War service information at fold3.com

If it sometimes feels as if I am repeating myself in these columns, it's a pretty good clue as to how my research seems to twist and turn like Nebraska weather. I say this because I am going to delve back into the website: www.fold3.com.

Most of my research on fold3 has been dealing with the Civil, Spanish American and first World War since those years were just "history" to me, having never really known any of my ancestors that served in them. For some strange reason, I had never entered my father's name in the search box. Yesterday when I did that, 41 records came up about his service in the Navy during World War II.

I had known three of the submarines that he served on and his service rank at discharge, but what I didn't know was the records of his promotions were available on line. What you will be looking for if you wish to search for a family member will be the REPORT OF CHANGES filled by the C.O. of each ship.

The information I first saw was my father's rating being changed to Sea2c, Seaman Second Class, but in a second line there was a report of my father being transferred from the U.S.S. Bass to the U.S.S. Antaeus for treatment and then released back to the Bass a week later for duty. Now according to records, the Antaeus was built as a commercial passenger ship, the St. John, in 1932 and commissioned as a submarine tender when acquired by the Navy in 1941. In 1945, she was reclassified as a hospital ship, but apparently must have had some hospital facilities in 1942 if dad was assigned there for treatment. I don't remember dad speaking of having been ill or injured so that will remain a mystery but it is still an interesting bit of information.

The last entry on that particular paper is of another sailor having a hearing in Deck Court. noting that he had been tried on May 26, 1942, and sentenced to lose $16 per month of his pay for a period of three month,s for a total of $48. One might assume that Deck Court took care of petty matters, but in truth, $48 was a lot of money then.

Two of the other records were Muster Roll of the Crew, one for the U.S.S. Pompon and the other for the U.S.S. Loggerhead, showing all members of the crew assigned to each submarine. What was interesting was the fact that I recognized some of the names, from men who had brought their families to visit us in the 1950s and from Christmas cards mom and dad had exchanged with others.

Fold 3 also has census records, Dawes Rolls records (from the "five civilized" Native American Tribes), and even a photo of every name written on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Other fascinating records include photos of: Women's Army Corps members, Native Americans from the turn of the century and Civil War soldiers and battle field scenes, plus personal collections of letters and manuscripts that have been added by other members.

Yes, Fold 3 is a paid site and yes, it is linked to Ancestry, the behemoth genealogy website, but you don't have to be a member of both and fold3 offers a trial period if you want to take a look.

Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society's new web site is www.swngs.org. Try a search of our records for your local ancestry question.