This information is from the book Compendium of Historiiical Sources by Ronald Bremer. It is not the whole content. The book is published by Everton Publishers, and I have a link to their home page listed on my main page.
"Those Who Served"
(Source) Veterans Administration
American Revolution (1775-1784)
Participants 260,000 Deaths in Service 4435 killed 6188 wounded
Last Veteran, Daniel F Blakeman died, 5 May 1869 age 109
Last Widow, Catherine S Damoh died, 1 Nov 1906 age 92
Last Dependent, Phoebe M Palmate died, 25 May 1911 age 90
War of 1812 (1812-1815)
Participants 286,730 Deaths in Service 2260 killed 4505 wounded
Last Veteran, Hiram Cronk died, 13 May 1905 age 105
Last Widow, Carolina King died, 28 June 1936 age ?
Last Dependent, Esther A.H. Morgan died, 12 March 1946 age 89
Mexican War (1846-1848)
Participants 115,844 Deaths in Service 1733 killed 4152 wounded
Last Veteran, Owen Thomas Edgar died, 3 Sept 1929 age 98
Last Widow, Lena James Theobald died, 20 June 1963 age 89
Last Dependent, Jesse G Bivens died, 1 Nov 1962 age 94
Indian Wars (Approximately 1817-1898)
Participants 106,000 Deaths in Service 1,000
Last Veteran, Frederick Fraske died, 18 June 1973 age 101
Spanish-Amerrican War (1989-1902)
Participants 306,760 Deaths in Sevice 385 killed 1662 wounded
Living Veterans in 1981 296
Civil War (1861-1865)
Participants (Union) 2,213,000 (Confederate) 1,000,000
Deaths in Service (Union) 364,000
(Confederate) 133,821
(Total Deaths) 597,821
Last Union Veteran, Albert Woolson died, 2 Aug. 1956 age 109
Last Union Veteran, Walter W Williams died, 19 Dec 1959 age 117
World War I (1914-1918)
Participants 4,763,826
Deaths in Service 53,514 killed 204,002 wounded
Living Veterans in 1981 667,000
World War II (1940-1947)
Participants 16,535,000 Deaths in Service 406,000
Living Veterans in 1981 12,902,000
Korean Conflict (1950-1953)
Participants 6,807,000 Deaths in Service 55,000
Living Veterans in 1981 5,897,000
Vietnam Era (1964-1975)
Participants 9,834,000
Deaths in Service (Hostile Action) 47,000 (Other Causes) 62,000
Living Veterans in 1981 8,735,000
LOCATING OLD FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
To aid those who are searching for old friends, each branch of the military maintains a locator service. To use these services, write a letter to your old friend, including your return address, and seal it in a stamped envelope with the friend's name written clearly on the front.
Write all the information you can remember about the person you are trying to contact: full name, date of birth, home of record, service unit. This may provide enough data to enable a reasonable records search.
Place your friend's envelope into another envelop along with the information you have provided and mail it to:
Army
Army reserve Personnel Center
9700 Page Blvd
St Louis, MO 63132
Marine Corps
Commandant
Marine Corps (MHP-30)
Washington DC 20380-0001
Coast Guard
Commandant
Retired Military Affairs Branch (G-PS-1)
US Coast Guard
Washington DC
Air force
HC AFMPC/MPCD 003
Northeast Office
9505 IH 35 North
San Antonio TX 73233-66366
Navy
Commanding Officer
Navy Finance Center
Cleveland, OH 44199-2058
The same procedure may be used if a veteran is receiving benefits from the Veterans Administration. Send your letter and information to the nearest Veterans Regional Office.
The National Personal Records Center
The National Personal Records Center (NPRC), a branch of the National Archives and Records Service (NARS) is the official government repository for personal records of former members of the U.S. military and former civilian employees of the government. The facility housing military records (MPR) is located at 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63132.
