More than two decades ago, Otis Hayford’s “History of the Hayford Family” introduced me to some of the resources for Revolutionary War genealogy. I found my William Hayford Sr. listed in muster rolls and in the multivolumed “Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors.”

Later a resident of the Maine town of Hartford, Hayford was a private in “Capt. James Hatch’s Co. of Minute Men which marched on the Alarm of Apr. 19, 1775, from West Parish, Pembroke to Scituate and Marshfield, discharges, Apr. 29, 1775. Service, 11 days. Also, Capt. Eleazar Hamlin’s Co., Gen. Thomas’ Reg’t. muster roll dated Aug. 1, 1775. Enlisted May 1st, 1775. Service 3 mos. 1 week 1 day. Also company return (prob. Oct. 1775). Also, order for bounty coat or its equivalent in money, dated Roxbury, Nov. 9, 1775.”

Historians and genealogists have done a lot of work on the Revolution and the Civil War, adding to our knowledge of ancestors who served in those wars. The Maine State Library and Bangor Public Library have good collections on these topics, and you can check Web sites such as the DAR’s www.dar.org and the all-purpose www.cyndislist.org, which has many links to military resources.

For information on the Civil War, go to the Maine State Archives Web site at www.maine.state.us/sos/arc, then click on “Genealogy” and “Military.” The site describes some of the resources available at the archives, including muster rolls and soldiers index. But first things first. If you have veterans in your family, or people who knew them, I would urge you to get information from them.

When I was growing up in the 1960s, my dad didn’t say much about his World War II service in the U.S. Navy. Some years later, as I was reading Herman Wouk’s “War and Remembrance,” the sequel to his “Winds of War,” I realized that the novel was getting to the time in the war when my dad was in the Pacific. So I called him up and asked for the dates and locations for his ship.

Suddenly, what used to be “history” had become real for me.

Whether the person you want to interview is a relative or not, it helps to be sensitive to the veteran’s level of comfort in talking about the war. Some, like my dad, find it a little easier as time goes on to recall memories they can share. The Cole Land Transportation Museum in Bangor has a wonderful program that brings together veterans and classes of pupils interested in learning about World War II. But for many veterans, their war service is a difficult topic.

“I don’t like to talk about it,” Jim Drake told me recently. A resident of Phillipsburg, N.J., Drake was one of several members attending a recent reunion of the Army Specialized Training Program at the University of Maine.

Some things Drake was comfortable discussing – that as a student he lived in North Hall, torn down many years ago; that many of the ASTPers were put in the 104th Infantry, while others were sent to the 17th Airborne Division.

The ship that took Drake to Europe landed at Cherbourg, France, and his unit was in the thick of it. Drake himself was wounded in Europe, but that’s not part of the information he volunteers. “We’re here, basically, honoring the people killed in action.”

The ASTPers presented the university with a plaque listing the names of 50 members they know were killed during World War II, plus two who died in a fire at UM. The listing will be expanded as more names become known, and the plaque will hang outside the ROTC office on campus. The plaque commemorates: Charles E. Ayres Jr., Charles E. Baumann, Harold H. Bolte, James M. Buttimer, Phillip D. Cheney, Gerald Cohen, Robert M. Conroy, Robert A. Crews, John F. Dalton, John F. Daly, Donald R. Davey, Earle S. Davis, Richmond E. Derry, Alvin W. Dickmeier, Dale H. Duling, Thomas S. Dunn Jr.

John T. Ehrman, Joseph A. Ernst, Stanley C. Fishman, Gordon A. Freeman, Alan A. Friedenberg, Thomas M. Gooden III, Joseph Gray, Herbert E. Guenther, Edwin B. Hackett, George R. Hanus, Robert Harrison, Gerald S. Hershberg, George H. Huntington II, Louis Kaplowitz, Robert B. Kuhl.

Walter J. Marshall, William P. MacCrae, Joseph L. McCobb, John S. McCollum, Avis L. McDonald, Varoujan E. Mooradian, Walter M. Moorhead Jr., Kenneth H. Ohrenberger, Matthew L. Perry, Harry B. Quinn Jr., Robert M. Reynolds, Melvin Rose, John W. Scarbrough Jr., Milton Simpson, Arden T. Slack, John F. Steinmetz, Orrin S. Wells, Paul J. White, Gustaf A. Widell, Wallace S. Wrotten Jr., John M. Zuck.

With the name of a unit, such as the 104th Infantry, you can find a good bit of information in books or on the Internet, for example: www.104infdiv.org. The same is true for ships, whether they are the largest aircraft carriers and battleships, or the much smaller LSTs and LCIs. Landing Ship Tanks have their own Web site, LST Homeport, at www.abiz4me.com/lst/html. The National Landing Craft Infantry Association has its site at www.usslci.com, including a listing of those killed in action aboard LCIs in World War II.

For the Korean War, I like to use the Web site www.koreanwar.org, which includes a picture and history for the Maine Korean War Memorial in Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor. The memorial is worth a trip, if you haven’t seen it in person. And as far as I’m concerned, the best resource on the Korean War is the members of Burton-Goode-Sargent Chapter No. 1 of the Maine Korean War veterans.

The Wall is also on the Web. That’s the database of Americans listed on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. Go to www.vietvet.org/thewall to look up information including name, birth date, province where the person died, and location on the Vietnam Wall. By entering the surname “Moody” and the state Maine, I found Guilford native Thomas Moody, who attended high school with me.

3145. WILLEY-NEAL-COLE. Seeking info on Hannah Willey, who in 1850 was living in Harmony with son Josiah Willey, 12, and James Neal. James had a son Alfred Neal by wife Elizabeth. Did Hannah marry a Willey who died, or was she herself a Willey? She d. Dec. 25, 1879, Milo, buried in Abbot with Cyrus Cole and his wife. Hannah also could have been a Works or a Draper. Elaine Goode, 309 Ohio St., Bangor, ME 04401; or e-mail Mag1938@aol.com.

Send queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mail to familyti@bangordailynews.net.