Honoring your Veteran Ancestors: Researching Veterans and Genealogy
One sees the flag waving majestically in the air and gets a sense of pride. It can lead one to wonder if there is a more personal connection through military service. One can honor veteran ancestors by learning more about the service they did, when and where their contributions were made.
Military Genealogy
One often hears of ancestors serving in a battle or war and longs to learn more about the role they played. There are numerous resources and ways to acquire that information. Start with what is known – when did he/she live and how could they have contributed to the military. Not all of those who served in the military served in battle or during a war. Non-military records also provide clues, such as census records when there is a question about military pension. Newspapers and obituaries are also great resources to discover information about military service. General genealogy search websites, such as Ancestry, fold3, and the National Archives, as well as websites that deal with a specific war, are excellent places to start after you’ve gathered all you can from your family records.
Local Memorials
The Lake County Veterans Memorial Parkway serves to commemorate the wars our country has fought, and the honor those who served from Lake County. One can travel along IN 231 from county line to county line and view several monuments. Not all wars are memorialized at this time, but the plan is to represent each one chronologically from west to east, starting with the Revolutionary War. Currently, the Korean War and the Vietnam War have memorials along the parkway trail. Crown Point is also home to a World War II memorial that includes a tank on North Main Street. The tank serves to protect Crown Point from invasion. In addition, there are numerous monuments throughout the Northwest Indiana region.
Whether one has a veteran ancestor or not, there are numerous ways to honor those who served in the military. Visit a memorial, learn more about a particular war or excursion, learn more about a name you saw on the monument, visit the local cemetery and observe the headstones with military markings; show honor by sharing their story.
