Look over your family tree to find ancestors, especially men, who were born during the following time periods, then check military draft, service or pension indexes for the corresponding conflicts. (These are general guidelines; men and women who served at very young or old ages may fall outside these ranges.)
Birth years: War (battle years)
1726-1767: Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
1762-1799: War of 1812 (1812-1815)
1796-1831: Mexican War (1846-1848)
1811-1848: Civil War (1861-1865)
1848-1881: Spanish-American War (1898)
1849-1885: Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902)
1872-1900: World War I (1917-1918)
1877-1925: World War II (1941-1945)
1900-1936: Korean War (1950-1953)
1914-1955: Vietnam War (1964-1972)
From the November 2008 Family Tree Magazine
Author
A contributing editor for Family Tree Magazine, Rick Crume specializes in online research, genealogy software, DNA testing and British genealogy.
