How to Search the Collections

Connecticut’s Veterans History Project boasts hundreds of interviews, publications, and personal papers of Connecticut veterans from the First Great War from 1914-1918 to the current Middle Eastern conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. With such a large and growing collection, searching and exploring the Veterans History project can seem daunting. This post will provide a tutorial on how to search and maneuver the collection.

The Veterans Database uses 9 selections to narrow down the search; Last Name, First Name, Gender, Battles, Unit/Ship, Served in, Branch, War, and Commodation.

The first three selections mentioned above; Last Name, First Name, and Gender pertain to the veteran(s). The legal first and last name, and if they are male, female, or other.

As mentioned in prior posts, the Battles and Served in tabs are often confused. The Battles selection is about the specific battle the individual participated in such as the “Battle of the Bulge,” or the “Tet offensive.” Meanwhile, the Served in selection regards the theater of operations such as “Europe” or “Korea.” The War category corresponds to the very specific war they fought in, when choosing this section, a drop-down menu appears with a list of wars from the First World War to the Afghanistan or Iraq War, a N/A option is also provided for veterans who did not fight in any war, including the Cold War.

The selections of Unit/ Ship and Branch represent two different categories. The Unit/ Ship is the specific unit or ship the veteran served with or on such as the 101st Airborne Division or the USS Enterprise. The Branch pertains to the military branch such as the WASP, the Army, or a Civilian.

The final category is Commendations the veterans received for their service. Upon selecting this category, a drop-down menu shows a list of American military medals and accommodations such as the Bronze Medal or the Congressional medal of Honor.

An example Search:

If you were searching for a veteran with the last name Smith, seven possible candidates would appear from a variety of wars and backgrounds:

To narrow down the search, under “Gender”, you could chose male:

This narrows down the search from seven veterans to six. Next, under “War”, you could select Vietnam War. This brings the search down to two possible individuals:

Finally, if you are searching for a veteran who received a Bronze Star for their service, you could include that in your search under “Commendations”. The leaves only Elbert Al Smith, Army, 1st Infantry Division:

As you see, not every category must be filled in. In fact, even if every category is filled, a result is not guaranteed. Work with information you know and explore!