Wildcards can be used in text search fields, but not as the first character.
To perform a single character wildcard search use the "?" symbol, e.g. "Lev?" will find Levy or Levi and any other word beginning with "Lev" with four characters, but won't find "Levey".
The multiple character wildcard * (asterisk) looks for any number of characters (or none) within the nominated text. "Lev*y" will find Levy and Levey. "S*war* " will find many variations of the name including Swartz, Schwartz, Schwarcz, Szwarc. "Davi*s" will find both Davis and Davies as well as Davidowits. "Lev*" will find any name beginning with "Lev", eg Levine, Levinstein, etc, as well as Levy, Levi and Levey.
Enlistees may have been known under an alternate name, such as a nickname or maiden name (also known as, or AKA). A search for "surname" will query the AKA value as well