Following WWI, the United States commemorated November 11th as Armistice Day. The date was significant since WWI fighting ended on November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour, 11th month, 11th day). However, in 1947, a WWII veteran from Birmingham, Alabama, was the driving force in his community to organize this country’s first Veterans Day celebration. Raymond…
We are pleased to announce a new collection of UK records on Fold3®. The UK, London Gazette WWII Military Notices 1939-1945 contains 1.3 million indexed records for service members found in the Military Notice sections or supplements of the London Gazette newspaper. The London Gazette is Britain’s oldest continuously published newspaper. It is the authoritative…
Each time the last surviving veteran from any war passes away, it marks the end of an era and the closing of a chapter in history. The question of who was the last often brings lively debate. In some cases, the claims are contested and not verifiable, and in other times, early records are missing….
This month we welcome a special guest contributor to the Fold3 blog. Michael Strauss is an Accredited Genealogist and works at Ancestry ProGenealogists®. On July 12, 1973, a catastrophic fire broke out in the National Personnel Record Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri. This facility housed the United States military personnel files. The fire broke…
September 18, 2022, marks the 75th birthday of the United States Air Force. This branch of the United States military was established through the National Security Act, though officials realized the strategic value of air power long before. During the Civil War, military balloons provided an eagle-eye view of the battlefield and helped military leaders…
We are pleased to announce a new collection of military records from the United Kingdom. The UK, British Air Force Lists, 1919-1945 contains a list of people who served in the British Royal Air Force between the end of the First and Second World Wars. The Royal Air Force (RAF) was established on April 1,…
Throughout WWII, military personnel displayed uncommon valor and courage. Our record collections contain countless stories of ordinary men and women who serve in extraordinary ways. Here are two remarkable stories of survival. Eugene P. Moran enlisted in the US Army Air Corps on October 21, 1942. The Wisconsin native served as a Staff Sergeant in…
