It's time for this week's Ancestry Quick Tip Jamboree! Thanks to everyone who has sent in a Quick Tip. Please keep them coming so that we can keep this tradition going. You can send your tips to ADNeditor@ancestry.com.

Quick Tips may be reprinted, with credit to the submitter, in other Ancestry publications, so if you do not want your tip included in a publication other than the Ancestry Daily News and Ancestry Weekly Digest, please state so clearly in your message.

The Ancestry Daily News is continuing the Memorial Day holiday through today's Quick Tip Jamboree with another selection of military-related tips.

Have a great day!
Juliana

Service with the YMCA

My great grandfather served with the YMCA and Army during WWI. I attempted to locate his records through the usual channels only to find that his were among those destroyed in the 1973 (or thereabouts) fire at NARA. My father has a wonderful photo of him in his YMCA uniform and Dad's cousin has a notebook where their grandfather detailed the dates and locations of his travels.

I got on the Internet and looked up the various camps and YMCA and WWI in different combinations. I copied some of the information I located and old pictures of the various camps. I put all this in a WordPerfect document since I am most familiar with that program. I found some very interesting things such as the fact that the YMCA was responsible for soldier mail delivery during WWI, as well as many other duties now handled strictly by the military. It was a wonderful education and I now have a tidy little package to share with family members. I can't recreate records that no longer exist but it is nice to leave a more detailed picture of my great grandfather's life and times for the next generation.

Karen Williams

Online WWII Memorial

The WWII Registry, found on http://wwiimemorial.com, consists not only of the names of those that served in the military, but also those that served on the home front, in jobs like "Rosie the Riveter." Many of the names have been submitted by supporters of the Memorial. However, the registry also includes the National Archives list of those killed in the service in WWII, the names of those buried in American Battle Monuments Commission's overseas WWII cemeteries, and the names of those listed on the ABMC Tablets of the Missing. And the beauty of this is that the Registry of Remembrance is online and free!

As a charter member I entered information for my brother, who was a B-29 Airplane Commander, and who never returned. In checking his name on this new database, I found my entry, two of the three government entries, one by my aunt, and one entered by my ex-sister-in-law. The great thing about the latter was that she had moved on with her life and did not keep in touch with the family, so it was a blessing to find her present married name.

The government never informed the family as to what happened to my brother and his crew. This became my intro into research and genealogy. Fifty-three years after the event, and fifty years after the government had found answers, our family was finally able to have more closure. I have wanted to share with the surviving family members of my brother's crew.

If your WWII service person was in the Army Air Corps, another extremely useful website to use in conjunction with the one mentioned above is www.armyairforces.com.

Nancy Reynolds

ADN Editor's Note: For more WWII home front information, also see the Rosie the Riveter Trust website at www.rosietheriveter.org.

Vietnam War Letters become a Precious Window to the Past

My husband served in the Vietnam War. When he arrived back in the States he just wanted to forget about the war. We married a few years after he was discharged. In the thirty years we were married I had never seen any signs of his military career. Upon his mother's death we proceeded to sort out her closets. We came upon a huge box. Imagine our surprise to find every letter (about fifty letters) he had written home, along with photos, medals, citations, and other keepsakes.

I asked him to write down what was happening in each photo that he could remember. I then created a scrapbook of all the items found along with those treasured letters. The items his mom saved have now become a treasure to him that he at one time wanted to forget.

Our daughter recently had to interview someone that had served in a war prior to 1975 for a class she was taking. We opened the book of her dad's military history. With her questions and the visual mementos the afternoon turned into a heartfelt event for all of us. I turned on a tape recorder and caught this special moment between father and daughter on tape. She asked him to open up to her questioning and this was one of the rare times he spoke about the war, the people and his part in the war. I urge everyone to interview that veteran in your own family about that time in his life. It will confirm your pride in them for serving our country, and will be a treasure for future generations to come.

Carolyn Obertein
Saginaw, Michigan