World War I: Rain Day Boys

Finding a name listed in the BIRLS database means that you can make a free FOIA request for a copy of that deceased veteran's full VA claims file, which may contain hundreds of pages of never-before-seen biographical and historical material about the veteran, their military service, and their interactions with the VA. These files are an incredible resource about the lives of American veterans who served from the late nineteenth century up through the present day. (Description from website.)

This collection contains an index to veterans who served at any time during World War I and who made (or whose heirs made) pension or benefits claims of the Veterans Administration between 1917 and 1940.

The Military Personnel Records is the repository of millions of military personnel, health, and medical records of discharged and deceased veterans of all services during the 20th century. (Records prior to WWI are in Washington, DC.) Many records were destroyed by fire in the St. Louis Center in 1973.

Pennsylvania Residents: If you are a Pennsylvania resident, you can enjoy FREE access to records digitized via the partnership between the Pennsylvania State Archives and Ancestry.com. This access requires a FREE Ancestry.com Pennsylvania account. To begin, visit Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, enter your zip code in the form at the bottom of the page, and follow the subsequent link to the Ancestry.com Pennsylvania search page.

Pennsylvania Residents: If you are a Pennsylvania resident, you can enjoy FREE access to records digitized via the partnership between the Pennsylvania State Archives and Ancestry.com. This access requires a FREE Ancestry.com Pennsylvania account. To begin, visit Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, enter your zip code in the form at the bottom of the page, and follow the subsequent link to the Ancestry.com Pennsylvania search page.

This register includes the records for those buried and memorialized at our World War I and World War II overseas military cemeteries, along with those names on the Walls of the Missing at the East Coast Memorial, West Coast Memorial, and Honolulu Memorial. Burial information can also be found for those interred at Corozal American Cemetery and Mexico City National Cemetery. This register does not include individuals who died overseas in World War I or World War II and were repatriated to the United States for burial.

Search graves of US soldiers buried in military cemeteries on American soil.