Find a Buddy

Many veterans are eager to look for comrades with whom they have lost contact. Here are some resources that you can use to look for - and possibly find - a long lost buddy.

Meet Me @ LZL

First, add your contact information to the Meet Me @ LZL sign-up list. Second, search the Meet Me @ LZL sign-up list for buddies in Wisconsin who may be attending LZ Lambeau.

Strategy

A good strategy is to look for others who are looking for the same information you are looking for. The easiest way to accomplish that is by looking for reunion groups that are already in existence and are organized according to the unit, ship or installation that you were assigned to during your military service.

Reunion Websites

You will find there are numerous such group affiliations already in existence on the Internet. Some of these reunion websites already in existence are:

Military.com, militaryconnections.com, grunt.com (mostly for Marines but some great information for all branches), gisearch.com, searchmilitary.com, and vetfriends.com. Peoplesearching.com, Classmates.com and ancestry.com while not veterans sites are also very popular. Navy vets in particular may want to look at the cruise books at Ancestry.com.

Most of these reunion groups will require you to register in order to access their websites; however, that registration allows others to find you whenever you are not actively online and using their website, and this can make your search easier.

You may want to consider obtaining a free email address from gmail.com or hotmail.com that you use only for registering for reunion websites. Registration with any kind of website can cause you get lots of spam in your email inbox so having a separate email account that you use just for looking for buddies may save you from the headache of spam in your day-to-day life.

Particular to the Military

Something to remember in your Internet searching is the various ways the military has used to abbreviate a military unit’s designation (such as 1st ACR, NAVSUPFAC, ARW, E/3/5 9th Marines, etc.) and the different suffixes for numbered units (2d and 2nd, 3d and 3rd, etc.). You may also want to search for associated or other subordinate units to the major units you were assigned to, as there may not be anyone in your smallest unit of assignment registered (regiment instead of platoon, squadron instead of flight, installation instead of unit, etc.).

Another good item to remember when searching for an individual is to try searching first for buddies with unusual first and/or last names; these unique qualities might yield a greater chance of finding the right person the first time. If you have any relics from you military service such as special orders or travel orders, you might find someone listed who may have the “missing” link to others you may have served with in the military.

Using the Internet to Search

In the years past, it was a daunting if not impossible task for veterans of the military to attempt searching for lost friends and buddies from military service. However, with the advent of the Internet and the widely popular concept of online reunion websites, this chore has become an extremely popular hobby for many. If you’re in need of reaching out to former fellow service members from your military experience, the first thing you’ll want to do is gain access to a Internet connected computer and become familiar with the world-wide-web or more commonly known as the Internet.

Browsers

Today, every Internet web browser has access to the most powerful Internet search applications available. A web browser is the computer program that provides your access to the Internet through your Internet service provider. Whether you are using one of the more popular modern web browsers (such as Internet Explorer 8, Chrome 2, Firefox 3.5, Safari 4, Opera 10, Flock 2.5, Google Chrome 3, SeaMonkey 2), or you’re using an older web browser or a proprietary browser provided by your internet service provider, you’ll have access to Internet search tools that will get you started on finding your military buddies.

Search Engines

Somewhere on your web browser’s screen will be a little window with a button next to it labeled “search” or something very similar to this configuration. You may also find this function under one of the list of tools in the upper menu bar of the browser’s screen. In any case, this little window is where you will need to type the items you’ll want the web browser to search for on the Internet. Generally, this search function on your web browser will be connected directly to an internet-based computer program called a “search engine." Search engines (such as Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask.com) are complex math-based computer programs residing on the Internet, which are used to search the Internet for anything of importance to the requester. These search engines use a computer language called Boolean Language, which tells the program how to search for the items described by the requester. If you care to learn a little about this concept, as it is very helpful in structuring a search request, you can visit the following website: http://www.internettutorials.net/boolean.asp

To begin a search, there are some basic rules to abide by. First, try to avoid any and all punctuation (such as commas and semicolons) as they are used in the Boolean language to mean things such as: including, and, except or not. Also try not to use any words such as: and, or, except and including. Simply type your items in order of the priority you wish them to be searched for on the Internet. Again, you can learn about Boolean language in the tutorial above to help you create search strings with those words or punctuation to make specific and sometimes more productive searches. Otherwise, persistence and creative use of search words will likely yield equally successful searches.

Hints or Tips?

Please email the webmaster at LZLambeau@wpt.org with any hints or tips you’ve found for finding your war buddies. We’d like to make this page as helpful as possible. Please put "Find-A-Buddy page" in the subject line.

*A crisp salute to Richard Hasse, Marquette CVSO, for the information on this page.