World War II Research and Writing Center

04/21/2026

I dreamt about searching Army Morning Reports on NARA all night. OH. MY. 😴

Long day of teaching ahead. First up, I'm teaching "Why Was Grandma So Mean?" at 12 for Mt Vernon Genealogical Society.

Tonight I have my WWII Army Small Group Coaching Event. Several new to me people registered and submitted questions. This will be a great session.

One great thing about these sessions is that each is similar but different. I always cover NARA Catalog and Fold3 searching but differs based on student needs. You can attend multiple times and always learn several new things.

There is still time to register. Find all current offers on my online course site.

https://www.ancestralsoulswisdomschool.com/store

04/20/2026

Last chance to register for tomorrow night's WWII Army Records Small Group Coaching session.

What We’ll Cover

In these guided group coaching sessions, you’ll learn how to:

Apply a two-step research strategy specific to Army Research
Build a Timeline of Service to clearly see the history, errors, and gaps

Locate the right records like Payroll, Rosters, Morning Reports, death records, and service files (not just the popular ones)

Navigate Fold3, Ancestry, FamilySearch, NARA Catalog, and branch-specific sources

Build context so records actually tell a story using unit level records specific to your soldier's service history

You receive an extensive Army focused workbook, checklists, records to review, 90-minutes of coaching and Q&A plus the replay.

Learn more and register here.

Webinars don't always work or provide you with the unique answers you require. This is where a coaching session can help.

04/17/2026

Last night's free Zoom - WWII Cafe was AMAZING! Probably the best yet!

We had deep discussions on NARA Catalog and all it's amazingness and pitfalls. We talked about CCC records. Helped someone new explore options to start research. Dove into some Fold3. Discussed places you can find a service/serial number and so much more.

If you'd like to join one of these free networking events, click the link and see upcoming dates. I typically run these 2-3 times a month. Each session is about 60-90 minutes.

Zoom meetings to help researchers and writers share project questions, successes, brick walls, and more.

04/16/2026

Are you joining us tonight (Free zoom) to discuss military and genealogy research? To network and learn something new?

Register now to save your spot.

Zoom meetings to help researchers and writers share project questions, successes, brick walls, and more.

04/16/2026

Individual Deceased Personnel Files (IDPFs) are filled with information on genealogy facts and military service. If you have anyone in your family who died WHILE in military service during WWII, Korea, or Vietnam, you need this file. If you lost someone in WWI - that file is called a Burial File and contains similar documents to the IDPF.

Learn more about what you might discover in these files in my article Genealogical Information in the WWII IDPF.

I've written before on the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) in both what documents they contain and how to access them. I have examples of these files under RESEARCH on this website. Today I'd like to talk about the genealogical information you can find within this file. Many genealogists t...

04/16/2026

OT CAPTURED | 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐎𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐤𝐮 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐮 𝐰𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐜

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT ZONE — Artifacts have been recovered from the wreck of the Japanese vessel Oryoku Maru in Subic Bay as the United States continues a major mission to locate and identify missing servicemen linked to one of World War II’s most tragic chapters. The recovery effort is being led by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which has described the operation as one of its largest and most complex underwater missions to date.

The Oryoku Maru was among the so-called “hell ships” used during the war to transport Allied prisoners of war under brutal conditions. In December 1944, the vessel was attacked and later sank in Subic Bay while carrying thousands of POWs, including many who had previously survived the Bataan Death March. Reports on the current mission said the wreck is believed to still hold the remains of American servicemen who were never brought home.

Recovered items from the wreck are being sent to a laboratory in Hawaii for further analysis and joint forensic review. Experts will examine the artifacts and any related material to help establish identities and better understand what happened during the final journey of the vessel. The effort is part of a long-running mission to account for American personnel still listed as missing from past wars.

The operation in Subic began in February 2026 after years of research and preparation. U.S. officials said the mission is being carried out in partnership with the U.S. Navy and the Philippine government, reflecting both the technical difficulty of the work and the historical importance of the site. The DPAA has said the mission forms part of a broader commitment to provide answers to families who have waited decades for information about loved ones lost in war.

