About Bill Beigel
William L. “Bill” Beigel, M.A., is a historian, speaker, author, and researcher, specializing in U.S. military service records from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam Wars.
Bill’s first published book, “Buried on the Battlefield – Not My Boy: The Return of the Dead from World War Two,” describes the the massive effort after WWII to recover America’s fallen from all over the globe. His book has been optioned for a documentary film; in addition, he has consulted and been interviewed for several documentaries about World War II. His research is referenced in a number of books and publications, including, “Youth, the First Victim of War,” by Paul Edlund, the sole survivor from a downed B-24 crew. Bill publishes a blog with stories and photos of the men and women he researches.
Bill learned first-hand the difficulty of learning about the lives, deaths, and military experiences of World War II veterans and casualties, when it took nearly a year to research a member of his own family in 1999. Families rarely knew what happened to their loved ones who served or died in World War II, and for most families, those questions remain unanswered to this day. As a lover of both history and research, Bill set out to assist other WWII veterans’ families in finding the answers to their own unsolved family mysteries. Since 1999, has researched thousands of veterans and casualties for individuals, families, communities, and institutions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Bill regularly receives emails from clients describing how his research has impacted their families and communities.
Bill’s work has been featured in numerous television, radio, newspaper, and online media outlets, as well as print and online history magazines, including the New York Times, USA Today, CBS and Fox affiliates in Los Angeles. Bill tours the country, lecturing and offering workshops at conferences, museums, schools, for genealogy groups, and at other venues. Bill donated a large collection of his research on members of the 8th Air Force to the American Air Museum in Duxford, England. He spent more than ten years researching nearly three hundred students and alumni from his alma mater, UCLA, who were killed in WWII. He is the official researcher for the Kwajalein MIA Project, which seeks to locate missing members of the US Navy during WWII who crashed in the Kwajalein Atoll so that their remains can be brought home.
Bill Beigel holds a BA in History and a Masters in Geography, both from UCLA. He is a member of the Organization of American Historians, the Society of Military Historians, the Association of Professional Genealogists, the Southern California Genealogical Society, and the Minnesota Historical Society.
He lives in Redondo Beach, California, with his wife, Dawn, his college sweetheart. Bill and Dawn have successfully raised two fabulous humans – a son and a daughter.
To book Bill as a speaker for your conference or event, write to speaker@ww2research.com.
