Free W W II Records from Footnote

Free Access to WWII records from Footnote

In honor of Pearl Harbor Day, Footnote is offering free access to World War II records during the month of December.


The site offers basic service record information, plus images and military studies.



For example, a number of my uncles enlisted for WWII, so I did a search on my uncles Wiley and Marvin. I was able to find their service record by a mouse click on their name. Typical example gives enlistment information, such as year of birth, branch of service, date of enlistment and location. What I liked most was the serial number and source information (microfilm reel number and box number of the Army Enlistment records).


However, having spent some time on genealogy, I already had most of that information for my uncles, if not more. Footnote does have an option to enable you to add notes and images to their records. Using this feature, I was able to add some notes on Wiley's death in 1944.


What I was really interested in was tracking his Company information. I know that in August, 1941, Wiley was stationed in Iceland and part of Company C, 10th Infantry. I thought it might be interesting to try to follow his troop movements during WWII.





So, I started browsing Footnote's "WWII Allied Military Conference" to see if I could get an idea of his whereabouts after D-Day.


I suppose I should mention that the most annoying feature of the site is it's Java interface, which makes browsing very slow going for dial-up users.

Other than that, perhaps it might help you find some WWII information on your ancestors this holiday season.


http://www.footnote.com/

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Journal of Genetic Genealogy - Fall, 2009

The Journal of Genetic Genealogy (JoGG)
Fall Issue, 2009

The Fall issue of the Journal of Genetic Genealogy (JoGG) has just been released. The largest issue in their five year history, packed with a lot of material of interest to Genetic Genealogists. With over 220 pages, you should find about 10 articles and three reports in this issue.


Among the items of interest include an announcement from Whit Athey that he will retire as editor, being replaced by Blaine Bettinger. Many of you should recognize Whit as the creator of the Haplotype Predictor utility. Whit mentions that he has observed genetic genealogists move from dependence upon the scientific community for information, to the use of DNA now being led by "amateurs."


One article is from Roberta Estes, regarding the use of DNA with Native American dispersal and the Lost Colony of Roanoke. "Where Have All the Indians Gone? Native American Eastern Seaboard Dispersal, Genealogy and DNA in Relation to Sir Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony of Roanoke"


Another article is from Chris Pomery, "The Advantages of a Dual DNA/Documentary Approach to Reconstruct the Famiiy Trees of a Surname." Chris outlines a method for combining Y-DNA results with documentary evidence in order to reveal the origins of a surname.



There is also a "Special Section" here, regarding "Cluster Analysis and the TMRCA Problem." This includes about seven articles on:

Introduction by Whit Athey


An overview of the pitfalls and cutting edge views on topics related to calculating Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA). Whit looks at the use of mutation rates, transmissions, over-counting, rho, "genealogical structure factor," an "effective mutation rate" procedure, and more. Nice overview, if you want to take a deep dive into the following articles.


Y-STR Mountains in Haplospace, Part I: Methods by Peter Gwozdz



Y-STR Mountains in Haplospace, Part II: Application to Common Polish Clades by Peter Gwozdz


DNA Genealogy, Mutation Rates, and Some Historical Evidence Written in Y-Chromosome, Part I: Basic Principles and the Method by Anatole A. Klyosov

DNA Genealogy, Mutation Rates, and Some Historical Evidence Written in Y-Chromosome, Part II: Walking the Map

by Anatole A. Klyosov

The Use of Correlation Techniques for the Analysis of Pairs of Y-Chromosome DNA Haplotypes, Part I: Rationale, Methodology and Genealogy Time Scale

by William E. Howard

The Use of Correlation Techniques for the Analysis of Pairs of Y-Chromosome DNA Haplotypes, Part II: Application to Surname and Other Haplotype Clusters

by William E. Howard

You will find the fall isuue of JoGG at:

http://www.jogg.info/

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CNN DNA Genealogy Article

CNN is running an article today about the use of DNA for family research. Written by Steve Mollman, it's a story of how DNA research surprised two genealogists on different continents.


About three months ago, Kevin Shepherdson in Singapore discovered a DNA match to Thomas Kurowski of Rhode Island (Thomas Kurwoski is of Polish descent). The two never knew each other.




Shepherdson is a seasoned genealogist, and has since found that they connect from a pair of English brothers who served as Captains in the British East India Company during the 1700's.

The article also includes a few graphics (such as pictured above) about the fundamentals of DNA testing.


You can read the full article here:


http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/09/dna.families/



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