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World War I Gold Star Mothers' Pilgrimages Index Search
On 2 March 1929, at the urging of the Gold Star Mothers' Association, Congress enacted legislation
that authorized pilgrimages to European cemeteries for mothers and widows of soldiers
and sailors, who died in the service of their country between 5 April 1917 and 1 July 1921 and
who were buried in those European cemeteries.
In 1930 the Government Printing Office published Pilgrimage for the Mothers and Widows
of Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines of the American Forces Now Interred in the Cemeteries of
Europe as Provided by the Act of March 2, 1929
Information in this publication includes: Name and address of mother/widow, relationship,
name of deceased, organization the deceased served in, cemetery, and whether a pilgrimage is desired.
This in an important record as many of the World War I era military service records were lost in
the 1973 fire at The National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis and a soldiers unit or place of
burial may not be known to his descendants.
In addition to the service information, the inclusion of the mother or widow's full address
should prove most helpful in locating the family in the 1930 Federal Census.
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