Alaska Military Records

United States U.S. Military  Alaska  Military Records



The United States Military Records Wiki article provides more information on federal military records and search strategies.

Military records are found at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives.

U.S. servicemen have been in Alaska since 1867, when Alaska was placed under the jurisdiction of the War Department. Most of these soldiers were from the lower 48 states. The Family History Library has enlistment registers for the regular army, 1798 to 1914 Family History Library films 350307-49). The registers provide the soldier's name, rank, unit, commanders, physical description, occupation, and birthplace. The records are arranged by year and by the first letter of the surname.

A historical sketch of forts in Alaska is in Bruce Grant, American Forts Yesterday and Today (New York, NY: E. P. Dutton &amp; Co., 1965; Family History Library ).

Forts

 * Fort Mims
 * Fort Patrick Henry
 * Fort St. Michael-- Also known as Fort Archangel Michael, Fort Archangel Gabriel, Fort New Archangel, or Novo Archangelesk and finally the fort was renamed Post of Sitka (Fort Sitka). Textual records of this fort, 1867-1877, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).
 * Fort Selkirk

World War I (1917-1918)

 * United States. Selective Service System. Alaska, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1509. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1987-1988. (On Family History Library ) These cards have been digitized and are searchable online. See WWI Draft Records for more information.

World War II (1941-1945)
For sailors from Alaska who died in World War II, see Volume 2 of Combat Connected Naval Casualties, World War II, by States, Two Volumes. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1946; Family History Library and Film number - )

A national cemetery with about 500 graves is located at Sitka (see Alaska Cemeteries).

Web Sites

 * http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~xander/alaska-records.htm
 * http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/record-search-military.php?locIndex=299874
 * http://www.familymilitaryrecords.com/state.asp?state=AK
 * The Civil War Pension Index Cards Collection, located at FamilySearch Records has a few pension cards for servicemen, from Alaska, who served in the military during the early 1900s.