Anyone Can Search. Not Everyone Can Research or Teach.
This will probably ruffle some feathers. If it ruffles yours, I’d invite you to sit with WHY.
When you’ve been a genealogist as long as I have – thirty years so far – and a military research expert for 16 – you will see on a cyclical basis the outrage in the genealogy community about why anyone has to pay for anything. This comes up both in records research and availability and also for those of us who speak and teach.
Every so often, even the genealogical speakers get up in arms over how little they are paid to speak by societies. But nothing ever changes because I don’t think enough people say, ‘Pay my worth or I won’t speak.’ They just continue to accept what is offered rather than standing in their power and worth – so things continue as they have. Additionally, rather than a professional suggesting they break a complex topic into two programs – they skim the surface leaving people perhaps with more questions than answers. Genealogy societies and libraries will book you two months in a row or do a half-day program if you explain WHY you can’t do it all in one hour. I know because I teach my 2-part strategy this way and won’t teach it if I’m not booked for both parts.
New and intermediate researchers who just dabble in family or military history – likely have no idea the immense time and money that advanced researchers, or professionals like me, have spent in education and records. Because of our knowledge and expertise, we professionals charge to speak or teach or to conduct research. We run a business and this is how we pay our bills and do the work we are meant to do.
Let’s be honest – most researchers believe it should all be free. That those of us with in-depth knowledge should just give it all away. That all records should be online. And somehow the knowledge some of us have spent years accumulating, that no one else has, should be offered out of the goodness of our hearts.
You will pay a plumber or electrician or car repairman for their knowledge and expertise, but you won’t pay for an expert’s class or research even when it will answer your questions and break down your brick walls. Interesting. I have a huge heart but giving away all my knowledge and doing your work for free won’t pay my bills. I know other professionals feel this way as well.
The 2020 Explosion
When 2020 hit and archives closed and people were forced to stay home more, the number of new genealogists exploded. Gone are the days when new genealogists seek actual education. At least that’s how it appears from the curb. You can see it in Facebook groups and on other social media sites. More records started coming online as well which added to the problem. Strictly from a WWI and WWII standpoint – research in 2026 is much easier to start than it was in 2020. That said, not everything is online and never will be.
With the explosion also came a huge group of people who want it all now, for free, online, and usually done by someone else for free. New Ancestry trees go up and people are upset if they can’t add a military record to it because they can’t find it online. That’s because it isn’t online and if you have the paper copy you’d have to scan and add it to the tree. See – back in the day through education and offline research we knew to scan a document and upload it.
Gone is a lot of the education we used to have in person. Most of it went online and people got so comfortable with free genealogy classes that skimmed the surface of a topic that most genealogists see zero value in paying for anything of depth. Therefore the old myths of military research continue. “All the records burned.” “Fold3 has all the military records.”
Not true.
Paying for Knowledge, Expertise, and Skills
Let me start by saying that military research is not the same as genealogy research. There is a completely different set of records and strategy. You cannot just attach one or two docs to your Ancestry tree and call it done. It isn’t.
I created a 2-part research strategy 16 years ago to research any veteran from World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam even if the records burned. I know for a fact answers exist far beyond those two records you added to your tree and probably have no idea what they really mean. I have gone deeper into the records than other military research firms. I wrote the books, I teach the strategy and I’ve invested thousands of my own dollars and hours into developing and refining the strategy, teaching, writing.
Many military records are available to the public, but access to records is only one small part of the research process. The real value lies in knowing the strategy which tells you where to begin, where to look for additional records, which collections to search, how to recognize missing or conflicting evidence, and how to reconstruct a service member’s story from dozens—or even hundreds—of scattered records.
Professional military research is built on years of study, thousands of hours spent working with archival and online collections, and the development of proven research methods. What may appear to be a simple answer is often the result of extensive experience that allows a researcher to identify sources and connections others might overlook.
This is what most genealogists don’t understand. That short answer I just gave you on Facebook or in an email is the result of 16 years and thousands of hours of my own exploration. Refined down into an answer a new researcher can understand. There is tremendous value in my knowledge, skill, expertise and depth.
What You Pay For
Classes or Speaking
Paying for a professional genealogical or military research speaker provides society or library attendees with new knowledge. Sometimes knowledge no one else is sharing. In my case, as of 2026, I teach classes every month on the research strategy and related military research topics.
I’m not gatekeeping how you can reconstruct service and find answers. I provide extensive workbooks, video replays, and plenty of Q&A even after the class is over. My fees are also reasonable and probably too low for what I provide students. But I try to balance cost and making the classes accessible with making a living. No other military research firm is doing this. The rest only pull records. Nowhere in the country will you find this depth of knowledge provided in a class, conference, or institute.
When I teach for a library or genealogical society, I also provide extensive materials and give people more than surface level information. Because of my knowledge, what I provide students, and all the “little” things I know, I expect to be paid for my time and knowledge. This is how I make my living.
Additionally, my students are often surprised at the “little” things I discover as I’m working on other projects or class preparation and send to them because I know they need it. When you work with me through classes or private coaching, you are getting much more than you paid for.
Research
Paying for professional military research means investing in accuracy, efficiency, and expertise. An experienced researcher understands the differences between record groups, recognizes common clerical errors, knows how to verify photographs and documents, and can place an individual’s service within the larger context of a unit, campaign, or historical event. I do this using my 2-part strategy and always find answers.
Rather than you spending weeks or months searching unfamiliar collections, my clients benefit from a research strategy that has been refined through years of practical hands-on records exploration experience. That experience can save time and money, reduce frustration, and produce a more complete and accurate reconstruction of military service.
Professional research is not simply about retrieving documents. Anyone can copy records. Professional military research is about interpreting evidence responsibly and preserving history with care. Every research project reflects years of learning, continual education, and a commitment to historical accuracy.
When you hire an experienced military researcher or speaker, you are paying not only for the time spent on your project but also for the knowledge, analytical skills, and research methodology developed over many years. Those qualities cannot be downloaded, copied, or replaced by AI or a simple database search, and they are what transform individual records into a meaningful and well-supported military history.
Would You Like to Learn More?
Join my newsletter list at my online course site and grab a free copy of my new PDF The Research Roadmap. This will guide you through the information you need to start a project and which classes to take to move your research forward.
If you would like to learn how to research, click here to see upcoming small group coaching sessions to learn how to use Fold3, NARA Catalog, research Army or Navy service, find POW records, and more. These sessions come with extensive workbooks, plenty of Q&A for attendees, my 2-part research strategy and the replay. Need a researcher? I am taking research and book clients – email jennifer@ancestralsouls.com to set up a free consult to discuss your project.
© 2026 WWII Research and Writing Center
Leave a Reply