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Celebrate Memorial Day by Researching your NC Ancestors' Military Records

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, began during the American Civil War when citizens placed flowers on the graves of those who had been killed in battle. After World War I, it came to be observed in honour of those who had died in all U.S. wars, and its name changed to Memorial Day. (source)


While modern tradition has us observing Memorial Day on the last Monday in May, from 1868 to 1970 it was observed on May 30 each year. Most of the free search days at the pay sites will have expired by now, but you can continue to honor your soldier ancestors with research using these free resources. Enjoy.

Discover the military stories of your Wake County and North Carolina ancestors with the help of this list.

Raleigh National Cemetery page at Veteran Affairs.gov -  general information page - includes a  map and search tool, and information brochure on the history of Raleigh National Cemetery.

Raleigh National Cemetery page at Find A Grave - includes 5,910 memorials.

Historic Confederate Cemetery at Oakwood Cemetery - webpage with contact info and hours of operation.

The Confederate Cemetery was included in the Wake Cemetery Survey c. 1978. The file is here and includes 59 pages of grave listings. This may be helpful as a look up tool before going to the Find a Grave site as the Confederate Cemetery is included with all the other listings. Find a Grave states that there are 1500 Confederate soldiers buried there.

WW2 County War Records finding aid, NC Archives, Military Collection - All counties. Wake County begins on image 90.

NC Military Records at FamilySearch Wiki - covers all wars from colonial times to Viet Nam, includes forts and brief descriptions of each war with resources included.

NARA National Personnel Records Center - Order military personnel, health and medical records stored at NPRC. Process details and necessary forms are here.

Military Records at NCGenWeb - various muster rolls, records, images, US Colored Troop Regiments. (note- there are a few broken links, but included for the ones that do work.)

North Carolina Military Records at LDS Genealogy - Included for the vast array of links pertaining to all facets of military history with online records clearly marked.

North Carolina Military Records Research Guide at Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness - extensive list of resources curated by war/time period. 

This NC military Rootsweb page is included for the links to all the National Cemeteries in NC.

I hope someone finds a useful clue in these records. 

"Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them."- Franklin D. Roosevelt


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