Electronic Records Available Online for Genealogy or Other Personal Research
Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division Reference Report
Introduction
I. Digital Records from the World War II Era
II. Digital Records from the Korean War
III. Digital Records from the Vietnam War
IV. Other Digital Records that Identify Individuals
Related Information
Contact Us
Introduction
This reference report is a partial listing of electronic records series and files that may be useful for genealogical or other personal research. All of the records in this report can be accessed online through the Access to Archival Databases 
resource available on the Web at: www.archives.gov/aad. Titles for individual series are followed by data file names, which are italicized. As computerized data files, the records are also available on removable media for a cost-recovery fee. For more information see: Ordering Information for Electronic Records.
These series are also described in NARA's Archival Research Catalog (ARC). Researchers can use the ARC ID number such as (ARC ID: 604357) following a series title as a short cut in the ARC search engine to find a description of that series in ARC. Researchers should also use ARC or contact the reference staff to learn about electronic records that are not accessible through AAD.
I. Digital Records from the World War II Era
Record Group 38: Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations- Records of Duty Locations for Naval Intelligence Personnel, 1942 - 1945
ARC ID: 603333
File Unit: Naval Group China Muster Roll and Report of Change Punch Cards
This data file contains information about the military intelligence personnel attached to Naval Group China during World War II.
- World War II Army Enlistment Records, 6/1/2002 - 9/30/2002
ARC ID: 604357
File Unit: Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946
This file contains the records of approximately nine million enlistments in the United States Army, including the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, ca. 1938 through 1946. This file unit consists of two data tables:
- Enlistment Records: The Army Serial Number Enlistment Card Records table has records for almost 9 million men and women who enlisted in the Army and Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.
- Reserve Corps Records: The Army Serial Number Reserve Corps Statistical Card Records table has records for approximately 300,000 reservists in the Enlisted Reserve Corps.
- Enlistment Records: The Army Serial Number Enlistment Card Records table has records for almost 9 million men and women who enlisted in the Army and Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.
- Records About Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1988 - 1989
ARC ID: 574045
File Unit: [Japanese-American Internee Data File], 1942-1946
This data file contains information about Japanese-Americans relocated to 10 camps during World War II by the War Relocation Authority (WRA).
- Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942 - 1947
ARC ID: 583428
File Unit: World War II Prisoners of War Data File
During the Second World War, the Prisoner of War Information Bureau, Office of the Provost Marshal U.S. Army, produced a series of IBM punchcard records on U.S. military and civilian prisoners of war and internees, as well as for some Allied internees. These records were taken from lists of POWs routinely sent by the International Red Cross Committee in Bern, Switzerland.
- World War II Prisoners of the Japanese Data Files, 4/2005 - 10/2007
ARC ID: 731002
File Unit: World War II Prisoners of the Japanese File, 2007 Update
This series contains information on military personnel and a few civilians who were prisoners of the Japanese during World War II. The American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor compiled these records from the series "Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947," the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor registration cards, unit rosters, and other sources.
II. Digital Records from the Korean War
Record Group 15: Records of the Veterans Administration- Records of Repatriated Korean War Prisoners of War, 1978 - 1980
ARC ID: 583582
File Unit: Repatriated Korean Conflict Prisoners of War, 7/5/1950-10/6/1954
The Veterans Administration created this data file as part of its Study of Former Prisoners of War required by the Veterans' Disability Compensation and Survivors Benefits Act of 1978.
- Records of American Prisoners of War During the Korean War, 1950 - 1953
ARC ID: 583429
File Unit: [Korean War Data File of American Prisoners of War]
This database has records for 4,714 U.S. military prisoners of war (POWs) during the Korean War. Some of the personnel identified in this series of records are identified as having died in captivity in the series "Records on Korean War Dead and Wounded Army Casualties, 1950-1970" or in the series, "Records of Military Personnel Who Died as a Result of Hostilities During the Korean War, ca. 1977 - 11/1979."
- Records of Military Personnel Who Died as a Result of Hostilities During the Korean War, ca. 1977 - 11/1979
ARC ID: 571686
File Unit: Korean Conflict Casualty File, 1/1/1950-2/7/1957
This data file contains selected descriptive data about U.S. military personnel who died by hostile means (i.e. battle deaths) as a result of combat duty in the Korean War.
