(This page's most recent update is October 2024)
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Military records are yet another very useful set of records that will help you find more about your ancestors. There are a ton of records that are available for free online, and there are some very robust collections (such as Fold3 and Ancestry) that have sizable online military collections as well.
Typically, military records online fall into 5 different categories:
- Military Service Records:
Includes enlistment information, such as location and date enlisted. Also includes demographic information, such as full name, birth date and location, residence, and occupation, plus contact information of next of kin, medical and military information, and unit assignations while in the military. - Selective Service Records:
Includes full name, residence, age, occupation, marital status, birthplace, contact information, physical description, and other information. - Bounty Land Warrant Applications:
Includes similar information as in service records as well as other information. Only used between 1775 and 1855. - Pension Records:
Will include birth, marriage, and death records, demographic information, plus information about the spouse, and possibly children. - Special Records:
May include information if the person was a prisoner of war, was wounded or killed in action. 1910-1940 Census Records include questions about military service. Includes those buried in Veteran’s cemeteries.
A good primer on Military Records is found on FamilySearch’s Military Records page, available on their wiki.
Note: Some links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.
Below, listed by state are links to military records that are available for free online. Included in each state’s page are links to free nationwide collections since there are a sizable number of collections that are available for the entire country.
Michigan Military Records
National
- American Battle Monuments Commission – Korean War Honor Roll
- American Battle Monuments Commission Burials Database
- American Prisoners of War During the Korean War, 1950-1953
- Burial Registers for Military Posts, Camps, and Stations,1768-1921
- Card Register of Burials of Deceased American Soldiers, 1917 – 1922
- Casualties of Army Personnel, Dependents and Civilian Employees, 1961-1981
- Casualties of the Vietnam War, 1956-1998
- Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, 1890
- Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917
- Civil War Confederate Applications for Pardons, 1865-1867
- Civil War Confederate Papers of Citizens or Businesses, 1861-1865
- Civil War Records of Confederate Nonregiment Soldiers, 1861-1865
- Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865
- Civil War Service Records of Union Colored Troops, 1863-1865
- Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1864-1866
- Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database
- Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865
- Civil War Unfiled Papers of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865
- Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files, 1861-1934
- Compiled Military Service Records Of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served With The Colored Troops, 1861-1866
- Confederate Navy and Marine Service Records, 1861-1865 Images only.
- Confederate Officers Card Index, 1861-1865
- Doughboy MIA Database 1917-1918
- Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916-1939
- General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 Index Only.
- Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1949
- Index to General Correspondence of the Pension Office, 1889-1904 Index only.
- Index to Indian Wars Pension Files, 1892-1926
- Index to Naturalizations of World War I Soldiers, 1918
- Index to Service Records, War with Spain, 1898
- Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946
- Japanese Registers of POWs WWII, Index.
- Korean War Battle Deaths, 1950-1957
- Korean War Dead and Army Wounded, 1950-1953
- Korean War POW/MIA List
- Korean War Repatriated Prisoners of War, 1950-1954
- Lists of Fatal Casualties of the Korean War (6/28/1950 – 3/10/1954) and the Vietnam War (6/8/1956 – 5/28/2006)
- Mexican War Index and Service Records, 1846-1848
- Mexican War Pension Index, 1887-1926
- Mexican War Soldiers & Sailors Database
- Military Personnel Who Died During the Vietnam War, 1956-2003
- Mormon Battalion Pension Applications, 1846-1923, Index
- Muster Rolls of the Marine Corps, 1798-1937, Index and Images
- National Archives, Archival Databases, Civil War
- National Archives, Archival Databases, Korean War
- National Archives, Archival Databases, Vietnam War
- National Archives, Archival Databases, World War II
- National Cemetery Administration – Nationwide Gravesite Locator
- National Graves Registration Database
- National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938 Partial Index and Images.
