is applicable to both those families who sent men and women to fight and civilians whose countries were occupied or annexed during a war.

I’ve read hundreds of Individual Deceased Personnel Files over the last decade plus and the stories I discover in some of them can quite often be sad or shocking. Usually when researchers read these files or pass the information to a family, the focus is on the service member not the family members. Usually researchers are seeking the details about a service member’s combat experience, wounding, POW experience, death and burial. Of course other facts are sought but how often do we really pay attention to what the family experienced?

Years ago I read the IDPF of a 104th Division soldier named Frank J. Knaus Jr. I also visited his grave in the fall of 2016 at the Ardennes American Cemetery.

One of the things that struck me from his file was a single letter written by a J. Sterner on behalf of Frank’s parents, to the military regarding Frank’s personal effects and all the letters the parents were receiving from the military. The relationship between J. Sterner and the family is unclear. According to what I could locate on Ancestry, it appears Frank was an only child.

The Letter

The letter spoke about the mental health and grief of Frank’s parents. The grief was so intense that Frank’s father was placed in a hospital. Often when we think about war and mental health, we only hear about how our veterans suffered and were placed in mental hospitals or other such facilities. We rarely hear about our own family members being placed in those facilities. Those events often remain as family secrets or things only to be whispered about until a family researcher discovers the secret.

Read Frank’s entire IDPF.

Healing the Grief

Quite often, those in the family who do genealogical or military research are the family healers. The ones who came here to end cycles and create healing up and down the lineage. We often unconsciously take on the grief of our family members. When something triggers that hidden grief in our lives, we may be confused about what’s happening or why we are reacting or responding to something so strongly. We don’t always have to know the specifics, but if we can learn the story, a deeper level of healing can take place.

Are you exploring the grief-filled events in your family’s history? What have you discovered? How did knowing this information change your life? How has it affected your research? Are you telling those stories so others know they aren’t alone in what their family has gone through?

When we share our experiences, even the shameful, sad, or hurtful ones, others learn they too can overcome and heal whatever they are going through. The more we bring our family’s pain to the light, the more we change ourselves, our ancestors, and the world. When one heals, we all heal. And healing is exactly what the world needs right now.

Are You Ready To Learn More?

A Nurse’s Traumatic Experience on a Sinking Ship

June 23, 2023 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

Many of us carry the remnants of our ancestors’ war traumas and don’t even know it. The traumas, energies, behaviors, and patterns may show up in very decontextualized ways through triggers, relationships, or experiences. Sometimes through unexplained and irrational (to us) fears. Perhaps you have a fear of being on a ship or large bodies of water and can’t explain why.

What if you could learn more about your ancestor’s trauma and better understand some of your fears, behaviors and patterns and heal? What if you learning this information not only healed you but also your lineage?

I read the experience of an Army nurse named Laura R. Hindman who was part of the 2nd Auxiliary Surgical Group and stationed on the British Hospital Ship HMHC St. David, on 14 February 1944 off the coast of Italy. Laura survived this sinking and a prior one, as noted in her testimony in the IDPF of Major John E. Adams, who did not survive the sinking.

Now, you might be wondering if you were a relative of Laura’s, how would I ever know Laura had given testimony about a ship sinking? Well, you would need to do some collateral research or just stumble upon the information. Collateral research means to look at records of those she served with. You might find those names in a Morning Report, a newspaper article about the ship she was on, through an internet search that brought her name up because someone else talking about that ship, the sinking, or those on board may have mentioned her. Ship histories or unit histories may also provide names, dates, and more information. Her testimony may also be included in those histories. There might also be information in her personnel file. When you leave no stone unturned, you might be surprised at what you discover.

Laura’s Trauma

Laura survived not one but two sinkings, that I know of, during her time as an Army Nurse. You can read a little about it below.

Every client I’ve spoken to and every person who has shared their veteran’s story with me tells me, ‘He or she never talked about the war.’ Now that most of our veterans are gone, we rely even more heavily on records, testimonies, histories, and photos to tell the stories that our veteran’s could not. Nurse Laura’s statements are powerful. They might answer questions a family had about her experiences and how she lived, what she believed, and also what her behaviors and patterns were after the war. This testimony might also explain some of her fears or the fears that descendants carry.

In his book, It Didn’t Start With You, by Mark Wolynn, he talks about many of his patients who have these irrational fears or nightmares that have nothing to do with experiences they had in their lives. These fears and nightmares actually belonged to an ancestor. Often those fears and nightmares appear at the age of the patient which is the same age the ancestor experienced the trauma. Once identified and released, the patient has a calmer life.

Is it possible any descendants of Laura might have had irrational fears or behaviors that couldn’t be explained easily? Is it possible her extended family might have because of the energy carried through the family? Yes and yes. The same can be true for any of us who had an ancestor experience trauma that remained unintegrated, unprocessed, and unhealed. War, natural disasters, abuse, accidents, and so many other traumas can create similar experiences in descendants. The key is to search for information to help us have more context about an ancestor’s life and experiences.

Read Major John Adam’s IDPF here and all the testimony about the sinking of this ship.

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Honoring Our Heroes Program

New Program Available

Program: Circle of Influence. Using Genealogy & FAN to Identify Family Patterns and Trauma

Research a Veteran Workbook & Journal Now Available!

Available in Paperback