Major American Wars Timeline
https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/us-major-wars-timeline
Major Databases and Websites
Ancestry: (paid subscription) or Ancestry Library Edition (in-house use only)
HeritageQuest: (available from home)
Fold3: (available from home)
FamilySearch: (available from home or in-house for affiliate records)
Cyndi's List:
https://www.cyndislist.com/us/military/
https://www.cyndislist.com/military-worldwide/
FamilySearch Research Wiki:
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page
The Census
1840 census asked the name, age, and place of residence of pensioners of the Revolutionary War
1890 Veterans Schedules of the U.S. Federal Census
1900, 1910, 1920 separate Military and Naval Population Census
1910 census asked if there was a survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy in Column 30
1930 census asked whether there was a veteran of the military or navy and in what war in columns 30 and 31
Check to see if there is a state military census: MA, NY, RI, CT
Newspapers
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Chronicling America contains millions of newspaper pages from nearly every state and territory in the United States published from 1736-1963.
Old Fulton New York Postcards: Besides post cards, there is a database of digitized newspapers from New York and some other states and Canada.
Small Town Papers: Digitized community newspapers dating from the 1850s onward.
Illinois Newspaper Project: University of Illinois. The Illinois Newspaper Project (INP) identifies, preserves, and digitizes Illinois newspapers, some as far back as the 1840s.
Elephind: Includes digitized historic newspapers from collections around the world.
Cyndi’s List: Newspapers. Multitude of links to newspapers world-wide.
FamilySearch: Use the Wiki, the AI search and the indexes to GenealogyBank and Storied.
International, Regional, State, and Local Archives and Libraries.
Cemeteries
Nationwide Gravesite Locator
https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/
American Battle Monuments Commission
https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Civil War Cemetery Burials (National Park Service)
https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-cemeteries.htm
Confederate Graves Registry (Sons of Confederate Veterans)
National Graves Registration Project Database (Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War)
In Flanders Field Museum The Names List
https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/
National German Military Grave Registration Service (Must register)
https://www.volksbund.de/en/erinnern-gedenken/gravesearch-online
Old Soldiers Home Records
Ancestry: U.S., National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938
NARA: Records, RG 231
FamilySearch: United States Military Old Soldiers Home Records (Table of Homes and Location of Records)
Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home Residents 1887-1916
https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/archives/databases/quincyhome.html
Lineage Societies and Other Organizations
DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution)
http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search/?Tab_ID=6
http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search/?tab_id=0
https://www.dar.org/library/research-guides/how-guides
SAR (Sons of the American Revolution)
GAR/SUVCW (Grand Army of the Republic/Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War)
http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/ref/collection/isl7/id/2885
Each office of a GAR post or department was responsible for maintaining its own files. Most of the local records are not available.
https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/gar/garintro.html
Sons of Confederate Veterans
United Daughters of the Confederacy
The National Society United States Daughters of 1812
https://members.usdaughters1812.org/i4a/memberDirectory/index.cfm?directory_id=31&pageID=3409"
https://members.usdaughters1812.org/i4a/memberDirectory/index.cfm?directory_id=44&pageID=3768
General Society of the War of 1812
State War of 1812 Societies List
https://gswar1812.org/state-societies/
Spanish American War Database
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~scjssawv/index.html
Canada: First World War Personnel Records Database
https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/help/pffww
American Legion and VFW Posts
Other Societies and Groups
https://www.cyndislist.com/societies/lineage/military/
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States_Military_Veterans_and_Lineage_Society_Records
Society for Military History (Archives/Museums/Online Records)
Red Cross
https://www.icrc.org/en/archives
https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/ (Five million digitized WWI prisoner records)
POWs
POWVets
http://powvets.com/pow-search/
Prisoners of the First World War: The ICRC Archives (5 million prisoners of WWI records)
https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/
NARA (WWII, Korea, Vietnam)
https://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-list.jsp?cat=GP24
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Military Honors
https://valor.militarytimes.com/ (Hall of Valor)
https://valor.defense.gov/ (Military Awards for Valor)
https://www.thepurpleheart.com/roll-of-honor/ (National Purple Heart Roll of Honor)
Other Resources: International, National, State, Regional and Local
Archives, Courthouses, Genealogical Societies, Historical Societies, Universities/Colleges, Libraries
Library of Congress
https://www.loc.gov/collections/veterans-history-project-collection/ (Library of Congress Veterans History Project)
https://www.loc.gov/vets/bib-factsheet.html
National Archives
