Recently, family history web site Ancestry.com added 24.5 million records to its genealogy database, including many military records. The military collection spans from the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam war. These records, normally part of Ancestry's subscription service, are available free to everyone until June 6 (the anniversary of D-Day). After June 6, they will only be accessible to those with a subscription to the site. The good new is that you can still access these records for free at the library, through our subscription to Ancestry Library Edition.

Military records can be a key tool in researching family history. Although a lot of material is still only available in microfilm or paper format, more and more historical records are gradually becoming available online. According to Ancestry.com, the newly released material in their collection includes:

• World War I and World War II draft registration cards
• Prisoner of war records from the War of 1812, Civil War, World War II, and Korea
• Muster rolls (unit rosters) for the Marine Corps 1893-1958 and WWII
• U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Muster rolls, 1939-1949
• U.S. Military burial registers 1768-1921
• Service Records from Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War
• Civil War Pension Index
• Casualty listings from WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam
• WWI and WWII The Stars and Stripes newspapers
• Young American Patriots Military Yearbooks (WWII)
• Complete online collection of WWII United Newsreels from 1942 - 1945
• The Stars and Stripes newspapers from WWI and WWII
• Complete collection of WWI draft registration cards

You can reach the military collection directly at http://www.ancestry.com/military, free until June 6. After June 6, remember, you can still use the library subscription for free--just come into the library and use one of our computers. Feel free to ask the reference staff if you have any questions!