NPRC Opens more than Six Million New Military Personnel Files

The following note was forwarded by Dear Myrtle. (Thanks Myrt!) Her blog is available at http://blog.dearmyrtle.com.

NOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just released by the NARA Public Affairs office. Please address all inquiries to Public.Affairs@nara.gov  or contact Bryan McGraw, Director of Archival Programs at NPRC, at 314-801-9132.

National Personnel Records Center Opens more than Six Million New Military Personnel Files
St. Louis, MO

The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) will open for the first time all of the individual Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) of Army, Army Air Corps, Army Air Forces, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard military personnel who served and were discharged, retired or died while in the service, prior to 1946.

Collectively, these files comprise more than six million records. This is the second step in the progressive opening of the entire paper and microfiche OMPF collection of over 57 million individual files. Additional military personnel records will be made available to the public each year through 2067 until the entire collection is opened.

These archived files are treasured by family members, historians, researchers, and genealogists. Contained in a typical OMPF are documents outlining all elements of military service, including assignments, evaluations, awards and decorations, education and training, demographic information, some medical information and documented disciplinary actions. Some records also contain photographs of the individual and official correspondence concerning military service.

To view an original record, individuals may visit the NPRC Archival Research Room in St. Louis, MO. Telephone is 314-801-0850. Research room hours are10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central Time Tuesday through Friday. Visitors are strongly encouraged to call ahead to make reservations.

To obtain copies of records, customers may write to NPRC at 9700Page Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63132, fax a request to 314-801-9195, or submit a request through http://vetrecs.archives.gov or on a Standard Form 180.

Information about records available at NPRC is also posted on the National Personnel Records Center Homepage at http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/index.html.

Archived, public records are subject to the National Archives and Records Administration's published fee schedule. Copy fees for archived OMPFs are waived for veterans or primary next-of-kin (surviving spouse or children of the veteran) if the records are needed to validate a benefit or entitlement. The fee schedule for OMPFs is as follows:

1. OMPFs 5 pages or less: $15
2. OMPFs 6 pages or more: $50 (most OMPFs fall in this category)
3. OMPFs of Persons of Exceptional Prominence (PEP): $.75 per page

(PEP records include the OMPFs of famous individuals such as former Presidents, famous military leaders, decorated military heroes, celebrities,entertainers, and professional athletes who left military service and havebeen deceased for at least 10 years).

Archived records are subject to a limited privacy exemption under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. As such, all records are reviewed prior to release and social security numbers are redacted.

For more information, contact Bryan McGraw, Director of Archival Programs at NPRC, at 314-801-9132.

Comments

[Marge]

All of this sounds so wonderful but in actuality, access isn't that simple. I ordered my father's military medical records (he died in 1990) and was told they had to be sent to my personal physician. They are there now but I still don't have access because the medical group lawyer said it fell under privacy laws. The vetrec website says as next of kin, I have full access. If that is so, why did it have to go to my personal physician, (he can't have access either according to the lawyer) and not directly to me? In spite of all the PR press releases, nothing is as it seems when it comes to the Vet records. Just to be fair, they did send me what was left of my father's service records salvaged from the fire---- mainly payroll records and discharge papers.

[George Mason]

There is something researchers need to know: There was a huge fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis in July of 1973. The fire was not brought under control for many days. It destroyed most of the US Army personnel records from the years 1912 through 1959.

[Helen]

I was told that copies of the records that were burned in 1973 are available in DC. Is this correct or are they totally lost forever?
Helen

[Trish Lewis]

I was told the same, that my father's WWII records were gone due to the 1973 St. Louis fire...

[Gary]

Hi,

I had similar luck on the issue of missing WWII records of my dad.

Another family member told me that this is the "standard objection" that you hear back (she surmises from lack of initiative by the employees to dig into the hard cases).

Has anyone become agressive and then the records were mysteriously found later?

please advise.

Gary

[Karen L. Wofford]

Hi,
I couldn't get much on my great uncle's military records.
I went online to the NY state library in Albany and found a index card of records or cards that they library had.
I wrote and got a 4" x 6" card of my great uncle's military record (places he had been, battles etc) and I found a whole bunch of information on my great uncle that the federal archives did not have. Be sure to check the town of where your veteran family member was found and your local state library. You may find more information there.