Search SOME of the NARA holdings (enlistment records, casualty reports, prisoner of war data)
https://www.archives.gov/research/military
https://www.archives.gov/research/military/genealogy
https://www.archives.gov/research/military/veterans/aad.html
https://aad.archives.gov/aad/
(complete list of accessible online records)
https://www.archives.gov/digitization/digitized-by-partners (Digitization at the National Archives)
A searchable listing of digitally available NARA records
Illinois State Archives
https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/archives/databases/home.html
1929 Illinois Roll of Honor
Illinois Black Hawk War Veterans
Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls
Illinois Civil War Veterans of Missouri Units
Illinois Civil War Veterans Serving in the U.S. Navy
Illinois Mexican War Veterans
Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home Residents
Illinois Spanish–American War Veterans
Illinois Veterans' History Project
Illinois War of 1812 Veterans
Illinois Winnebago War Veteran
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Illinois_Military_Records (Links to additional Illinois military records)
National Park Service
Includes information on wars, military branches, biographical data and more
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/military/index.htm
U.S. Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database (Confederate and Union Troops)
https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm
U.S. Mexican War Soldiers and Sailors Database
https://www.nps.gov/paal/learn/historyculture/search-usmexwar.htm#sort=Title%20asc
Books
Volume 1, with links to the other four volumes for Civil War pensioners (also available on Ancestry and FamilySearch)
List of Pensioners on the Roll, 1883,
Record of the services of Illinois soldiers in the Black Hawk war, 1831-32, and in the Mexican war, 1846-1848
https://archive.org/details/recordofservices00inilli
Roll of Honor: Soldiers Buried in Cook County, Illinois>
https://www.genealogycenter.info/military/burials/search_cookcoroll.php
WWI Cook County Draft Lottery
https://cook.illinoisgenweb.org/record/militarywwidraftlottery.html
Soldiers of the Great War (WWI Illinois)
https://archive.org/details/soldiersgreatwa02doylgoog/page/n281/mode/2up?view=theater
Korean War Honor Roll (Illinois)
Korean Conflict Honor Roll - Cook County ILGenWeb genealogy, family history
Military Service Branches-Histories and Archives
Air Force Historical Research Agency
U.S. Army Center of Military History
United States Coast Guard Historian’s Office
United States Marine Corps History Division
Naval History and Heritage Command
Air Force Records at the National Archives
Army Records at the National Archives
Coast Guard Records at the National Archives
Marine Corps Records at the National Archives
Records of the National Guard Bureau at the National Archives
Naval and Marine Records at the National Archives
Local Specialized Museums
Pritzker Military Museum and Library (WI)
https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/
Cantigny Park First Division Museum (IL)
https://cantigny.org/things-to-do/museums/first-division-museum/
National WWI Museum and Memorial (MO)
National WWII Museum (LA)
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/
Overseas Military Service
Military Archives of Ireland: Repository for the Irish Defence Forces, the Department of Defence And Army Pensions Boards.
Library and Archives Canada: Extensive collection of military records.
National Archives: Military records in Great Britain.
Danish Military: Conscription roles.
Check the FamilySearch Wiki for sources of overseas records.
Social Media
Once you’ve found some information on your soldier, use social media such as Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr, YouTube, and blogs to find military groups, units, regiment histories, photos, etc.
You may be able to connect with other researchers, military members and families.
Diverse Experience in Service (Histories Representing the Diversity of Members of the Military)
Women
https://www.dar.org/library/collections/dar-special-collections
https://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/women.html
https://libguides.mnhs.org/wwii_women/primary
Children
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/grant-kids/
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/children-civil-war
https://blog.genealogybank.com/civil-war-music-makers-finding-drummer-boys-in-old-newspapers.html
African American
https://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/blacks-in-military.html
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/African_American_Military_Records
https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/buffalosoldiers/index.htm
Asian American
https://discovernikkei.org/en/resources/military/ (Japanese American Military Experience Database)
Have been serving in the military since the War of 1812
100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regiment Combat Team fought in Italy and France
Philippine Scouts in WWII
Asian Americans served in Military Intelligence as translators, in covert operations and in the signal corps
Hispanic American
https://www.valerosos.com/65thinfcaspg1.html (The Borinqueneers-Korean Conflict)
https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/262 (The Bushmasters-WWII)
Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War
65th Infantry Regiment in WWI and Korea
Arizona National Guard's 158th Infantry Regiment in WWII
Texas National Guard's 141st Infantry Regiment in WWII
More than 80,000 Hispanic-Americans served in Vietnam
Native American
https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/military
https://www.dar.org/library/collections/dar-special-collections
Code Talkers - language encryption during WWI & II, Army and Marine Corps
Companies
Scouts