Archives Military: Home

General Files

 1917-1920

4 cu. ft.

Arranged by subject.

The records consist largely of correspondence and printed matter. The correspondence is mostly between the Nevada State Council of Defense and the State Councils Section of the Council of National Defense, as well as other federal agencies, county and community defense councils in Nevada, the councils of defense in other states, and private citizens. Among the federal agencies represented in these records are the Bureau of Investigation, War Industries Board, Food Administration, Fuel Administration, U. S. Employment Service, Bureau of Education, and the Committee on Public Information.

Non-governmental organizations with which there is correspondence include the Red Cross and the League to Enforce Peace. Much of the correspondence with private citizens involves accusations of the "disloyalty" of persons such as pacifists, radicals, and "pro-German" elements.

Other manuscript materials include minutes of meetings, financial records, and court records. The latter concern the suit brought by Hearst publications against the members of the Nevada State Council of Defense. The federal district court issued an injunction against the Council-promoted boycott of Hearst newspapers and magazines (for not showing the "American spirit").

Much of the printed matter is propaganda in the form of posters, pamphlets, and songs issued by federal agencies and patriotic organizations. Other publications are bulletins, press releases, and circulars from federal agencies. There are also newspaper clippings.

The records document the Council's coordination and support of several war-related programs and campaigns, such as the Liberty Loan and War Savings Stamp drives, Armenian and Syrian relief, and the Boys' Working Reserve.

Other matters addressed are War Risk Insurance, reemployment of veterans, "Americanization" of the foreign-born (with emphasis on the use and teaching of the English language), non-war construction, involvement of women in the war effort, the illegal sale of liquor to servicemen, explosives, and detection of deserters.

General Files

 1941-1946

19 cu. ft.

Arranged by subject and thereunder chronologically. File list available.

The files document civilian defense activities typical of the World War II era. Many of them concern the various volunteer organizations operating under the U. S. Office of Civilian Defense (OCD), whose recommendations, regulations, and requests were transmitted to citizens through the Nevada State Council of Defense (NSCD). The volunteer organizations included: the Civil Air Patrol, U. S. Citizens' Defense Corps, U. S. Citizens' Service Corps, Junior Citizens' Service Corps, Aircraft Warning Service, and the Forest and Range Fire Fighters Service.

Other organizations working with the NSCD were the Red Cross, Boys Scouts, Girl Scouts, University of Nevada, American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The files contain incoming and outgoing correspondence, memoranda, and telegrams. Most of these communications are among the OCD, the NSCD, county and local councils of defense, and the councils of defense of other states. The NSCD was in communication with agencies and branches of the federal government other than the OCD, such as the Forest Service, Grazing Service, Soil Conservation Service, Office of Price Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the armed forces.

Among the other records are Enrollment for Civilian Defense cards, with which citizens indicated their willingness and availability to serve in the volunteer organizations and their qualifications for doing so.

There is also much printed matter: manuals and pamphlets (mostly issued by the OCD), posters, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, the NSCD's Defense News Letter, and typescripts of speeches (including radio addresses).

Major subjects of the files include transportation; communication (e.g., amateur radio); air raid defense (wardens, blackouts); medical services (e. g., first aid training); bomb reconnaissance and disposal; Japanese balloon bombs; chemical warfare (e. g., gas mask information); auxiliary police and fire protection; uniforms and insignia; rationing; victory gardens; nutrition information; food preparation and preservation; recreation; salvage collection (scrap metal, rubber, kitchen fats); disaster relief; child care; price controls; war bond sales; and the operation of Basic Magnesium, Inc., Nevada's only significant defense plant.

General Files

 1942-1946

1 cu. ft.

At the conclusion of World War II, the Department of Highways undertook to compile a history of Nevada's participation in the war. The project was under the direction of Fred G. Greulich, secretary of the Nevada War History Committee and a Department of Highways staff member. The files consist of manuscripts covering several aspects of wartime Nevada. Included are narratives on the United Service Organization's (USO) activities in Nevada and on USO chapters in Hawthorne and Las Vegas. Other papers cover Red Cross work, Nevada residents in the Marine Corps, mining operators and property, Navy recruiting, and operations of the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads.

 Adjutant General's Files

 1868-1926, Bulk 1862-1912

6 cu. ft.

No apparent arrangement; some folders and the letterpress books are arranged chronologically. Finding aids: box lists; some folders have a typewritten "List of Papers."

