The Army Times reports that the New York State World War II Database is now available for research.
Volunteers at the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center have indexed and digitized 28,969 index cards for New York State soldiers called to active duty in the fall of 1940.
These records were created when President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8551 on 26 Sep 1940, ordering certain members of the National Guard into active military duty. The men of the New York Division reported for duty less than three weeks later when they assembled at their various armories around the state on 15 Oct 1940.
The volunteer organization reports:
A typical entry includes the service-member’s name, service number, branch of service, how they died–killed in action, non-battle death or died of wounds– the date they died, where they are buried and in some instances next-of-kin information. There are no service numbers available for Navy and Marine Corps deaths.
A researcher seeking to find New Yorkers who died on D-Day, June 6, 1944, for example, can identify service-members who died on that date to begin their search.
The two source books for information on World War II deaths – the Army’s World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing and the Navy’s State Summary of War Casualties-can be viewed online as a PDF at the National Archives website. But those documents are not searchable and the names are not available in a digital format, said Jim Gandy, the Assistant Librarian and Archivist at the New York State Military Museum.
Both lists of missing and dead Soldiers and Sailors were compiled and printed by the government in 1946. The Army’s book includes names for members of the United States Army Air Force, which later became the Air Force. The Navy book includes names of Marine Corps dead as well as Coast Guardsmen.
The 31,215 New Yorkers who died while serving in the Army and the Army Air Forces accounted for 10.10 percent of all Army casualties. During World War II New York contained 10.4 percent of the American population.
Of the New Yorkers who served in the Army and Army Air Forces, 2.81 percent were killed, died in a combat zone or went missing.
There were 6,270 New Yorkers who served in the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard who died during World War II. The Navy casualty list also includes 6,786 sailors who were wounded and 135 who were taken prisoner.
The New York State World War II Database, organized alphabetically by last name, is available to search here.
Data can also be accessed by downloading the entire spreadsheet in an Microsoft Excel format. To request a digital copy of the actual card, which can be sent by email or regular mail, send a check made payable to DMNA for $3.00 per name to:
NYS Military Museum
Attn: Research Center
61 Lake Ave.
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Please be sure to include the name and serial number of the person you are interested in and your email address if applicable when making requests of the New York State World War II Database.
For other Sassy Jane posts about World War II family history research, click here.