The major mission of NPRC is to maintain and provide reference service on military and civilian personnel records. Requests for service pour in at a rate of, per week at MPR. Most requests pertain to proof of honorable military service in prder to qualify individuals for a variety of benefits, for academic records, for individual medical files and for a variety of other purposes, both individual and organizational. These requests come mainly from the veterans themselves and their survivors, or from the VA, in order to provide educational, medical, housing and other benefits to veterans. They also come from other government agencies, potential employers, funeral directors, and police and courts. In addition to requests regarding individual files, the center also receives and responds to requests for historical information from a variety of researchers.
The enormous holdings of NPRC may sometimes be overwhelming to the uninitiated. MPR maintains almost million Army personnel jackets, over four million Air force jackets, well over million Navy personnel and medical folders, approximately three million Marine Corps personnel and medical records, and over 600,000 Coast Guard folders. These 43 million official personnel records occupy more than one million cubic feet of shelf space. The records are arranged according to a computer registry number system, essentially by date of arrival in the building. The only exceptions are pre- 1963 Navy personnel and medical records, which are arranged by time period and thereunder alphabetically. Almost all the folders consist of paper records; only in the last few years have certain branches of the military begun to send in records of discharged personnel on microfiche. All military records at NPRC remain in the legal custody of the branches of service, even though they are in the physical custody of the records center.
Military organizational records comprise the majority of other holdings of the Military Records Center. There are two types of organizational records. The first consists of personnel-related records such as academic records, clinical records, orders relating to individual military personnel. The second contains material on military organizations, mainly Army and Air Force field command records from the 1950's, and includes historical files, operations and planning records, budget files, publications, and the like. These records contain some material of historical value, which is currently being appraised and gradually transferred to the National Archives in Washington and opened for research.
The records center gained national attention in July 1973 when it was devastated by a tragic fire which destroyed approximately 16 million personnel records and damaged countless more. Army personnel records from 1912 to 1959 were almost totally ruined as were half the Air Force's holdings of personnel records. The center made a remarkable recovery, initialing new methods in the treatment of water-damaged records and setting up a Records Reconstruction Branch to rebuild individual personnel folders from Veteran Administration (VA) holdings, state veterans' records, Army morning reports, pay records, and similar material. The center has survived the ravages of the fire and continues to provide excellent reference service.
The records center also provides genealogical information to requesters, although this service is of low priority, especially in tines of reduced work force and declining budgets. In addition, the "Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act limit the data that may be released to the general public with the veteran's authorization. The information that can be given out includes name, date of birth, duty assignments, decorations and awards, rank and grade, education, and dependents.
The primary concerns of NPRC are records maintenance and reference service. The highest priority is given those requests relating to the providing of benefits to veterans. The records center continues to serve those who have served our country,
Veterans Administration
The Veterans Administration will help you locate post 1900 Veterans records under the following conditions:
The Veterans Administration advises us that an individual upon request may gain access to his records or to any information which is contained in the V.A. record system. The V.A. will not disclose any records to any person or agency except by written request of, or prior written consent of the individual to whom the records contain.
Information of a genealogical nature when its disclosure will not be detrimental to the memory of the veteran and not prejudicial to the interests of any living person or to the interests of the Government may be released.
Any person desiring a copy or to review any records in the custody of the V.A. must make a written request to the V.A. Regional Office having custody of the records. When requesting information from the VA records system, the following identifying data should be furnished:
1. Veteran's full name
2. VA claim number
3. Social security number
4. Service number
5. Date service entered
6. Date of separation
7. Date of birth
8. Date of death
9. Veteran's Insurance file number
MILITARY SERVICES
If your ancestor was born between the dates listed in the first column below he may have served in the conflict listed in the second column.
1625-1656 Bacon's Rebellion 1676
1639-1743 Inter-colonial Wars 1689-1765
1713-1743 Pontiac's Rebellion 1963-1765
1720-1763 American Revolution 1775-1783
1740-1791 Indian Wars 1790-1811
1762-1794 War of 1812 1812-1815
1762-1812 Blackhawk War 1832
1796-1828 Mexican War 1846-1865
1806-1828 Civil War 1861-1865
1848-1880 Spanish American War 1898
1865-1898 World War I 1914-1918
1891-1924 World War II 1941-1945
1900-1936 Korean War 1950-1953
1916-1956 Vietnam War 1965-1973
This page is still under construction