The series is comprised primarily of incoming and outgoing correspondence, including correspondence of territorial governor James W. Nye. The records embrace subjects such as: electing, appointing, and commissioning of officers; resignations of commissions; the state's militia laws; rumored and actual Indian conflicts; certification of Civil War service; courts martial. In addition to records in folders there are two letterpress volumes of outgoing correspondence, 1875-1893 and 1881-1885, and five volumes of incoming correspondence, 1881-1898. Other correspondence includes: letters, 1897-1898, of Colonel F. C. Lord, commander of the First Regiment of the Nevada National Guard; directives and requests from the War Department; letters from business firms, 1897-1902; communications from adjutants general of other states; telegrams, 1898-1900; letters from business firms, 1897-1902.

Other records are: muster rolls and rosters of militia companies and Civil War and Spanish-American volunteer troops; military assessment rolls (i.e., lists, prepared by county clerks, of persons in a county subject to military duty; officers' oaths; special and general orders; circulars; manuals and other printed matter; requisitions and receipts for ordnance and ordnance stores; rifle practice reports; drill and attendance reports.

Rosters of Officers

1863-1929

1 vol.

Arranged by rank and there under alphabetically. The volume contains the following rosters:

"Roster of Officers, first Cavalry, Nevada Volunteers Mustered into the Service of the United States" (1863-1865), which gives information on: name, grade, company, date of commission, rank, when mustered, date of resignation, remarks (promotions, date of mustering out).

"Roster [of officers] Nevada Militia" (1871-1883) lists name, rank, grade or designation of office (e.g., Chief Engineer), when commissioned, and remarks (dates when elected, qualified, assumed office, reappointed, resigned, removed from state). This roster covers only the staffs of the governor (commander-in-chief), adjutant general, and the commanders of the 1st Division and the 1st and 2d Brigades.

"Roster [of officers] Nevada Militia" (1903-1926 ) lists name, rank, grade, date of commission, date of oath, residence, remarks. This too list only staff officers. Rosters of officers of the companies of the 1st and 2d brigades (1877-1884) list rank, name, elected, commissioned, remarks.

Rosters of the staffs of governor, major general, 1st and 2d Brigades, and the companies composing the brigades (1886-1887) lists rank, office, date of commission, post office, remarks.

"Roster of the Officers of the 1st Regiment[,] Infantry and Artillery, Nevada State Militia..." (1881-1883) lists rank, name, dates elected and commissioned, remarks. Rosters for the period of the federally recognized Nevada National Guard (1927-1931) include those for the staffs of the governor and adjutant general and of the officers of the 40th Military Police Company and a battalion of the 115th Combat Engineers Regiment.

Rosters of officers and enlisted men of the Nevada National Guard Reserve" (1929-1931).

Rosters, Muster Rolls, and Muster Books

1863-1931, bulk dates: 1863-1918

 11 vols., 3 oversize boxes

Entries arranged by military unit, thereunder by rank, and thereunder alphabetically by name of soldier. Some of these records have indexes.

This series consists of lists of officers and enlisted men of the territorial and state militias, from the Civil War up to the period of federal recognition of the Nevada National Guard. Generally, these are lists for units of the "organized" militia, as opposed to the "enrolled" militia, and for the volunteer companies raised during the Civil and Spanish-American wars. Some of the rosters are of officers only. There are also rosters of Nevada men and women who served in the armed forces during World War I, along with the manuscript volume of biographical sketches of Nevada servicemen who died during the war.

The following information is found in these records: name; rank; number; dates of enlistment or commissioning; dates mustered in and mustered out; arm of service (e.g., infantry, cavalry); place of nativity; residence; physical description. Many of the rosters and muster rolls have space for "remarks", in which information about discharges, courts martial, deaths, desertions, promotions is noted.

Muster Book, Nevada Volunteers, Civil War and Spanish-American War

 Inclusive dates: 1863-1898, Bulk dates: 1863-1866, 1898

1 vol.

Entries arranged by alphabetically by company and there under alphabetically by name of soldier.

Title at top of pages: "Report of Names, with Number and Description, of [name of company and battalion] Nevada Volunteers, mustered into the United States Service." For the Civil War period the volume gives data on soldiers of Companies A, B, C, D, E, and F, 1st Battalion of Nevada Cavalry, and Companies A, B, and C, 1st Battalion of Nevada Infantry. For the Spanish-American War period there is data on soldiers of Troop M, 2d U. S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment; Troop A, 1st Battalion of Nevada Cavalry (no other cavalry companies were mustered in) ; Companies A, B, C, and D, 1st Nevada Infantry.

