Have you ever made a genealogy breakthrough with pension files? Pension files can contain critical clues to help fill in blank spaces in your family tree. What Are Pension Files? The federal government granted pensions to military veterans and their widows and dependents following military service. These pension files may contain information like: Here are…
We are pleased to announce that we’ve added the Gail S. Halvorsen “Candy Bomber” Collection to our archives. Fold3® is honored to be the official archive of the personal papers, journals, photographs, and videos of the late Col. Gail Seymour Halvorsen, also known as the Candy Bomber. At the end of WWII, the Allies divided…
In 1919, US Navy Admiral William S. Sims asked the Senate to appropriate money to invest in rigid airships, saying that all first-class naval powers needed these ships as part of their fleets. Airships would allow the Navy to defend in three areas: sub-surface, surface, and air. The Navy’s first rigid airship was the ZR-1….
If you are researching military personnel who served during WWII, the WWII Hospital Admission Card Files are an often-overlooked resource that can provide details about injuries received during WWII and the Korean War. This collection contains records for some 5.3 million patients, mostly US Army personnel, treated at Army facilities between 1942 and 1954. However,…
In 1940, as the likelihood of the United States entering WWII hostilities increased, military officials assessed equipment and decided soldiers needed a better helmet. The newly redesigned combat helmet was called the M-1 Helmet, and production began in 1941. The design proved so popular that with slight modifications, the helmet became a standard issue for…
Following the D-Day Landings in June 1944, more than a million Allied soldiers moved into France. After breaking out of Normandy in July, troops began advancing across the countryside—sometimes covering as much ground as 80 miles a week. This created a logistical challenge for officials trying to supply this moving army across a country where…
The Bowie List is a valuable resource that records the burial locations of Confederate soldiers who fought and died in Maryland during the Battles of Antietam, South Mountain, and Monocacy during the American Civil War. The Battle of Antietam was the deadliest one-day battle in American history. It became a mass casualty event, with 22,000…
