Concentrate on known dates, events, or other significant details. The more data points you can provide, the easier the research task will be. If you are a descendent or interested researcher, it is important to gather every scrap of information you can. A lot of your initial ideas may derive from oral histories passed around the family. These can be important leads, but should never be looked at as absolutes.
Oral histories change and mutate through each retelling.
They both lose and gain story elements from every person they pass through. Look for photos, old letters, telegrams, government documents, diaries, uniform items, anything that might tell a portion of the story. As a researcher you should always strive to find the truth of the story. Often the research will lead you in directions that you might never have considered at the start of the process. Obtain archived materials It is often said that militaries run on paperwork and the Army Air Forces of W.W.II were no different.