Although it's rather expensive, I've found that having a subscription to ancestry .com has been a very positive thing for me. There are so many military records along with other kinds of records that it would be difficult to *not* find something, I'm thinking. In addition to military databases, there are census forms and I can see the actual records. I've found some surprising (and sometimes shocking!) things out about my lines way back in time. And of course, family trees, too.
This year I actually found my real family by using a website like that. I found out what place she worked at and I ended up going to the website. Sure enough there was her picture. When I emailed her we both were so nervous!
What a great story... and congrats for finding your family! Sounds as if you were, as they say, "one of the lucky ones" whose family was just as excited. Breaks my heart to see these searches that end up with only one side interested in meeting or forming a relationship. Have you been able to meet in person yet, or have you stayed with email?
There's more to the story. All within a month both of my sisters and my aunt messaged me online. I ended up moving to Tampa, to find out my sisters where within bicycle riding distant, maybe an hour or two on bike. That's all I had so I met them both. Now we chill all the time, and it's not even been a month! Their names are Melissa, Jessica, my aunt Dawn, my mom Lori. I just met a couple little nephews and cousins, and it feels awesome to be holding someone who has me in them you know? LIONZFIRE
Thank you for telling it! (I hope I don't have to answer the triple post three times. hehe Just kidding... for some reason your post appeared 3 times.) Finding your sisters... I can't even imagine how special that must feel... and finding your mom and aunt, too! And other family members... wow. For all the evil that we hear goes on with the Internet, there are totally awesome things happening, too! Have you found everyone you're looking for now, or is this a continuing story?
I have used Ancestry for years. It is $20 a month for American records only (if you pay month to month). It is a good tool as long as you don't go to far back or want to find an obscure person or event. WWI records were prevalent for me, but war records before that (at least for my searches) yielded nothing at all. I use Ancestry about one month out of the year, to see if they added records from the previous year. I usually find a few new things, but the military records, for me, have not gotten better for the last several years.
I found most of my family back to 1500 through the LDS Library. I used it online and went there and searched at the massive library in Salt Lake City. Much of their library is online however. I discovered we weren't German after all. We were Swiss. My father was stunned. I later went to Switzerland twice and am now writing a novel set in Switzerland. What a wonderful journey its been. Here's the link. You do not have to be a member of the LDS Church to use this amazing resource. https://familysearch.org
