Always search for death information

We've had some recent confusion about death information. Since I don't think we had a rule about it before, we are making one now.

It has always been the case that if the soldier and his family moved out of the country, you don't search for the census. Many of you don't have international Ancestry accounts, and our screens are not designed for foreign census information. This is still our rule.

The Death screen isn't patterned after one document. There are many different types of death records, and both foreign and domestic records can be entered on the screen. Even if you don't have an international Ancestry account, you can still search for foreign death records on Find a Grave and Family Search. ALWAYS do this.

Rule: Always search for the death records for the soldier, his spouse, and his children regardless of whether they were in the US when they died. 

Death information is the only source of health data we currently have for the soldiers' spouses and children. So, it is important that we collect it whenever possible.

When the soldier and his family live outside the US

Recently, we had a soldier from Ireland. He was never found in the United States census and his children were all born and lived in Ireland. It was not uncommon for foreign-born soldiers to return to their countries of birth after the war.

Here are some things to keep in mind if you encounter this situation:

• Make sure you enter ALL the soldiers children on the grid. Even if you never find them on a census manuscript, you need to add them to the data. Add the spouse as well (if she had children with the soldier)
• If you have evidence that the soldier, his spouse, or his children were living outside the US during a given census year, then mark that decade on the grid with black Xs (not searched) instead of yellow Xs (not found). If they live outside the country, then they are not at risk to be found in the census.
• Even if they live outside the country, go ahead and search for death information, just in case. Family Search is a good place to do this because you can access international records. If you don't find death information for the soldier, his spouse, or his children, mark the death column with a yellow X.

Any questions?