- National Park Service – US Mexican War Soldiers and Sailors Database
- National Society Daughters of 1812 – Ancestor Database
- Naval Enlistment Rendezvous, 1855-1891, Index and Images
- Navy Widows’ Certificates, 1861-1910, Index
- Never Forgotten, Taiwan POW List
- Old War Pension Index, 1815-1926
- Original Mormon Battalion Roster – Mormon Battalion Association
- Pearl Harbor Casualty List
- Prisoners of the First World War
- Records of Confederate Prisoners of War, 1861-1865
- Records of Headstones of Deceased Union Veterans, 1879-1903
- Register of Confederates and Civilians Who Died in the North,1861-1865
- Registers of Enlistments in the Army, 1798-1914
- Remarried Widows Index to Pension Applications, 1887-1942
- Revolutionary War Compiled Service Records, 1775-1783
- Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, 1800-1900
- Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872
- Revolutionary War Records – Daughters of the American Revolution
- Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783
- Revolutionary War, Virginia Pension Application Files, 1830-1875
- Roster of All Regimental Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons in the Late War, with the Service, and last-known Post-office Address (1882)” Compiled by N. A. Strait. The Text is Searchable.
- Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783
- Service Personnel Not Recovered Following WWII
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Military Servicemen in World War I Records
- United States French Combatants in the Revolutionary War, 1778-1783
- Veteran’s Administration Master Index, 1917-1940
- Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- Vietnam War POW/MIA List
- War of 1812 Index to Pension Application Files, 1812-1910
- War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 1812-1815
- War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
- War Relocation Authority Centers, Final Accountability Rosters, 1942-1946
- World War I American Expeditionary Forces Deaths, 1917-1919
- World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
- World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
- World War II Casualties for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard
- World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
- World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
- World War II Prisoners of War of the Japanese, 1941-1945
- World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1945
- WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualties
- YMCA World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919
Michigan
- 1813 Pension List
- 1818 Pension List
- 1835 Pension Roll
- 1840 Census of Pensioners
- 1883 List of Pensioners on the Roll
- Allegan County, Card File of Veterans, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, Spanish-American War, WW I, WW II, Korean, and Viet Nam War, ca. 1776-1975
- Allegan County, Civil War Card File, ca. 1862-1915
- Allegan County, Indigent Soldiers & Sailors
- Benzie County, Miscellaneous Record, Vol. 1, 1869-1892
- Berrien County, Burial Report of Indigent Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, 1885-1893 and 1910-1921
- Berrien County, Record of Soldiers Discharges 1866-1899
- Compiled Military Service Records of Michigan and Illinois Volunteers Who Served during the Winnebago Indian Disturbances, 1827
- Delta County, Stories of the Pioneers & Civil War Veterans
- Fort Wilkins, Keweenaw County, General Record 1846
- GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Cemetery Index, Michigan, ca. 1800s-1900s
- Grand Traverse County, Miscellaneous Record, V. 1, 1861-1886
- Graves of Revolutionary Soldiers Buried in the State of Michigan
- Hillsdale County Soldiers and Sailors in Service during the World War
- Hillsdale County, Revolutionary Soldiers lives and Lineages
- Hillsdale County, Soldier, Sailor and Marine Burial Reports, 1886-1922, 1945-1958]
- Hillsdale County, Soldiers Discharge Records, 1861-1869
- Holly and Northwest Oakland County, Service Records, World War II:
- Honor Roll and Complete War History of Genesee County, in the Great World War, 1914-1918.
