Are you curious about some family member or friend who served in the US military during World War II? If so, go to Ancestry.com during the next several days and you can search a variety of their records for free. Normally, this is a paid site starting at $13 a month, but in honor of the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor day they have opened up their various archives temporarily to help researchers.
You can examine the seven million records of the U.S. Navy Muster Rolls from 1938-1949. These include the location, rank and other information about nearly all enlisted personnel who served aboard Navy ships during those years. There is also information on individual draft cards, Army enlistment records, Veterans Affairs departmental files and cemetery records too.
WWII buffs might also appreciate following this Twitter account which “live” tweets as if it was the same date and time, just back in 1939. You can see examples of some of them above. You have to be a real history nut to recognize any of the events, but the stream does server as a reminder of how much of the world was involved in this war and how the little events that our modern live tweeters have witnessed can add up to a whole cloth, thread by thread.