The following information is included: number; name; date of enlistment; arm of service (cavalry or infantry) and letter designation of company; place of nativity; localities with number (left blank for Civil War entries, and used to record rank in Spanish-American War entries); "mustered in for each, and to be credited thereto" (town or township, by whom mustered, when and where); term of service; description of soldier (age and height, complexion, eyes, hair, occupation); remarks (deserted, mustered out, discharged, died).

Printed information about Nevada Civil War military participants can be found in the Biennial Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of Nevada for the Years 1883 and 1884 in Appendix to Journals of the Senate and Assembly of the Twelfth Session of the Legislature of the Sate of Nevada, 1885.

Civil War Muster Rolls Index

1863-1866

1 box

Arranged alphabetically by surname of soldier.

The Nevada Adjutant General received a grant in 1937-1938 from the Federal Works Progress Administration to survey and index the military records in that office dating from 1862-1928. The index to the Civil War Muster Rolls was created as part of that project. The information was compiled from the original Civil War Muster Rolls and typed on pre-printed cards. The information on each card includes muster roll number (by company); file number; name; nativity (state or country), date and place joined; age; date and place mustered in; place and date mustered out; rank; battalion; arm of service (infantry, cavalry); company; and remarks, e.g. mustered out, deserted, appointed bugler, relieved from duty, died, promoted, transferred. Some pieces of information may be missing from individual cards. Arranged alphabetically. Index also available online.

Daily Journals, Nevada National Guard, Office of the Adjutant General

1888-1900 (no vols. for 1896 and 1899)

 11 vols.

Entries covering, among others, the following topics: receipt of bills; armory rent; transmittal of bills to the Board of Military Auditors; meetings and actions of the Board of Military Auditors; armory rents; requisitioning and receipt of ordnance and quartermaster stores from federal arsenals and depots; appointing, electing, and commissioning of officers; submission of muster rolls; issuing of general and special orders; receipt and acceptance of resignations of officers; preparation and submission of the adjutant general's biennial reports; issuing of certificates of service for former militiamen; inspections; "anticipated trouble with Indians"; annual encampments; funerals of governors; parades; courts martial; raising and equipping of troops for the Spanish-American War.

Inaugural Ceremonies

 1971-1995

1 vol. and 1 letter-size Hollinger box

This series consists of material relating to governors' inaugurals and the Nevada National Guard's participation in the ceremonies. The materials include programs for the inaugurals, invitations to the inaugural balls, newspaper clippings, drafts of speeches, diagrams for seating and processions, and memorandums.

Arranged chronologically.

Service Cards, World War I, Marines

1917-1919

1 box

Arranged alphabetically by surname of marine.

Information on cards for Marines includes: name; serial number; race; residence; where enlisted; date; place of birth; date of birth; organizations served in, with dates of assignments and transfers; grades, with dates of appointment; engagements; wounds or other injuries received in action; served overseas from/to dates; exit from service date, with indication of the character of the marine ("excellent," "very good," "bad"); remarks (e.g., awards, prior and later service).

Service Cards, World War I Nurses

1917-1919

 10 cards

Arranged alphabetically by surname of nurse.

This card file index was compiled by the Adjutant General's Office from information supplied by the U.S. Army. Information on the cards includes name, race, residence, place and date of birth, date called into active duty as a nurse, training camp location, orgfanizations and staff assignments, principal duty stations, military engagements, injurires received in action, dates of overseas service, date of discharge, disabilities, and remarks. Many cards were stamped "Reserve nurse relieved from active duty; not discharged."

Service Cards, World War I, Army

 1917-1919

7 boxes

Arranged alphabetically by surname of soldier.

This card index was compiled by the Adjutant General's Office from information supplied by the U.S. Army. Information on cards includes name, serial number, race, residence, branch in which enlisted (National Guard., Enlisted Reserve Corps), place and date of enlistment or induction, birthplace, age or date of birth; organizations served in, dates of assignments and transfers, grades and date(s) of appointment(s), military engagements, wounds or other injuries received in action, dates of overseas service, date of discharge or demobilization, percentage of disability (if any), and remarks. Attached to several of the cards are applications for the Victory Medal and clasps. Applicants were asked to check off the "major operations participated in," such as Chambray, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, or the defensive sector served in.

