Other things to try

You will build a broader narrative for your veteran ancestor if you research his whole family unit. Focusing to hard on the soldier only might make you miss a newspaper story that recounts what the family is doing during the war or where his brother was when they enlisted.

Aside from known specific military databases branch out and do the following kinds of searches:

Maps - no matter what sort of family research you are doing if you don't know the area very well make certain you studied a map of the area

. *Mapquest is a good site to show towns and county lines. (Google terms like: mapquest Falfa Colorado and look for the link to the Mapquest page)

*It is also handy to have a county map of the state you are working in (Google terms like: county map Illinois

Newspapers - Digitized historical newspapers are spread out all over the web. Some are subscription based, some are in large free archives, some are in little unexpected places. Look carefully at your maps to see what towns are close to where your family lived AND if they are close to another county or a state line be aware of that as well

* Begin by going to the U.S. Newspaper Directory 1690-Present at Chronicling America. Once you have determined the names of some newspapers that look promising Google the names of those newspapers to see if they come up in any sort of digital archive.

State Archives: Google terms like : Colorado archives soldiers - this will usually get you to the military resources of any state archives AND Google often returns other interesting links.

Cemetery Records

Find A Grave: Search for all members of his immediate family - Once you have the cemetery Google that cemetery and get contact information if you can. Call the office if there is a phone number and ask if they have an obituary on file. If you strike out there

GenWeb & Genealogy Societies

Google terms like: "Norman County" Minnesota genealogy - the county GenWeb page should come up as one of the first links. If there are local genealogy or historical societies they should come up next. Look at these sites carefully. Many have pages devoted to local veterans or a contact person who might help you learn something more.

Libraries close to the town where Grandpa lived. Go to Switchboard. Under business put libraries, then fill in the town. When you get the results list the default is "Best Match" in the small pull-down window. You may also choose distance which will tell you how far each library in the area is to the place you asked for.

If you find a library that looks promising but the link doesn't take you to a website try Googling the name of the library. Many library sites have online catalogs and sometimes even have pages for local history or genealogists. They also have links to email a reference question or phone numbers to call.