This is an ongoing, twenty year project, initiated by the Indiana War Memorial, with over 146,000 veterans listed, but completed records on only 58,000 to date.
As much information as possible has been scanned directly from the fragile, archival records at the Indiana State Library.
The original Indiana military records of the Federal government were completely destroyed in a fire at the National Archives, July 12, 1973 in St. Louis. 80% of the WW1 records were lost, all of the records from Indiana were gone.
The Indiana Historic Commission requested each county conduct interviews with each veteran after WW1. Veterans offered insightful, entertaining and heartbreaking stories of their experiences and they have been included in this web site. As much as possible has been captured in the veterans own words. The names, experiences and deeds of our veterans are a vital part of our legacy that we must not lose.
The Great War
The War to End All Wars
The Forgotten War
The Indiana War Memorial
The cornerstone of the memorial is from the bridge over the River Marne at Château-Thierry was laid by General John J. Pershing.
The State of Indiana used their WW1 veterans' bonus money for construction of the plaza.
The largest veterans' memorial complex outside of Washington DC.
The United States enter WW1 on April 6, 1917
The WW1 veterans grew up in the long shadow of the Civil War veterans, fought the first World War only to have to send their sons and daughters off to fight an even larger war. This website is dedicated to their memory and primarily consists of their stories in their own words. Their stories are grouped by area of service or experiences.
Most of the veterans information has been scanned or added with voice recognition software. The original documents were hand written and often difficult to read. Any corrections or additional information are greatly appreciated. WWVets@Gmail.com
The Army Act, approved May 18th, authorized raising the number of enlisted in the Regular Army to the maximum strength sanctioned by law. The National Guard and Reserves were activated and a draft was issued for 1,000,000 men.
Between 1917 and 1918, 98% of all men born between 1873 and 1900 received a draft registration notice. Approximately 24,000,000 men were registered but only a small portion actually served.
The first registration covered men born between the ages of 21 to 31 as of June 5, 1917.
WWI Draft: The entire nation mobilized in April of 1917 immediately after the United States declared war on Germany. In May Congress passed the Selective Service Act.
Over 4.7 million served from the United States. They were the sons of men who fought in the United States Civil War. The fortunate ones who came home and were able to raise families, only to see their sons and daughters serve in WW2.
116,515 U.S. servicemen and women died during the war
53,402 Killed in Action
63,114 died from disease (1918 Influenza Pandemic)
204,000 were wounded
A special edition of the Indianapolis Star dated July 23, 1917 in the Indiana War Memorial archives, consists of the complete listing of all registrants from Marion County, Indiana. The total population figures for the city of Indianapolis listed were 339,784. The total registration figure was 34,154 with a double quota of 4,954. The double quota figure is used due to the many exemptions expected. The exact quota figure is listed at 2,477; this figure is low due to the credit issued for the men who have voluntarily enlisted.
Welcoming Parade
