I have three grandparents (possibly more) who served in the US Armed Forces during World War 2 and Korea. One of them died in WW2, the other two came home, started families, but died very young.
What are some good resources to use if all that I know about these men is their names, where they were from, (possibly) their day of death, and what war they served in? Is there a good procedure to go through when requesting information from the government so that I don't get bogged down in paperwork / follow dead ends?
I was able to stumble across some obituaries / death lists for World War 2 and bootstrapped that into finding my great uncle's unit, where he died, when, and where he was buried. However, that information has been tougher to find for my grandfathers, largely because they had "variable" names (James / Jim, Nicholas / Nick, and both would sometimes have "Jr" or use their middle names) and because we don't list the men who come back.
The best source, if you can find it, would be their DD Form 214s (or similar earlier forms), which summarize their entire period of service, and which will serve as a guide to other possible research. These records, if they still exist, are held by the National Archives. Unfortunately, there was a fire at the archives decades ago, and many of the WW2 and 1950s records were destroyed. The Archives is slowly trying to rebuild those files from other sources, so it is still a good idea to try to obtain them through the archives. Their website, with instructions, is at; http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/ Another good online source is, I think, affiliated with Ancestry.com-- it is "Fold3" (https://www.fold3.com), and has lots of old military records available. For dealing with the archives, it is easier if you have service numbers (or SSANs), but even if you don't have those, give it a try.