[Fairfax]

Some records survived. It depended what branch of the service the soldier was in, and what floor the records were on. Some records had only smoke or water damage. Navy and Marine records appear to be available. Don't give up. It may help your request if you can find the veteran's serial number on the discharge record or other sources you have at home.
Look at wwww.archives gov for the following pages:

http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html

http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/nprc-fire.pdf

There are alternate methods to reconsruct a veteran's service:
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/alternate-record-sources.html

[Charles Ellis]

Marge you may want to pursue that further. I may be wrong - based upon departmental policies - but the privacy restrictions are removed upon a persons death, except for social security information. Of course the military believes in over classifying everything. At worst privacy restrictions should not be greater, even for the military, than the census records. Freedom of Information should take precedence.

[Sharon]

I sent for my (dead) father's military records several years ago. Following instructions on the website, I included xerox copies of the few papers I had from my mother, including his military discharge record. They searched and found that the fire did indeed destroy most of his records, but they copied and sent what they had (obviously burned and water-damaged at the sides). They also sent a lovely letter thanking me for the copies I sent which helped to re-build his file. So you help the record center and they help you.
Also, I live in St Louis. That fire truly was EXTENSIVE. And as with every fire, the water does much damage also.
AND, please be aware that all military service persons, both after WW1 and WW2 were told, upon discharge, to go to their local courthouse and register. Not all did, but you could get lucky!!

[John Carlson]

6 miilion records prior to 1946. Does that include any WW I records previously claimed to have been destroyed?

[Marge]

Thanks to Dick Eastman posting a phone number for NPRC, I was able to speak to someone who immediately started the review process for my father's medical records. Hopefully, this time next week I will have access to the records. Thank you, Charles, I agree with what you wrote but I think in this instance an additional problem is due to the medical clinic and their lawyer.
In 2005, I received my father military records or shall I say, the ones that survived the fire. There is evidence of water damage as well as singed pages. There is a great deal missing but I am grateful for what I did receive and they were very informative. In the 1960's, my father wrote for his military records and was told they were destroyed in the fire. I would think it took the staff a long time to salvage at least some of the records and catalog them.

[Lynne]

I received my Father's records this year with no problem. He was in the Army during WWII. It was a copy of a record I had sent for in the past and not much of anything new on them. I did have to state that I was his daughter and he was deceased......without showing proof.

[Alvie L. Davidson CG]

I am pleased to see the NRPC has been instructed to open all these pre-WWII records. My experience with getting these older records are long, long wait. I am waiting for one now that I requested over 2 yrs ago and still dont have it.
Now that it will cost the requester, maybe they will put on more staff and move along a bit quicker.
I am pleased I asked for my father in law's Navy WWI record a long time ago. It is now in my files and did not cost me anything.

[Dino (All Dino, All the Time)]

I was able to receive my father's records (Navy WWII and Korea), bu my uncle's (Army WWII) were a different story. They were destroyed in the fire, but the personnel at the center did am exhaustive search through all of their indices and pieced together his service records from about 4 different sources - all xeroxed and mailed to me. But to get his full record (since he served in the Office of Strategic Services) I had to file a request under the Freedom of Information Act with the CIA (the OSS was its predecessor) and after about a year of follow-up letters, I got a nice packet in the mail of records that they had declassified for my FOIA request. Unfortunately there was still a bunch of blacked out sections. Something is better than nothing!

[Mickey]

Is there an index by name of those for whom records are available? I'm looking for information on a number of servicemen, and it doesn't seem to make sense to send search requests for all.

[David Crider]

Despite knowing well in advance of their the press release that NARA was about to release millions of WWI & WWII records, neither Form 180 nor the eVetRecs questionnaire have yet been updated. If one follows the questions on eVetRecs, one must *lie* and say one is the Vet or next-of-kin when one is not. However, this is OK according to Bryan McGraw of NPRC, who told me personally by telephone conversatin to check "Veteran" on eVetRecs "...and there should be no problems." I hope we are not presecuted for fraud.

