23andMe’s founder Anne Wojcicki wins bid for bankrupt DNA testing firm – The saga continues!

Photo by Caleb Fisher on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, June 18 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

My Quest to Find the Owner of a Mysterious WWII Japanese Sword – I haven’t shared an orphan heirloom story in a while, and this is a really unusual one.

The Network Of Time – So this isn’t genealogical, but it’s a fun, visual 6-degrees game. I just tried it with Dolly Parton and Alan Rickman and it linked them in 3 photos. Good practice for spotting unexpected connections!

Photo: Ramon F Velasquez, CC0, (Cabanatuan American Memorial) via Wikimedia Commons

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 5 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Danish pop star Zindy feels the love from long lost Vietnam War veteran father – DNA leads to a happy reunion!

Lifeslices: Genealogical Adventurer – Had a fun chat about genealogy with Steve Fisher for his Lifeslices podcast! Maybe give it a listen while you’re on a walk or tackling some chores at home?

At 88, he is a historical rarity — the living son of a slave – Slavery is not as distant as many think.

Chuckles for the Day: New Ancestry.com Feature Warns Users When They Might Want To Stop Sticking Noses Where They Don’t Belong –

Photo Credit: guayacan_verde under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, February 16 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Top Image Credit: VirtualHistorians.com

The post Genealogy Roundup, December 15 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

“There’s a television series for Amazon in the works, from the producers of The Crown.”

P.S. Her latest is brilliant and almost painfully relevant.

New POW/MIA Records Added! – It’s a little strange to see these lists on Ancestry/Fold3 as they’ve been available online elsewhere for years, but perhaps it will help with awareness. This announcement features one of the tragic POW/Shinyo Maru cases, and I’m pleased to say that many of these men’s families have been found – sometimes including relatives in the Philippines. Would be wonderful if it’s possible to identify some of them.

Top Image Credit: Ian O’Byrne under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, September 1 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

The story behind Paul McCartney’s “Magic Piano” – Hey, Beatles fans! Check out this article about Paul McCartney’s magic piano by my friend Brendan Farrell!

The Amazing Women in Stephen Colbert’s Family Tree – On his (recent) birthday, celebrating the ancestors who brought us the amazing Stephen Colbert!

TJ Holmes interviews Megan Smolenyak about her research on President Obama’s Irish roots – Continuing to share some of the videos I’ve unearthed during my decluttering, and given that Sunday, May 23rd, will be the 10th anniversary of meeting President Obama when he went to Ireland to explore his roots, this seems a good time to share this fun interview with TJ Holmes leading up to it.

Top Photo Credit: Steve Evans under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, May 19 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

‘Finding people is easy:’ DNA databases help unite American veterans with their long-lost children – It certainly is getting easier.

I’ve Got a Crush on Steven Tyler’s Grandfather – In case you’re curious about the Italian-Polish roots of Steven Tyler, who just celebrated another birthday recently. And shout-out to his rock-star great-uncle, Pasquale Tallarico, and grandfather, Felix Czarnyszewicz/Blancha!

Trying a new tool to find my articles scattered around the internet, and the dates it’s assigning are cracking me up. My guess is that maybe they’re picking up dates included in the articles?

Top Photo Credit: Google Maps

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 31 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Cagle, C.) – Welcome home, Pvt. Connie Cagle. Honored to have researched your family.

World War II Bible of Pittsburgh man, found in Belgium, now ‘home’ with grandson in Clarion – Orphan heirloom reunion with a few twists and turns!

VFW returns Vietnam artifacts home thanks to help from American veterans – More of this kind of thing, please.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Fraser

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

The post Genealogy Roundup, October 30 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

A Memorial Day Tribute to Dad for his Service in Vietnam

Army Repatriation: Bringing Them Home – I *loved* chatting with Amy Johnson Crow about my repatriation work with the Army, so hope you’ll consider giving this podcast a listen. Thanks, Amy!

The Statue of Liberty was created to celebrate freed slaves, not immigrants, its new museum recounts

Remains of Korean War vet travel back home to Dublin – Since I’ve been on the road for a few weeks, I’m playing catch up checking on the status of the cases of the soldiers I’ve researched over the years. There’s been a burst of identifications, so please bear with me as I post each of the recent IDs – starting with CPL James Cordie Rix who was only 17 when he died. He was one of my first cases. Believe it or not, I researched his family in 2000. Welcome home, CPL Rix.

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Woods, R.) – Welcome home, Pfc. Roger Lee Woods. Honored to have researched your family (2010).

Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Ross, D.) – Welcome home, Pfc. Dale W. Ross. Honored to have researched your family (2013).

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Lawler, C.) – Welcome home, Cpl. Charles “Chuck” Stanley Lawler. Honored to have researched your family (2005).

The post Genealogy Roundup, May 29 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Reclaim The Records: Using Freedom of Information Laws for Genealogy

Georgia Army soldier accounted for from Korean War  – Welcome home, Cpl. James C. Rix. Honored to have researched your family.

Photo Credit: U.S. Army photograph by Staff Sgt. Michael O’Neal

The photo shows U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jack DeMato and Master Sgt. Myung McBride, recovery noncommissioned officers on a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) recovery team, shoveling mud during operations in Nghe An province, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Dec. 2, 2018. The team deployed to the area in support of DPAA’s mission to provide the fullest possible accounting of our missing personnel to their families and the nation by searching for the remains of service members lost during the Vietnam War.

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 20 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.