- Records on Korean War Dead and Wounded Army Casualties, 1950 - 1970
ARC ID: 583580
File Unit: Korean War Casualty File, 2/13/1950-12/31/1953
This data file contains records of fatal and non-fatal Army casualties from the Korean Conflict including those of Army personnel who were prisoners of war or missing in action.
III. Digital Records from the Vietnam War
Record Group 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense- Records on Military Personnel Who Died, Were Missing in Action or Prisoners of War as a Result of the Vietnam War, 1/20/1967 - 12/1998
ARC ID: 306742
File Unit: Combat Area Casualties Current File, 6/8/1956-1/21/1998
This file contains records of U.S. military personnel who died as a result of either a hostile or nonhostile occurrence in the Southeast Asian combat area during the Vietnam War, including casualties that occurred in Cambodia, China, Laos, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and Thailand.
File Unit: Combat Area Casualties Returned Alive File, 5/1/1962-3/22/1979
The records in this data file are limited to U.S. military personnel who returned to U.S. military control after having been missing or captured during of the conflict in the defined Southeast Asian combat area.
- Records of Deceased, Wounded, Ill, or Injured Army Personnel, Including Dependents and Civilian Employees, 1/1/1961 - 12/1981
ARC ID: 641697
File Unit: [File from the U.S. Army] Casualty Information System
This data file contains records of U.S. Army personnel (including civilian and dependents) worldwide who suffered fatal and non-fatal battle and non-battle casualties. Records for missing in action and prisoners of war are included.
- Records of Awards and Decorations of Honor During the Vietnam War, 5/1969 - 3/1973
ARC ID: 604413
File Unit: Awards and Decorations System (AWADS) Translated File
This file contains information about some of the awards and decorations of honor given to U.S. and allied foreign military personnel.
- Records with Unit Information on Military Personnel Who Died During the Vietnam War, ca. 1983 - 12/18/2005
ARC ID: 571687
File Unit: The Coffelt Database Unit Identifiers, December 2005 Update
This database provides unit and related organizational information on U.S. military personnel who died as a result of either a hostile occurrence, including while missing in action or while prisoner of war, or non-hostile occurrence in the Southeast Asian combat area during the Vietnam War. The project was the work of Richard D. Coffelt, Richard J. Arnold and David L. Argabright, with the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association and The Virtual Wall contributing significant additional information.
IV. Other Digital that Identify Individuals
Record Group 185: Records of the Panama Canal- Index to the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary Registers, 1979 - 1991
ARC ID: 570981
File Unit: Index to the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary Death Records, 1906-1991
This database served as a necrology (death list) and partial index to the mortuary's registers and contains records representing 26,213 of the over 45,000 U.S. military personnel, Panama Canal Commission employees, and Canal Zone civilians whose remains were processed through the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary between 1906 and 1991.
- Records About the Proposed Sale of Unregistered Securities by Individuals, 1/4/1972 - 9/29/2000
ARC ID: 567822
File Units: Proposed Sale of Securities (PSS), 1/4/1972-12/30/1993;
Proposed Sale of Securities (PSS), 5/11/1994-9/30/1999;
Proposed Sale of Securities (PSS), 1/3/1999-9/29/2000
The records in the Proposed Sale of Securities (PSS) system contain data filed on Form 144, a notification to the SEC of the owner's intent to resell unregistered securities. The information on Form 144 assisted the SEC in uncovering and preventing illegal insider trading in securities by both corporations and stockholders. The records have information on the security name, names of the issuer, seller, and broker-dealer and the seller's relationship to the issuer.
- Records on Trading of Securities by Corporate Insiders, 7/11/1978 - 3/12/2001
ARC ID: 572696
File Units: [File from the] Ownership Reporting System (ORS), 7/11/1978-8/10/1978
through [File from the] Ownership Reporting System (ORS), 1/11/1998-3/12/2001
The 138 Ownership Reporting System (ORS) data files contain records of "insider trading" and security transactions and holdings in securities by people with beneficial ownership of securities, primarily officers, directors and principal stockholders of a corporation.
- National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel Files, 1954 - 1970
ARC ID: 622629
File Unit: 1954 National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel
This series contains data compiled from social and natural scientists who responded to survey questionnaires sent to them by professional organizations. Professional organizations that collaborated included the American Institute of Biological Sciences; the American Chemical Society; the Federaltion of American Societies for Experimental Biology; the American Geological Institute; the American Mathematical Society; the American Institute of Physics; the American Psychological Association; and the American Meteorological Society.