[Lynne]

About 9 or 10 years ago I had tried to get my father's service records through St.Louis. I had his SS# and date and place of birth. I received a response that they could not locate him. I looked in my local phone book for the Veteran's Administration and when I called was able to speak to a real person. I gave him my father's personal information and discovered that they had his year of birth incorrect but that they did have the information I was looking for. He gave me a record number and I had to send a written request to the office in my state with a copy of his death certificate, my birth certificate, and a copy of my license as ID. Within a month I received a packet of all the information I wanted and more sent directly to my home. I would recommend to anyone to try the 800 number in their local phone book if they have any problems getting the information through St.Louis. I did publish an article on-line regarding my experience, of course I cannot remember where I had submitted the article.

[Marge]

I am absolutely thrilled, as my father's medical records arrived today from the NPRC and it is a thick file. When I called the NPRC on 10/25/07 and explained my difficulty in obtaining the records from the office of my personal physician, they pulled all the correspondence from me, my father's file and checked the laws governing release of medical records. They called me and told me to send a fax stating that I knew what the medical records contained and that forfilled the law. I am so impressed with Linda Kirksley at the NPRC and her courteous, efficient and rapid response to my phone call. Thanks Dick, for posting the phone number for the NPRC.

[Leonard J. McCown]

Some years ago I learned that I could get my father's WW II service records, so I wrote the letter and asked Daddy to sign it. I think I asked for medical too. A friend had told me to be prepared though and warn my father that if he had any "social" diseases, it would show up in the medical records. Daddy was not worried! I do wish there was a some type of index so we could see who they had records on. Daddy had 5 brothers who all served. I have copies of their discharges from them and our county. I even took some of them to have them filed as they had not done it. I could help rebuild on them, if I knew whether they had records or not. Mainly I am interested in the part my family played in this world event.

[Edward Bienz]

I guess people of prominence are better than the rest of the poor guys and gals who served and died for their county, 5 pages of their files are cost only $3.75 while all others' decendants have to pay $15.00. Isn't this some form of discrimination?

[Marianne Fisher]

In 2003,I sent a website based request to the National Personal Records Center in St.Louis to retrieve the medical records for my Dad,who was a WW 2 Navy vet.In the late 1970s,Dad was told his records were effected by the fire too
Dad had died in 1983 and all I needed to do was affirm that I was his next of kin(no personal proof was required on my part,at all) and provide basic service information,ie,his military service number or SS #,the branch of service,service years,his birthdate and birth location.
It took about 12 weeks to get that 1st information packet which ,to my surprise,also contained replacements for all the service medals that he had earned during his 4 year stint in the Navy.
When "Dear Myrtle" made the announcement a few days ago, that more records where being made available,I submitted another request via the weblink,Myrt had provided.

In 2003,the request options were very specific.
Now you can still ask for specific records plus there is an additional request box that you can use to type in other information and more detailed request specifications.I simply typed,"please provide copies of (Dads') entire file contents".
This time,I was required to print out and sign an affidavit stating who I was and that I was his next of kin,which I had to fax or mail to them.
In less then 3 days,I have already recieved a number of confirming emails from the records center;the most recent confirmed reciept of my signed statement and that it could take as long as 25 weeks for them to retrieve,copy and send the file contents to me.
Regarding paying the fees...my Dad's vet benefits are,surprisingly,still paying off,as far as I'm concerned,I will not have to pay for these records.
And to those folks who feel they need to lie to avoid paying the copying fees...that's just theft,plain and simple;in the long run,your actions will cause other people to have to pay higher fees.
Our Fathers,Mothers,Grandparents,Brothers,Sisters,Uncles and Aunts payed the price with their dedicated military service to our nation during times of war.

[Michelle]

In trying to research my father-in-laws military records (he was a WWII pow in Germany)I was told the records were lost in the 1973 fire.
I am curious to know if the cause of the fire was determined. My husband said his father understood it was suspected arson and if so, was a case solved in this incident?

[Elvina]

My father was KIA on Okinawa in May of 1945. I wrote for his records and was told they were distroyed in the 1973 fire but they did send me replacements of his medals.

My question is, if his records were distroyed how did they know what medals to send?

[Russ McClelland]

They know what medals/awards to send because the award of the medals are published as separate orders, a copy of which is filed in the personnel file but also filed in the morning report files for each unit as well as the government files the orders under each unit and or post which issued the award orders. This was the practice until at least 1985, I am not sure about the current system but it should be similar.