Memorial Day: A Search for Family

Records of service can be found on genealogy sites

(U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery/released)

Flags In

The approach of Memorial Day this year got me thinking about my uncles, all of whom served in World War II. None of them died in the war, so I guess this holiday is not made for them. But at Arlington National Cemetery, the flags are placed on more than 200,000 graves in the tradition called “Flags In.”

“At dawn on the Thursday morning prior to Memorial Day, soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (the Army’s official ceremonial unit, also known as The Old Guard) lead this revered tradition known as “Flags In.”

On May 23, 2024, Old Guard soldiers, with their rucksacks filled with American flags, spread out through the cemetery and methodically placed a booted toe against each headstone and columbarium niche. They then pressed a flag into the ground at their heel.”

Maybe it’s outside the tradition, but I want to press these flags today for my uncles.

I did not know all my uncles very well. Two of them, Uncle Paul and Uncle Mike (my mom called him “Meyer”), moved to California after leaving the service. I didn’t get to see them often, well… almost never. My sister grew up with them living in our apartment, but that was before I was born.

I had to do some research to find out more about them.

Military records, and more

Family research, for me, is only part of the value of the genealogical web sites. I use these sites all the time when backgrounding people or trying to locate people. I have family trees for dozens of families to which I have no connection. I pay $479 annually to the full access Ancestry.com which also includes the special military-oriented Fold3.com database and additional access to Newspapers.com. But there’s a Memorial Day Sale going on right now until May 28th, with 40% off on several options for 6-month subscriptions.

To find out about my family members’ military service, I used:

Ancestry.com Military Records (subscription only, but sometimes free access is offered on holidays)

Fold3.com (subscription only)

Fold3 has a feature for searching the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Note: you can also search the Vietnam combat deaths for free at the National Archives, not as easily accessible or updated:

Another free site, with many of the same vast sources of records, is Family Search, offered by the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Four uncles in World War II

Here’s the draft registration card for my Uncle Paul, who lost a leg in combat in World War II. Note that these are public records and open for any researcher.

Ancestry.com led me to a link for his gravestone, at FindaGrave.com, which has memorials, gravestones and obituaries for “Over 238 million memorials created by the community since 1995.”

This is the draft card for Uncle Mike, who served in both WWII and the Korean War, and apparently became a Christian.

You might notice that my family spelled the surname differently on different records.

My uncle Jules was married to Aunt Lillian. He was a short order cook, flipped the best pancakes ever. He was also injured in combat.

I don’t think the other uncles can be hurt now to find out that my Uncle Marty was my favorite - a kind, compassionate, and reasonable man, much loved. He married my Aunt Sara in 1948. And yes, you can find the marriage license index record in Ancestry.com. If you want the license itself: with the license record number found on Ancestry, you can search the NYC Municipal Archives for a digital copy.

I don’t know why his draft card is orange.

There is no gravestone photo of Uncle Marty’s grave at Mount Hebron cemetery. But his obituary can be found at Newspapers.com. It was published in Newsday in May 1989. It says he was “as small man, with a fondness for big cigars.”

To all the uncles: Thank you for your service.