Shannon M. Thomas | Mostly Genealogy

I am fascinated by military history, something that didn't happen until after I started doing genealogy. My son is a military buff and he is always happy to help me when I have a military question.  He use to get mad at me when he was little because I was not interested in anything military related and the first time I asked him a question his face lit up {I will forever remember this.} Early in my research I found out that one of my husband's ancestors was killed in the Civil War {I'm still working on piecing all the information together for him.}  Researching more about Joseph Thomas and his family is what got me totally 1000% hooked on genealogy! Joseph Thomas' Event/Fact section.  Joseph is my husband's 3rd great grandfather.  Joseph died on 3 Apr 1865 in Hopewell, Prince George, Virginia.  He almost made it to the end of the war! This is Fred Thomas' military information in his Events/Facts.  Fred is my husband's great uncle.  Fred d...

    Alonzo Elwood Seigfreid's draft information is recorded in a Military Draft Registration Event/Fact. A Residence Event/Fact is also created using the address provided on the form.  Both the Military Draft Registration and the Residence Fact/Even are shared with anyone else listed on the form.  You can see the Event/Fact in the image to the right; they are marked with the green arrows. All information on the Draft Registration for is put in the notes section of the Military Draft Registration Event/Fact.  The name of the war is recorded in the Description field, the Date field is the date on the Draft Registration form, and the place is recorded as where the draft board was located. Alonzo's Military Draft Registration and his Residence Event/Fact are both shared with his wife, Edna Mae Gensel Seigfreid because she is listed on the Draft Registration form.  These Events/Facts are marked with green arrows in th...

A day or two after I posted US Marine Casualty Cards  I received a follow up email.  They had seen my post and sent me the following email: In response to your post about the code on the casualty card regarding the nature of Sergeant Thomas' death, we can tell you that what you see is a code for inputting into a larger (long since gone) database.  Because the original database that used this code is gone, we have no know way of knowing what the code stood for.  However, we have attempted to locate more information by accessing the muster roll for Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines for March 1945.  The muster roll unfortunately only stated that he was wounded and later died of those wounds. Despite this lack of information, there is still an option left open to you.  The National Archives located in St Louis, Missouri, holds the service of Marines for this time period.  I would suggest that you contact them and obtain a copy of the military ser...

Earlier this week I got my copy of Family Tree Magazine and I was reading an article that led me to  World War II History Network  and from there I found a link to an article about the United States Marine Corp making their casualty cards searchable.  You can find the database at  Casualty Cards Database. Fred Thomas, my husbands great uncle, was in WWII and in the Marines.  I searched the database and found : On the first page it states :  While the cards for World War II through Korea are not classified, however, they can often be very graphic.    Therefore, to maintain the dignity and honor of the Marines, the individual cards will only be released, upon request, on a case by case basis.    To request a card, please send an email to   history.division@usmc.mil   or a request in writting to: United States Marine Corps History Division Attn: Reference Branch 3078 Upshur Avenue Quantico, Virginia 221...