Over the last couple of months I’ve received several questions from military research students in my classes and people I interact with on social media. With all of these questions there is one common thread. The Military Timeline of Service.
Too many people start at the wrong end of research – the unit records and histories. If you do that, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll tell the wrong story. Others build a partial timeline and stop and go into unit records without having all their questions answered and get stuck.
The timeline will lay everything out for you, save you time, probably money, and headaches.
You have to build the foundation before moving to unit contextual records.
In the 2-part strategy I created to research any veteran from World War I – Vietnam, even if the records burned – the timeline is the most important tool. It builds the foundation of a well researched veteran project. Plus, if you choose to write a book about your veteran, or hire someone like me to ghost write and publish for you, that sourced timeline is essential.
The timeline I teach is not the same as an Ancestry family tree Timeline or LifeStory or the timeline a genealogy database like RootsMagic or Legacy builds. If you were to build your military timeline using those tools you would quickly lose your mind and information.
The military timeline of service will help you in so many ways.
- It will organize the records you discover.
- It will show you in chronological order the changes, movements, issues, and basic details about the veteran or fallen you are researching.
- It will have source citations because you should be citing your sources, even in a basic way so you can return to a record when there is an error or question.
- It will show you where there are errors in records – yours or the records.
- It will show you the gaps that need to be filled in. This opens new research paths.
- It will invite new questions or jog a long buried memory which expands your research and the veteran/fallen’s story.
The Military Timeline of Service is something everyone should be creating. If you’d like to learn more, there are a few class options in September in which I teach the timeline creation as part of the strategy.
Deconstructing Military Timelines. Thursday, September 10 at 7:00 p.m. CDT
Army Records Small Group Coaching. Part 1 Wednesday September 16 at 7:00 p.m. CDT. Part 2 Wednesday September 23 at 7:00 p.m. CDT. One class, two sessions.
USMC Records Small Group Coaching. Part 1 Thursday September 17 at 7:00 p.m. CDT. Part 2 Thursday September 24 at 7:00 p.m. CDT. One class, two sessions.
Have questions about military timelines? Please ask in the comments.
Jennifer Holik is a military researcher, genealogist, author, publisher, and educator specializing in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam veteran research, storytelling, and ancestral healing. With over 16 years of experience, using a proven two-part military research strategy she created, she conducts military research and book writing for clients, and teaches researchers how to reconstruct military service and transform historical data into meaningful, accurate narratives. Jennifer takes research and writing clients – email jennifer@ancestralsouls.com to set up a free project consult. Join her newsletter and grab your PDF Freebie today.
Learn more about her WWII training programs, books, coaching, and more at her online course site the Ancestral Souls Wisdom School. Then visit the WWII Research and Writing Center where you can find more than 10 years’ worth of articles, records, tips, videos, and more.
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