WW2 Military Records Research

WW2 Researcher Bill Beigel, M.A.

My name is Bill Beigel; I am a professional military records researcher and historian, specializing in World War II military records for veterans who survived the war, as well as WWII casualties. In addition to locating all available records, I piece together the stories that are vital to keeping their memories alive, and to connecting their stories with their families and communities.

You may have discovered that researching World War II-era military records can be confounding. Millions of U.S. military personnel files were destroyed by fire in 1973. Files that remain are difficult to locate, usually come from a multitude of sources, and once found, are difficult to interpret.

Researching military records can also be profoundly emotional, especially if you’re researching the records of a family member, as most of my clients are.

Personal, Professional Research Assistance

As a professional military researcher and historian, I have researched military service records and pieced together veterans’ stories for well over a thousand clients, locating nearly two thousand veterans’ files to-date. Most of the records I researched between 1998 and 2016 were casualty files – that is, stories of men who lost their lives while in service in World War II, whether they are laid to rest in the U.S., unlocated or unlocatable, or buried somewhere overseas.

In response to requests from clients and readers of my WW2 blog, I expanded my list of services and added more ways that I can work with people who are searching for U.S. military personnel and unit records from World War II.

The information that I research is not available on the Internet, or through any single source. Even outside the Internet, there is no single resource, library, or database that contains all U.S. military casualty records from World War II.

What You’ll Find here

This web site is intended as a resource to connect people with the stories of Americans who served in World War II, to honor their service, and to remember the sacrifices of those who became casualties of the largest conflict in human history.

This site contains resources to:

• Search my WW2 Casualties Database (a work-in-progress)
• Request research help to locate an individual’s military service or casualty records
• Request research help to find unit records
• Read stories about the heroes I’ve researched in my WW2 Blog
• Pitch in to help me complete the database with names of all 407,000 American WW2 casualties

You do not have to be a relative of a U.S. veteran to research military files from World War 2 and certain files from subsequent wars. In fact, you can request my help to research any individual, unit, squadron, vessel, or everyone who served from a school or university, city, county, state, etc.

To learn more, visit my FAQ page, search my database, request a customized research project through my contact page, or email me directly.

Please click here to sign up for my newsletter to read stories about men that I research, along with other periodic news and updates. Thank you for visiting my web site.

Sincerely,

William L. (Bill) Beigel, M.A.
WW2 Researcher and Historian