Beyond the recovery of physical evidence, the mission carries deep emotional weight for relatives of the missing and for historians preserving the memory of wartime suffering in the Philippines. Each object brought up from the seabed may help investigators reconstruct events, confirm identities, and move closer to accounting for those who never returned.

While full identification work may take time, the mission has renewed attention on the Oryoku Maru and the human cost of the war at sea. For many families, the work in Subic Bay represents not only historical recovery, but the possibility of long-awaited closure.

Courtesy: Around Subic

04/15/2026

One thing that holds a lot of people back from actually finding military research answers is their lack of organization. They don't know what they have. They don't know what they need. They are unclear on the questions they'd like to answer. They don't have the tools they need to create structure, organization, and move a project forward.

Now available to help you get organized - two small group coaching dates! I will provide you with the tools and tips necessary to get organized and find answers.

Thursday, April 30, at 7:00 p.m. CST OR Tuesday, May 12 at 7:00 p.m. CST.

Click the link to learn more and save your spot!

https://www.ancestralsoulswisdomschool.com/organize-sgc

04/14/2026

Looking at Navy Muster Rolls on Ancestry. Whoever indexed these and put the enlistment date in must have been smoking something. Wrong wrong wrong for all the ones I'm looking at.

Tonight's WWII records small group coaching will also include some pre-WWI and between WWI-WWII research questions from one attendee. It's quite interesting. Some Army (pre-WWI) and Navy 1914-1940s (exact end date TBD).

Still time to register and join us.

Webinars don't always work or provide you with the unique answers you require. This is where a coaching session can help.

04/13/2026

Were you aware that if someone was MIA for one year plus one day, the military issued a FOD - Finding of Death. The FOD is the official death date of this individual so the family can deal with estate issues. The FOD is not always the date they actually died - especially if they were missing then a POW and died.

Are you aware that when someone was considered MIA during WWII, they were dropped from the rolls (Morning Reports, Navy Muster Rolls). But not the Marine Corps Muster Rolls.

The Marines moved people off Muster Rolls for their unit in which they went missing to the Prisoners of War Muster Rolls so you can still track them.

The USMC did this I suspect, because so many men and women went missing and "could" have been a prisoner of the Japanese. So FODs for them were often issued later 1945 and 1946 after the camps were cleaned out and graves examined.

So if you encounter a Marine who went missing in 1943 and given a FOD in 1946 - that could be one reason. No other branch kept potential prisoners in a different named Muster Roll/Morning Report, etc.

Register for one of my upcoming branch-specific group coaching sessions to learn tips like this and so much more. All upcoming programs are in my STORE. Just click the link.

https://www.ancestralsoulswisdomschool.com/store

04/12/2026

Last chance to register before it closes!

WWII Records Small Group Coaching
Tuesday, April 14 at 7:00 p.m. CST

In this 90-minute session I will answer you questions on military research from WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. We will walk through NARA Catalog, Fold3 and other sites to help you break down brick walls and find veteran answers. All attendees receive the replay.

Register today to save your spot!

Webinars don't always work or provide you with the unique answers you require. This is where a coaching session can help.

04/12/2026

Have you joined me for one of the free networking and research groups I run every month? The WWII Research and Writing Cafe.

A few times a month we gather to discuss, military research, writing, genealogy, family patterns, war trauma, ancestral healing, and more! Zooms run approximately 60-75 minutes and are free to join. Come make new friends and learn something new one of the dates in April and May!

Thurs. April 16 at 7:00 p.m. CST
Mon. April 20 at 10:00 a.m. CST
Tuesday, May 5 at 7:00 p.m. CST
Thursday, May 21 at 7:00 p.m. CST

Learn more and register at my online course site.

Zoom meetings to help researchers and writers share project questions, successes, brick walls, and more.