{"id":81449,"date":"2021-11-11T11:58:38","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T16:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=81449"},"modified":"2021-12-10T06:51:54","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T11:51:54","slug":"3-things-to-do-on-veterans-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/3-things-to-do-on-veterans-day.html","title":{"rendered":"3 Things to Do on Veterans Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article \u2013 in honor of Veterans Day \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega gives tips for researching and telling the story of your veteran ancestor. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Today is Veterans Day, a day whose origins are steeped in World War I\u2019s Armistice Day.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Joseph Ambrose, an 86-year-old World War I veteran, attends the dedication day parade for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982. He is holding the flag that covered the casket of his son, who was killed in the Korean War. Credit: National Archives and Records Administration; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In order to honor the end of the war and those who served, President Wilson declared the first celebration of Armistice Day on 11 November 1919, exactly one year after the war ended.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 12 November 1919, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The holiday was originally meant to honor World War I veterans, and it did so for decades \u2013 but the Great War wouldn\u2019t be the \u201cwar to end all wars,\u201d and after World War II there was a need to honor those veterans as well. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day, expanding the focus from World War I veterans to all those who served, living or dead. For family historians, it\u2019s a good day to research the veterans in our family tree and share the stories of their service.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston American (Boston, Massachusetts), 10 November 1954, page 15<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you have family members who served in the military? As family historians, we focus on acquiring their military records and pensions. These records are crucial to documenting their lives.<\/p>\n

But what else can you do to add to your service member\u2019s story? Those \u201cofficial\u201d records only tell part of the story. Have you thought about what information would enhance it? Consider adding the following three suggestions to your research project.<\/p>\n

1) Read More about That Era<\/strong><\/p>\n

What do you know about your ancestor\u2019s military service beyond their records? Did they fight in a war? Have you read books that might shine a light on their service during that time period? What about books that tell the story of that branch of service or what they did? What histories might help you better understand that time and place? Don\u2019t forget about biographies and autobiographies of soldiers and sailors from that time period. Even the recollections of other veterans can help you better understand your military ancestor.<\/p>\n

One place to find relevant books is the worldwide library catalog WorldCat<\/a>. Conduct a keyword search on a location, war, battle, or a branch of service. WorldCat includes more than just books: you can also find thesis\/dissertations, images, and archival materials in your results.<\/p>\n

2) Add Images to Their Story<\/strong><\/p>\n

Images help tell a family story. If I was writing the story of my dad\u2019s military service, I could add images of him in uniform \u2013 but if I was working on a military ancestor from an earlier time, before the advent of photography, what could I use? Consider gathering images of:<\/p>\n