The Center for Immigration Research (CIR), The Balch Institute, Temple University produced these files by extracting information from ship passenger lists in the records of the U.S. Customs Service (NARA Record Group 36).
- Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Germans to the United States, ca. 1977 - 2002
ARC ID: 566634
File Unit: Germans to America Passenger Data File, 1850 - 1897
This file contains records of 4,048,907 passengers who arrived at the United States between 1850 through 1897; about 90 percent identified their country of origin or nationality as Germany or a "German" state, city, or region. In about 10 percent of the records, passengers identified their country of origin or nationality as France, Luxemburg, Switzerland, United States, and other places. There are records of passengers arriving at the following ports: Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia; the bulk of the records are of passengers arriving at the Port of New York.
File Unit: Manifest Header Data File, 1834 - ca. 1900
This file contains information on each ship, including the ship manifest identification number, the name of the ship, the code for its port of departure, and date of arrival. The same file is part of the Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Italians to the United States and Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Russians to the United States.
- Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Italians to the United States, ca. 1977 - 2002
ARC ID: 566637
File Unit: Italians to America Passenger Data File, 1855 - 1900
This file contains records of 845,368 passengers who arrived at the United States between 1855 through 1900; about 99 percent identified their country of origin or nationality as Italy or one of the following Italian regions: Lombardy, Piedmont, Sardinia, Sicily, or Tuscany. Some records are of passengers who identified their country of origin as England, France, Germany, Spain, or United States. Most of the records are of passengers arriving at the Port of New York, although there are some records of passengers arriving at the following ports: Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, and Philadelphia.
File Unit: Manifest Header Data File, 1834 - ca. 1900
This file contains information on each ship, including the ship manifest identification number, the name of the ship, the code for its port of departure, and date of arrival. The same file is part of the Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Germans to the United States and Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Russians to the United States.
- Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Russians to the United States, ca. 1977 - 2002
ARC ID: 566638
File Unit: Russians to America Passenger Data File, 1834 - 1897
This file contains records of 527,394 passengers who arrived at the United States between 1834 through 1897 and identified their country of origin or nationality as Armenia, Finland, Galicia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Russian Poles, or Ukraine. There are records of passengers arriving at the following ports: Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia; the bulk of the records are of passengers arriving at the Port of New York.
File Unit: Manifest Header Data File, 1834 - ca. 1900
This file contains information on each ship, including the ship manifest identification number, the name of the ship, the code for its port of departure, and date of arrival. The same file is part of the Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Germans to the United States and Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Italians to the United States.
- Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine, 1977 - 1989
ARC ID: 569666
File Unit: Famine Irish Passenger Record Data File (FIPAS)
This file contains information about passengers who arrived at the Port of New York during the era of the Irish Potato Famine, 1846-1851.
File Unit: List of Ships that Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine
These records contain ship names, ports of embarkation, arrival dates, and the number of passengers on the ship.
- Index to the Donated Copy of the Records of the Trust, 1981 - 1986
ARC ID: 571559
File Unit: Index to the Records of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
This index was created, most recently, by the Office of Archives, Office of the High Commissioner, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The index includes personal names of authors and businesses and provides access to 2200 rolls of microfilm in the custody of the (U.S.) National Archives and Records Administration. The microfilm contains the records of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) during its governance by the United States through a Trusteeship Agreement with the United Nations.
Related Information
NARA's Archival Research Catalog (ARC): type "war casualties" for state-level lists of casualties from World War II.State-level Lists of Casualties from the Korean War (1951-1957) and Vietnam War (1956-)
Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division Reference Report, Electronic Records of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
NARA Reference Information Paper 90, Records Relating to American Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War Era, 1960-1994
Theodore J. Hull, "Electronic Records of Korean and Vietnam War Casualties," Prologue (Spring 2000).
Theodore J. Hull, "The World War II Army Enlistment Records File and Access to Archival Databases," Prologue (Spring 2006).
NARA's Genealogists/Family Historians Web Pages
Links and Web Sites of Genealogical Interest
Contact Us
Reference Services
Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division (NWME)
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College Park, MD 20740-6001
(301) 837-0470
e-mail: cer@nara.gov
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