- Honor Roll and War History of Ingham County, in the Great World War, 1914 to 1918
- Honor Roll: Cheboygan County
- Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served from the State of Michigan during the Patriot War, 1838-1839
- Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Michigan
- Ingham County, Soldiers Discharges, 1863-1865
- Jackson County, Servicemen’s Record, World War II
- Jackson County, Census of Civil War Veterans Living in Michigan, 1888
- Jackson County, Claims for Exemption from Draft for Military Duty, 1863-1864
- Jackson County, List of male Citizens liable for Military Duty, 1862-1879
- Kalamazoo County, An Honor Roll of the War Service of the Men and Women, 1917-1918-1919
- Kent County, World War 1 Veterans Census
- Korean Conflict State-Level Casualty Lists – Michigan
- Lapeer County, Miscellaneous Record, V. 1, 1845-1960
- Lenawee County, Civil War Military Surname Card File, 1859-1866
- Lenawee County, World War II Military Surname Card File Index, 1939-1948
- Mecosta County, Record of Soldiers and Sailors in Service in the Great War, 1918-1919
- Michigan – Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Databases
- Michigan in the Civil War, 1861-1865
- Michigan in the Mexican War
- Michigan in the War
- Michigan in the War
- Michigan in the World War: Military and Naval Honors of Michigan Men and Women
- Michigan Medal of Honor winners in the Civil War
- Michigan Men in the Civil War
- Michigan Military Establishment Regimental Service Records, 1861-1865
- Michigan Military Records
- Michigan Military Records, Records of the Revolutionary Soldiers Buried in Michigan; the Pensioners of Territorial Michigan; and the Soldiers of Michigan awarded the Medal of Honor
- Michigan Selective Service System Registration Cards [World War II]: Fourth Registration
- Michigan Soldiers and Sailors Individual Records, Alphabetical General Index to 85,271 Names
- Michigan Women in the Civil War
- Michigan, Census of World War I Veterans with Card Index, 1917-1919
- Michigan, Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, Committee on Civil War Grave Registration, Burial Records
- Michigan, Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), Cemetery Index, 1799-1999
- Michigan, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1876-1945
- Michigan, List of Pensioners on the Roll, 1883
- Michigan, Military Discharge Records, ca.1847 – ca.1965
- Michigan, World War I American Expeditionary Forces, Deaths, 1917-1919
- Michigan, World War I Card Index for Michigan
- Michigan, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1947
- Michigan, World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing
- Military Records, 1905-1908
- Oakland County, Miscellaneous Records, Vols. 1-2, 1836-1906
- Pensioners of Revolutionary War Struck Off The Roll
- Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers in the Civil War, 1861-1865
- Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers in the Civil War, 1861-1865
- Records Relating to Military Service in the Civil War of Medal of Honor winners from Michigan
- Reminiscences, incidents, Battles, marches and Camp Life of the Old 4th Michigan Infantry in War of Rebellion, 1861 to 1864
- Revolutionary War Graves of Soldiers Buried in Michigan
- Saginaw County, Record of Saginaw County Soldiers and Sailors in Service in the Great War, 1918-1919
- Sanilac County, Miscellaneous Records, Vol. 1, 1866-1889
- St. Joseph County, Soldiers and Sailors in Service in the Great War
- St. Joseph County, Burial Record of Indigent Soldiers, etc., of St. Joseph County, Michigan, 1906-1917
- The Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, Residents Index
- The Vietnam Veterans Memorial – Michigan
- Tuscola County, Civil War Veterans Buried in Michigan
- Tuscola County, Record of Soldiers Discharges: Civil War Veterans, 1861-1919
- Vietnam Conflict State-Level Casualty Lists – Michigan
- War of 1812 Pensioners in Michigan, 1883
- Washtenaw County, List of Volunteers furnished by the County for the Support of the Government and the suppression of the Rebellion, during the Years 1861-1865
- Washtenaw County, Families of Volunteers Requiring Relief, 1861-1866
- World War II Newspaper War Records, St. Joseph County (Mich.), Service Men and Women
- World War One Veterans Census
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
One reply on “Free Online Michigan Military Records”
I am trying to find records and information on Beatrice Adams. She was a member of the U.S. Citizens Defense Corps of Michigan, Staff Corps of Adrian. The document of membership states: Staff Corps of Adrian having been appointed Director of Office of Civilian Defense. Signed by Karl B. Hoch, Local Commander, Donald L, (I can’t read the last name), Director of Civilian Defense for Michigan, and the Governor, Harry F. Kelly. Can you help me with this?