Northern Maine Veterans
 

Searching the WWI Database

You can search the WWI Database that was created from multiple information sources, including the Maine Military Men, 1917-1918 which was published as the Roster of Maine in the Military Service of the U.S. and Allies in World War 1917-1919. Vol. I-II. Augusta, ME, USA: n.p., 1929. Some of the information was supplemented by the World War I Draft Cards available at the National Archives and on Ancestry.com where you can search however to view the record, you must have a paid subscription.

You can search using a single field or multiple fields on the form the search results will be returned in a separate browser window, so you may need to disable the Popup blocker, or allow Popups for this web site. The search result report returns the WWI military person's first name, first name, birth town, birth state, birth date, age, residence in Maine, whether the person enlisted (Yes) or was inducted (No), the date of enlistment or induction, whether the person served overseas, and a details link column.

The Veterans Details screen returns all the information from the database including links to a draft card if it was found, and a link to a photo of the military serviceman if one is available. If no photo exists and the person is one of your relatives for whom you have a photo in military uniform, I would appreciate it if you contacted me and provided the photo.

During World War I there were three registrations. The first, on June 5, 1917, was for all men between the ages of 21 and 31. The second, on June 5, 1918, registered those who attained age 21 after June 5, 1917. (A supplemental registration was held on August 24, 1918, for those becoming 21 years old after June 5, 1918. This was included in the second registration.) The third registration was held on September 12, 1918, for men age 18 through 45. The first draft included males 21 to 30 who were not already serving in the military, regardless of their declared nationality. Men older than 30 and younger than 21 sometimes registered for the draft, but their registration was not required.

In order to search most effectively, please read the information below about each of the fields. If you do not enter at least one search term in the form, all WWI veterans who were born or resided in St. John Valley will be returned.

Service Man Information

First name. You can search by full first name (exact), part of the first name (contains), first letters (starts) of the first name.

Last name. You can search by full last name (exact), parts of the last name (contains), or the first letter or few letters (starts) of the last name.

Serial No. You can search by (exact) serial number, if you happen to know it, however that information is more likely to be of use to you on the search results report, since you might be able to use it to obtain additional information from the military service.

Birth Town Number. You can search by the town where the person was born.

Birth State. You can search by the state where the person was born. For example, if you search for Canada using the (contains) option, you will get all the persons who were born in Canada who served in the military in World War I.

Birth Date. You can search by full birth date (exact) or part of the birth date (contains). The default is set to contains. For example, if you search for 188, you will get all the WWI veterans who were born in the 1880s.

Age. You can search for the person's age (exact), parts of the person's age (contains). The default was set to contains because the age was specified in years and months as part of a year, such as 2/12 meaning two months. Note that age was specified only if birth date was not provided.

Residence. You can search for the person's town of residence (exact), parts of the town of residence name (contains), or the first letter or few letters (starts) of town of residence name. Since the database was created primarily from the Maine Military Men 1917-1918, persons born in Maine who resided in other states are not in the database.

Military Service Information

Enlisted. You can search for whether the person enlisted by using the pull-down menu and selecting either Yes for enlisted (volunteered)or No for was inducted (drafted).

Branch. You can search for the branch of service which is only specified for person who enlisted as a full name, such as Regular Army, National Guard, or US Navy(exact), parts of the branch of service (contains), or the first letter or few letters (starts) of branch of service. Note that those who were inducted will not have a brance of service.

Date Entered. You can search for the full date (exact), parts of the date (contains) the person entered the service. The default is contains, so if you searched for 1917 you will get a list of those who entered the service in 1917.

Overseas Service. You can search for whether the person served overseas (Yes) or not (No) by selecting the option in the pulldown menu. If you leave it blank you will get those who served overseas and those who did not.

Overseas From. You can search for the full date when a person started his overseas service (exact), parts of the starting date (contains), or the first character or few characters (starts) of the starting date. The default is contains. So if you searched for 1917, you will get the list of all WWI veterans who started their overseas service in 1917.

Overseas To. You can search for the full date when a person returned from his overseas service (exact), parts of the ending date (contains), or the first character or few characters (starts) of the ending date. The default is contains. So if you searched for 1919, you will get the list of all WWI veterans who returned from their overseas service in 1919.

Offensive.Currently the search for Offensive is not active.

Wounded in Action.You can search for whether the person was wounded in action by using the pull-down menu and selecting either Yes for wounded or No for not wounded. Note that if the person was Killed in Action, he is not marked as wounded in action. So wounded in action only pertains for those servicemen who returned.

Once you have entered information into at least one search field (you must enter something on the page), click the "search" button to launch the search, which will return the entries in the database that match your request.

If you'd like to refine your search, since the search report was launched in a separate window, just "go back" to the search form.

The search result page includes a details link in the Details Link column that displays all the information from the WWI Veterans database in a separate window.

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  Last updated 28 September 2020