Here is a find I came across yesterday: U.S., Veterans Affairs Master Index Cards, 1917-1940. These have recently been published on familysearch.org as 'United States, Veterans Affiars master index, 1917-1940'.
These Index Cards are presently being indexed through familysearch.org. The entire index contains upwards of 6,000,000 names (from what I can ascertain) and contain millions of names of American Veterans, primarily from World War One. The index also contains the names of some veterans from the Civil War and the Spanish-American War as well as some that served in the years following World War One. (For more information on these records, please visit the following: www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States,_Veterans_Administration_Master_Index_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)
Searching for family members through these records is like finding a few small needles in a massive haystack. They are alphabetized, but not quite as expected. For example: to find Clarence Keith Newitt, I had to search through a series of last names beginning with the letters NEWH--- to NEWK---. Each series of last names is then alphabetized by first name (NEWH--- to NEWK---, first name beginning with letter A, then NEWH--- to NEWK---, beginning with letter B, and so forth until I found the name I was looking for). It is tricky to go through, but once I was able to figure out how the index is organized, it became somewhat easier to go through.
Here are the family members that I was able to find in this index: James Robert Dodge (my great-grandfather), David Nemetzky (his brother-in-law), and Clarence Keith Newitt (his sister's step-son). Below are the records that I found:
Each card gives the veteran's name, rank, unit they served in, and their mailing address (I'm assuming at the time they applied for their bonus due them from the Federal Government during the 1920's and 1930's). The index cards also list their dates of birth and death, dates of enlistment and discharge, their bonus application number (the 'A' number), their War Risk Insurance number (the 'T' number), and their WWI Certificate Number (the 'Ct' number) as well as a Claim Number that would have been made by a surviving family member following their death (the 'C' number).
Just a brief review of the above-displayed cards: my great-grandpa, James Robert Dodge, is living in Rawlins, Wyoming. He lived in Buena Vista, Colorado at the time he was drafted in 1918. He lived in Rawlins, Wyoming, beginning in the mid 1930's.
Clarence Keith Newitt served in the Navy during World War One (he enlisted in April of 1917 from Leadville, Colorado) and lived in San Francisco following his military service. Unlike U.S. Army enlisted personnel records, U.S. Navy enlisted personnel records still exist. Keith applied for his World War I Bonus in 1924, and was living in San Francisco at the time he applied for his bonus. The bonus application number on the index card matches the application number from the application form.
David Nemetzky is an interesting case. He first enlisted in the Army in 1904 and didn't retire from the service until 1931. I have already posted a blog about what I have found on his life and military service. While this sheds a little more light on his service, such as his service number, as well as one of the places he served during his time in the Army (China, where he probably was stationed when he would have applied for his World War I Bonus), it also raises more questions. Most specifically, his date of birth. Each record I have found on David Nemetzky shows a different date of birth. This record is no different; according to the index card, he was born in September of 1882.
The enlisted U.S. Army personnel records no loner exist; they were destroyed in an accidental fire at the National Archives in St. Louis in the early 1970's.; so his complete military file, as well as that of my great-grandfather, no longer exist. Sadly, because these records no longer exist, there are some questions that won't be able to be answered.
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