United States, Veterans Administration Master Index - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in This Collection?
This collection contains a card index created by the Veterans Bureau (Veterans Administration), colloquially known as the VA Master Index. These 3" x 5" index cards contain basic information about approximately 5.7 million veterans who served in the United States military between roughly the end of the Civil War through 1939, but the majority from the Spanish-American War and World War I, and who later made (or whose heirs made) claims for benefits between 1917-1940.

This index card collection was deaccessioned from the Veterans Administration, who had microfilmed the cards several decades ago, to the National Archives (NARA) in 1985. Each of the microfilms is sorted by the first letter of the veteran's surname, with some long runs of the cards in roughly alphabetical order. However, some cards were unintentionally overlapped during the filming, making the information on any underlying card only partially readable. And some small sections of the alphabet appear to be missing entirely.

The microfilms of the card index are stored at the National Archives (NARA) branch in St. Louis, but the microfilms were not widely known to the public, nor to researchers, because they were not listed in the online searchable National Archives Catalog. (It is also not clear what happened to the original paper cards.) The microfilm set was initially located and identified by a military historian serving on the board of directors of the 501(c)3 non-profit organization Reclaim The Records, which then brought the records set to the attention of FamilySearch.

The two organizations worked together throughout 2018-2019 to make the records available to the public for the first time. FamilySearch had volunteers travel to St. Louis to digitize the microfilms onsite, over a period of eight weeks. They then made a copy of the newly digitized images available to Reclaim The Records, who is releasing them to the public without usage agreements or copyrights. FamilySearch also started an online transcription project to make the information on the cards text-searchable, also making the data available to both organizations. As of August 2019, Reclaim The Records is using their copy of the text data and images to develop a free standalone website for this data set, with advanced functionality for researchers to further explore the records, including features like soundalike name searches and geo-location proximity searches.

Additional information may be available at the National Archives at St. Louis. Additional indexed records will be published as they become available.

'''The following collections also known as the Veterans Administration Claim Files World War I Compensation Files. Deceased Veterans Compensation Files are at the National Archives at St. Louis and are related to the master index:'''


 * Deceased Veterans Claim Files (XC Files),10.1917-ca. 1945 NAID 23904754
 * Deceased Veterans Claim Files (XC Files), 10.1917-ca. 1949 NAID 12280123
 * Deceased Veterans Claim Files (XC Files), 10.1917-ca. 1955 NAID 26466267
 * Deceased Veterans Claims (XC Files), 10/1917-ca. 1955. NAID 28894631

Additional Resources on World War I at the National Archives at St. Louis


 * World War I Records at the National Archives at St. Louis
 * Finding Your World War I Veteran at the National Archives at St. Louis
 * The Sick and the Dead. Veterans Administration Claim Files and World War I Burial Files

Related Article


 * Theresa Fitzgerald. "Auxiliary Records of World War I Veterans." NGS Magazine 43 # 4 (October-December 2017):50-55.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Information found in the collection are listed below:


 * Name of the veteran
 * Cross-reference to the beneficiary of the veteran
 * Rank
 * Military Unit and Branch of Service
 * Home address at the time of enlistment (but rarely may be the hometown or place of birth instead)
 * Service number
 * Date of death
 * Date of birth
 * Date of enlistment
 * Date of discharge (Event Date)

NOTES:
 * The "Event Place" listed on the card was usually the residence of the veteran at the time of enlistment, but was occasionally the hometown or place of birth instead.
 * The "Event Date" is the date of discharge.
 * The military unit identified on the card is the first organization in which the veteran served.
 * C-Insurance Application
 * K-Life Insurance
 * A-Adjusted Compensation (Bonus)
 * T-War Risk Insurance
 * R-Rehabilitation
 * Ct-WWI Certificate (issued with bonus)
 * I-Permanent Disability

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:


 * The name of your ancestor
 * The first military unit in which your ancestor served
 * The names of family members (heirs or beneficiaries)

View the Images
To view images in this collection go to the United States, Veterans Administration Master Index Digital Folder Number List article to determine the folder/film number for the images you want to see.

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Search for the family in the 1910 and 1920 census records. The 1930 census will also identify World War I veterans.
 * Search for the veteran's discharge certificate, statement of service card and published military unit or county history.
 * Your ancestor or relative may have joined a local post of the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.
 * Contact the National Archives at St. Louis for additional information about the people on these index cards. These cards are useful, but they are also just the finding aid index to a much larger set of records. As of August 2019, the non-profit organization Reclaim The Records is working on a free step-by-step guide to help genealogists request copies of the veteran's full file, with pension or other benefits information, using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Most of these full files are about fifteen pages long, but perhaps twenty percent of these files are much bigger, some even as long as five hundred pages of material.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Search the military records at Fold3

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the United States.


 * US Military Basic Search Strategies
 * Beginning Research in United States Military Records
 * Beginning United States World War I Research
 * United States Guided Research
 * United States Record Finder
 * Research Tips and Strategies

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.