I thought this might be of interest to anyone searching for relatives that emigrated to the States, who "disappeared" between the 1910-1920 US census or enlisted in the US military forces. Russell Johnson Eugene, Oregon > from another list: > >> >> NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 11, #26; 9 June 2005) >> by Bruce Craig (editor) rbcraig@historycoalition.org >> NATIONAL COALITION FOR HISTORY (NCH) >> Website at http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~nch >> >> 2. NARA SET TO OPEN MILITARY RECORDS >> On 11 June 2005, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) >> National Personnel Records Center in Overland, Missouri will unseal the >> first release of what is expected to be a "a mother load" collection of >> interest to military historians, biographers, and genealogists. The >> center >> houses the military records of some 56 million individuals, beginning in >> the 19th century and extending into the 20th. >> >> A total of three batches of individual records are slotted to be >> released: >> Navy enlisted men from 1885 until 8 September 1939; Marine Corps enlisted >> men from 1906 until 1939; and the first 150 of about 3,000 Americans >> identified as "persons of exceptional prominence." Included in the last >> category are the military records of generals George S. Patton Jr. and >> Omar >> Bradley; African American sports hero Lt. Jackie Robinson; President >> John >> F. Kennedy; author Herman Wouk; actors Clark Gable, Audie Murphy, and >> Steve >> McQueen; and, yes, entertainer Pfc. Elvis Presley. >> >> Until recently, NARA was merely the physical custodian of these records >> that were open only to the veteran, the next of kin, or the individual's >> service branch. In 1999, however, the Pentagon and NARA reached an >> agreement that would begin the process of systematically opening these >> records. According to Bill Seibert, chief of the archival operations >> branch of the records center, the records now "cease to belong to the >> military and instead belong to the American people...They're public >> documents." >> >> After lengthy discussion with Pentagon officials over several years, NARA >> was able to negotiate an agreement that provided for all such military >> records to remain sealed 62 years past the date an individual left active >> service. That means that most World War II records, for example, will >> remain closed for several more years. In addition, because of a fire at >> the records center back in 1973, some files of Army and Air Force >> veterans >> will be withheld even longer - until 2023. Coast Guard records will >> probably not be available until 2026, and because some individual files >> contain fragile or crumbling paper, such files will probably be kept on >> hold for some time. >> >> Persons interested in accessing the collection should contact the >> National >> Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Avenue, Overland, Mo. 63132; phone: >> 314-801-0850. >> -------------------- >> >> > > > > ==== CA-DEATH-INDEX Mailing List ==== > Need to order CA vital records? > http://vitalrec.com/ca.html > >