When researching volunteers who served in the military for a particular war, start with the compiled military service records. Begin by searching the appropriate name indexes on the National Archives microfilm at https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline and ordering if found.

If the compiled military service records have not been reproduced on microfilm, researchers may request to see the original records at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.

For recent records, most veterans and their next-of-kin can obtain free copies of their DD Form 214 (Report of Separation) and other military and medical records. The easiest way to do this is to use the eVetsRecs system to create the request: https://vetrecs.archives.gov/VeteranRequest/home.html (Information referenced from the National Archives website: https://archives.gov) –Aimee McDaniel