We Will Be Remembered: Taylor Swift’s Grandfathers and Their Unsung Military Service

Today's post was written by Katherine Terry, archives technician at the National Archives at St. Louis Keep your helmet, keep your life, son Just a flesh wound, here’s your rifle Crawling up the beaches now “Sir, I think he’s bleeding out” And some things you just can’t speak about - “epiphany” In the vast landscape … Continue reading We Will Be Remembered: Taylor Swift’s Grandfathers and Their Unsung Military Service

Enlist in the Navy poster

SNACing with the PEPs: Discovering Henry Reuterdahl and his Compelling Artistic Relationship with the U. S. Navy

Today’s post is by Sarah Rigdon, an Archives Technician in the Research Room in the National Archives at St. Louis, MO. Like so many National Archives staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, I began searching for telework projects and creative ways to connect others with the records available to me in our Catalog, particularly in the … Continue reading SNACing with the PEPs: Discovering Henry Reuterdahl and his Compelling Artistic Relationship with the U. S. Navy

Lucy, Desi to Get 8 Million w/picture of Desi Arnaz & Lucille Ball smiling at each other

“Lucy, I’m Home!”…from the Army

Today's post was written by Christen Brown, Archives Technician in the Special Media Division at the National Archives in College Park, MD. Desiderio Alberto Arnaz, born March 2, 1917 in Santiago de Cuba, was an actor, musician, and producer best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the television sitcom I Love Lucy.  But, … Continue reading “Lucy, I’m Home!”…from the Army

Image of the First Twenty Navy Nurses Appointed in 1908. Sara M. Cox is identified by the red oval.

Navy Nurse Sara M. Cox

Today’s post is by Anna Csar, Expert Archives Technician at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis and Chair of the Women’s Affinity Group for the National Archives and Records Administration Sara M. Cox was an Army contract nurse during the Spanish-American War before joining the Army Nurse Corps in 1901, and then re-signing … Continue reading Navy Nurse Sara M. Cox

Photograph of John Werito.

John Werito Goes to War; A Story of a WWII Diné [Navajo] Code Talker

Today's post is written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records. Invaluable assistance to this blog was also provided by Cara Lebonick of the National Archives at St. Louis. The concept of using tribal languages as a battlefield code was first explored in … Continue reading John Werito Goes to War; A Story of a WWII Diné [Navajo] Code Talker

Hometown Hero: Walker Kirtland Hancock, St. Louis’s Monuments Man

Today's post comes to us from archivist Theresa Fitzgerald of the National Archives at St. Louis. Theresa has previously shared her expertise with us in a popular post on how to access veterans' records and today she applies that knowledge to another topic we love, the Monuments Men.   The recently released film, The Monuments Men, has garnered … Continue reading Hometown Hero: Walker Kirtland Hancock, St. Louis’s Monuments Man

Accessing veterans’ records

One of the most frequent kinds of research requests we receive concerns gaining access to military veterans' service records. To do our part to commemorate Veterans Day tomorrow, we've asked Theresa Fitzgerald of the Archives' National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis to write a post on everything you ever wanted to know about accessing … Continue reading Accessing veterans’ records