Service Cards, World War I, Navy

1917-1920

1 box

Arranged alphabetically by name of sailor.

This card index was compiled by the Adjutant General's Office from information provided by the U.S. Navy. Information on each card includes name, service number, place and date of enlistment, age at entrance, rate (of pay at entrance), U.S. Navy or U.S. Naval Reserve Force, home address, places served (training station, base, ship), dates of service, rank(s), length of service at each rank, remarks, date and place of discharge, period of inactive duty, and rating at discharge. Included are cards for at least two women.

Report of Home Address at Time of Last Entry into Service (NME Form 53) and Notification of Home Address at Time of Latest Entry into Active Service ( DD Form 53, and DD Form 53N)

1948-1961

 4 boxes

Arranged alphabetically by name of serviceman/woman

Information on NME Form 53 includes name; state; county; city or town; street or RFD numbers; grad, rank, or rating; serial or service number; race; branch of service; signature. "If you registered under the Selective Service Act of 1948, the following information will be supplied:" local board number; state; county; registrant's selective service number.

Information on DD Form 53 and DD Form 53N: name; state; county; city or town and postal zone; number and street or RFD number; grade, rank, or rating; service number; branch of service; date of entry into active service; date of birth; signature of responsible officer, and his grade or rank and title. "When the person named in item 1 above is registered under the Universal Military Training and Service Act, the following information will be furnished:" number and address or local board of jurisdiction; registrant's selective service number. Dates received by local boards and Nevada State Headquarters of the Selective Service System are stamped on the reverse.

Records of Death of Serviceman; Enlistment or Reenlistment Agreement - Armed Forces of the United States

 1950-1973

1 box

Arranged by alphabetically by county and thereunder alphabetically by name of serviceman.

Information on cards includes name, Selective Service System number, serial number, date of birth, branch of service, county, home address, date and place of death, cause of death (e.g., vehicle accident, killed in action, missing in action, military aircraft accident, homicide, heart attack), source and date of information (e.g., Report of Casualty), and remarks (usually the date the casualty report was sent to local board).

Enlistment or Reenlistment Agreement - Armed Forces of the United States (DD Form 4)

1975-1976

Arranged alphabetically by name.

Information on form: name; Social Security number; date of enlistment/reenlistment; grade; home of record; place of enlistment/reenlistment; date of birth; Selective Service numbers; previous service (active/inactive, years, months, days); status (enlisted, reenlisted, active, reserve, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Delayed Enlistment Program); active duty commencement date; name, grade, and organization of enlisting officer; signature of enlisting officer. Dentists: arranged alphabetically by name; no dates.

Adjutant General Files, Correspondence

1868-1976; Bulk dates: 1918-1976

 8 cu. ft.

Arranged mostly chronologically.

This series consists largely of incoming and outgoing correspondence of the Adjutant General's Office. Among the principle senders and recipients are the National Guard Bureau, National Guard Association, Adjutant Generals' Association, Sixth Army, and adjutant generals of other states. Significant subjects include unit audit reports and unit inspection reports, civil disturbances, annual field training, induction into federal service, responses to emergencies, assistance to civil agencies such as police and fire departments, construction of armories, and ceremonies.

Other records include general and special orders, circulars, mobilization plans, reports of the U. S. Property and Fiscal Officer, and Vietnam casualty lists. Of special interest are correspondence files of individuals with Adjutant General Jay White during World War II.  

Statement of Service (WWII and Korean War) - OSSR Form 4

 1948-1953

19 boxes

On reverse of card: "This Statement of Service is furnished by the Office of Selective Service Records

under Public Law 26, 80th Congress, approved March 31, 1947, from Selective Service Records and from information furnished by the armed forces . . . . This statement is furnished primarily for historical purposes of the State but may be used for other governmental purposes of the State such as use in the adjudication of claims in which the State is solely concerned." The remainder of this statement concerns confidentiality.

The following information is found on the cards: name, service serial number, residence, Selective Service local board, date of birth, place of birth, race, sex, registered (yes/no), service in (Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Marine Corps), entered service by (enlistment, induction, commission), date of enlistment/induction/commission), date of entry into active duty, date of release from active duty, grade or rating at separation, highest grade or rating held, character or type of separation or discharge (e.g., honorable, presumed dead, transferred to reserve), battles and campaigns, decorations and citations, foreign and/or sea service (yes/no, dates), remarks (e.g., "discharged to accept employment in essential industry"), last mailing address, and date prepared. Arranged alphabetically by name of veteran.

