World War II Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File This database contains records of aboout 9 million men and women who enlisted in the United States Army, including the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC, later WAC). Although incomplete, the records contain data for a majority of the enlistments in the US Army during World War II, including each person's serial number. This database is also available online at FamilySearch and Ancestry (these might be easier to search):
World War II and Korean War Veterans Buried Overseas Has nearly 160,000 listings; Title of the records in this database: "Register, World War II Dead Interred in American Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, and World War II and Korea Missing or Lost or Buried at Sea"
U.S., Navy and Marines Awards and Decorations, 1942-1994 (has 1.8 million entries)
U.S. World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files, 1942-1948
World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946; and WWII Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945
World War II Young American Patriots, 1941-1945
World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945
World War II Japanese-American Internment Camp Documents, 1942-1946
WWII U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Muster Rolls, 1939-1949
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S., National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), 1941-2011
World War II Draft Cards
WWII Draft Cards at Ancestry...
WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 at Ancestry (requires payment) Includes images of the draft cards. For men born from February 17, 1897 to July 31, 1927. For all states except Maine (the WWII draft cards for Maine were destroyed). Has 36 million entries. Ancestry also has WWII draft cards for the 4th registration/"old man's draft." See...
World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 at Ancestry (requires payment) from the Fourth Registration, referred to as the "old man's registration," conducted on April 27, 1942 -- for men born from April 28, 1877 to February 16, 1897. Digitized WWII fourth registration draft cards are available at Ancestry for the following places: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New York City, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
WWII Draft Cards at FamilySearch...
World War II Draft Cards, 1942 - Fourth Registration ("old man's draft") at FamilySearch free with registration; includes index and digitized images of the draft cards for men born from April 28, 1877 to February 16, 1897; for Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York City (the Bronx, Brooklyn/Kings County, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island), Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM) Veterans Affairs website with 10 million burials in National and associated military cemeteries. Includes photos of the grave markers for most of the entries.
Beneficiaries
Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 (at Ancestry/requires payment); The Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File contains birth and death dates, and sometimes other information, for more than 14 million veterans who received benefits from the VA while they were alive.
U.S. Veterans Headstone Applications, 1861-1985 (at Ancestry/requires payment) for burials in private cemeteries; includes digitized images of the applications; has over 4.9 million listings
Fields of Honor Database burials database for six American War Cemeteries in Europe: Ardennes and Henri-Chapelle (both in Belgium), Epinal and Lorraine (France), Margraten (the Netherlands), and Luxembourg. Some of the listings include memorial pages with a photograph.
United States Marine Corps Casualty Card Indexes at Ancestry/free with registration; for World War II and the Interwar Period 1946-1950 (also for the Korean War and the Interwar Period 1955-1960). "Casualty cards were issued when a Marine was wounded, missing, killed or deemed a prisoner of war."
Missing Air Crew Reports, WWII (at Fold3/requires payment) from NARA Microfilm Publication M1380; includes over 16,000 case files of Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs) and related records of the US Army Air Forces, 1942-1947
Pearl Harbor Muster Rolls (at Fold3) (requires payment) detailed muster rolls listing all personnel assigned to ships based at Pearl Harbor 1939-1947, and those missing or dead
American Merchant Marine Databases includes: Names of WWII Merchant Marine Killed, Names and Fates of WWII Merchant Marine POWs, Names of U.S. Naval Armed Guard Killed and Wounded
Iowa World War II Bonus Case Files, 1947-1954 (at Ancestry/requires payment) database with images of applications of WWII bonus payments for Iowa men and women who served on active duty in the U.S. armed forces between 16 September 1940 and 2 September 1945
New York, WWII Enlisted Men Cards, 1940-1945 (at Ancestry/requires payment) for New York National Guard enlisted men and noncommissioned officers activated for federal service during World War II; these men were organized as the 27th Infantry Division
State summary of war casualties : (New York). United States. Navy Dept. Office of Information. -- Washington, D.C. United States Government Printing Office, 1946.
World War II honor list of dead and missing: state of New York. Adjutant-General's Office. Washington: War Department, 1946.
New York, Military Discharge Records, 1865-1946 from FamilySearch; for Bronx, Chenango, Otsego, Seneca (year 1918), Suffolk, Warren, Westchester, and Yates Counties; coverage varies by county
Tennessee, Military Discharge Records, 1861-1967 from FamilySearch; For these counties: Bedford, Blount, Crockett, Dickson, Greene, Houston, Meigs, Montgomery, Moore, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, White, Williamson, and Wilson. Coverage varies by county.
Texas...
Texas, Various Counties, Military Discharge Records, 1916-1990 from FamilySearch; For these counties: Anderson, 1919-1947; Austin, 1918-1951; Bastrop, 1917-1943; Caldwell, 1918-1931; Colorado, 1890-1953; Ellis, 1919-1941; Falls, 1916-1919; Hood, 1918-1919; Llano, 1919-1943; Williamson, 1918-1945; and Wise, 1919-1939.
Washington, Military Records, 1855-1950 at Ancestry/requires payment; includes some WWII-era Enlisted Personnel Index Cards, and other items; The Enlisted Personnel Index Cards also cover other time frames.
The National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO has 20th Century military records for discharged and deceased veterans. For information on how to order an Official Military Personnel File for a veteran who separated from service before 1957, see: Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests. Be aware that a 1973 fire destroyed about 80% of the Army records (1912-1959) and 75% of the Air Force records (1947-1963). However, in some cases alternate sources were used to reconstruct some basic service information. There may be restrictions on who can order these records. And there may be a fee to obtain copies.
National Archives Catalog Search
Some (not all) WWII-era military personnel files for the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard are indexed here. Two examples of military records that are partially indexed in this database... From Record Group 24: Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel; From Record Group 153: Court Martial Case Files.
If you are a military veteran or the next-of-kin of a deceased former member of the military you can order records from... eVetRecs - Military Personnel Records Request (there may be a fee)