Key Text on Headstones

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Headstones Contain Information Critical to Your Future Research

When you start your research into a WWII Veteran interred at a national cemetery, you will want to pay special attention to particular information on their gravestone. These key details related to lifespan and military service will help you find that Veteran in the historical record. Gravestones may not always include all of the following information, but it is very useful if it is available: the Veteran’s name; the name of their spouse or dependent child; their birth and death dates; and their military branch, unit, and highest rank.

Case Study: Sgt. Donald J. Norton

The image below shows the gravestone of Sergeant Donald J. Norton, who is buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. Click the annotations to learn more about how to use the information on a government-issued headstone in your research.

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Why Does Branch of Service Matter for Research?

Different branches of the military (e.g., Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard) created different kinds of records and stored them in different places. This basic fact has critical implications for what records you can access and how. Let’s examine one specific case: the Army.

Enlistment

Early digital records: The US Army was unique in using punch cards to register new enlistees. This in turn made it easy to create an electronic database of WWII enlistments in 2002 from those punch cards. You can search this resource to find, for example, someone’s place and date of enlistment, their Army serial number, and their birth year.

A WWII Army enlistment punch card. Featured in National Archives blog “The World War II Army Enlistment Records File and Access to Archival Databases,” 2006.

Scanned punchcard that would have been filled out when a soldier enlisted in the Army. The word "Enlistment" is visible across the punchcard.
Map from 1944 with a faint background a more visible overlay showing the position of American, British, and German units in Normandy.

Service

Acute record loss: A fire in 1973 destroyed about 80% of the Army personnel records for Service members discharged between 1912 and 1960. For soldiers who served in the Army, it is difficult to find their records of service during the war. 
Research strategy: In this situation, you would likely focus on finding records associated with the individual’s unit.

An American situation map showing the position of various American, British, and German units in Normandy on June 10, 1944, four days after D-Day. (National Archives)

Test Your Understanding

We want to research Sgt. Donald J. Norton (featured above). We are trying to find him in the 1940 census and have a few possible matches, representing different families, below. For this question, you can assume the gravestone and census records are all accurate and correct.

Text on Donald Norton's Gravestone

DONALD J
NORTON

SGT
USAAF
WORLD WAR II

JUL 23 1924
APR 10 1999

Possible 1940 Census Matches

Census Location Name Age Place of Birth
Grand Rapids, Michigan Norton, Donald 36 Michigan
Brainerd City, Minnesota Norton, D. Frank 51 Wisconsin
Brainerd City, Minnesota Norton, Donald 22 Minnesota
Plainview, Minnesota Norton, Donald 15 Minnesota
Davenport, Iowa Norton, Donald J. 37 Illinois
Davenport, Iowa Norton, Donald J., Jr. 9 Illinois