There are cards also for veterans of the Korean Conflict.

Registration and Service Entry Cards

1965-1972

76 boxes

Most of the cards are "Selective Service System Registration Cards" (SSS Form 1, various versions). The information required includes: name, selective service number, place of residence, date of birth, place of birth, mailing address, date of registration, "name and address of person other than a member of your household who will always know your address," color of eyes and hair, height and weight, and other obvious physical characteristics (e.g., birthmark, scar, tattoo).

Also there are cards for "Notification of Entry into Active Military Service" (DD Form 53, various versions), which was "Not to be used for men inducted under the Universal Military Training and Service Act." These forms call for the following information: name, selective service number, number and address of local Selective Service board, home of record, armed force (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard), service number, grade, rate, or rank, date of entry into active service, date of birth, sex, name, grade, and station of responsible officer.

Another form found in these records is "Report of Home Address at Time of Last Entry into Service" (NME Form 53, various versions), which was "not to be used for men inducted under the Selective Service Act of 1948." Categories of information include: name, county, city or town, number and street or RFD number, grade, rank, or rating, serial or service number, race, service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard), and information needed for those registered under the Selective Service Act of 1948 (local board number, state, county; Selective Service number).

Finally, there are plain cards upon which is the following information is typed: name, address; Selective Service System number, and date of birth. Arranged alphabetically by name of registrant.

Selective Service Files

1933-1977 

2 cu. ft.

This series documents the functions and procedures of the Selective Service System in Nevada in the World War II era. There are also records from the 1930s relating to plans for conscription and mobilization, as well as material on the Korean and Vietnam eras. Among the records herein are those pertaining to civilian personnel (1942-1944), which includes: a table of organization, rosters, information on hiring, salaries, promotions, and correspondence between Nevada's Selective Service offices and national headquarters of the system including personnel, memoranda, and press clippings. Other records include:

• Reports and outgoing correspondence, with related documents, regarding Nevada casualties in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
• World War II-era forms (DSS Form 100A--Classification Record) for classifying registrants. Arranged by county; circulars issued from State Headquarters, Selective Service System, 1940-1944, with alphabetical and numerical indexes for the 1940-1941 circulars.
• Materials relating to pre-World War II planning: General Mobilization Plan, State of Nevada, 1933; "Selective Service. Plans of Organization and Administration. State of Nevada," n.d., ca.1940; "Selective Service Plan for Printing Selective Service Forms, State of _________," ca. 1932; and "The Protective Mobilization Plan, Ninth Corps Area, 1938," Annexes 1 and 7 (Part 5).

Reports of Transfer or Discharge (DD Form 214)

 1945-1979; 1981-2002

72 boxes

Arranged in two different ways: 1945-1972, alphabetically by name of veteran; and 1980-1997 by year of discharge and then alphabetically by name of veteran. There are very few records for 1973-1980 when the draft had been abolished.

These records consist mainly of D[epartment of] D[efense] Form 214 ("Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge") in various versions from 1950-1972. The versions vary in some details, but the essential information remains the same.

A person leaving active duty retained the original of this form; other copies went to the headquarters of his or her branch of service, the National Military Personnel Center at St. Louis, and to the Selective Service board of the state from which the veteran entered the armed forces. With the termination of Selective Service System in 1973 the state copies of DD 214 in Nevada were transferred to the State Archives. Since the revival of the Selective Service in 1980, the state copies of DD 214 have gone to the Nevada Commission for Veterans Affairs which in turn sends records older than 3 years to the Nevada State Library and Archives.

Major categories of required information include: name; service number; social security number; selective service number; department, component and branch or class (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force); grade, rate or rank; pay grade; citizenship; place of birth; type of transfer or discharge; reason or authority; character of service (e.g., honorable); last duty assignment and major command; district , area command or corps to which reservist transferred; terminal date of reserve /UMT & obligation; term of service; date of entry; home of record; statement of service (years, months, days); decorations, medals, badges; education (civilian and military); VA claim number; remarks (e.g., blood group)

Other forms which may be attached to the above records include: DD Form 4 ("Enlistment Contract--Armed Forces of the United States"); GSA Standard Form 88 ("Report of Medical Examination"); "Department of the Army Special Orders"; DD Form 44 ("Record of Military Status of Registrant"); "Record of Discharge from the US Naval Reserve."