Trace your American father who served in the Pacific

"Out of Fa'a Samoa"
With the generous permission of the artist Nanette Lela'ulu

World War II brought 2 million American servicemen to the Pacific where they fathered thousands of children to indigenous women. This site has been set up to help individuals trace their US families.

About the Mothers' Darlings study

This website was developed out of a research project begun in 2010 funded by the Marsden Fund, Royal Society of New Zealand and based at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

The project, "Mothers' Darlings", aims to gather the histories of the children of US wartime fathers and indigenous women. These important stories have been left out of histories of the war in the Pacific.

We think these personal histories are of interest and significance to all in the region and beyond.

News

GI's children searching for answers - TVNZ, 28 August 2011
Legacy of US Occupation in the Pacific - Marsden Fund News, 22 August 2011
War baby finds family - stuff.co.nz, 14 July 2011
Pacific children of US servicemen for study - Otago Daily Times, 5 January 2010