This is from Rootsweb Review in response to the article about finding Veterans''s records. Re: "Locating Information about Your Veteran" http://FTP.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0221.txt By Rusty Macon Weber My dad served in the army in WWII. As with most everyone else, his Records were involved in the fire in St. Louis. I had never thought Much about his military records as I felt sure that he had them. Going through his things after his death, I found his medals and a Paper showing that he qualified for separation, but not his actual DD 214. I tried everywhere that I could think of to find a copy of it. He had spent a year in the VA hospital in Atlanta. When I called to Ask if they had any records on him, they looked it up on the computer And told me that they had a folder, but couldn't tell what might be In it. I printed out a request and faxed it to them. Within twenty Minutes they faxed back a copy of his DD 214. I was on cloud nine. I Finally had what I had spent two years looking for. About two weeks later, I got a surprise package in the mail. I had Been so excited to get the DD 214 that I forgot that I had requested A copy of the complete file. In the mail were about fifty pages from His hospital stay, which included his dental records, x-ray reports, Operative reports--the whole works. So don't ever give up--there is usually a stray source out there Somewhere, and it's up to us to find it. * * * Re: "Locating Information about Your Veteran" (http://FTP.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0221.txt) By B. Gillespie When my uncle, Jack Gillespie, passed away without heirs, I undertook The task of seeing that he was honored for his WWII service in the Navy. I first worked with the local lawyer assigned to assist Veterans but he was unable to obtain anything from the VA. I then Went into microfilm records of the local newspaper and copied Information about his enlistment, information about where he served, Information about being home on leave, and information about his Having a piano concert in Boston, MA, while serving in the navy. Even With this information the VA said that his records could not be Located probably due to a fire in the records storage. Later, while Talking with a state senator, I mentioned my problems with the VA to Him. He had his aide contact the VA and they were able to "find" his Original signed documents. Needless to say, I am not a fan of the VA, even though I am classed As a Vietnam Era Veteran. * * * Re: "Locating Information about Your Veteran" (http://FTP.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0221.txt) By George McKinney That was a nice article on finding information on veterans. I Recently worked to find information on my Uncle Cecil's service and His flight crew (he was a B29 bomber pilot who died in WWII, and his Records were destroyed in the fire). However, you omitted five Sources I have found useful. First, you have the WWII enlistment records. I use the ancestry.com Version since I'm a subscriber, but there is a free version out there As well. Second, you have organizations of veterans who are associated with Specific military units. Third, you have family letters and photos. Fourth, you have libraries for the military units themselves. Fifth, you have Google. Here's how I used the above. From an old family photo I found a Picture of my uncle and the names of his flight crew. My Grandparent's' home was flooded and it was the only information from His service. I put the names of each member of the flight crew in Google and found that one crew member had dictated an oral history to His local veterans organization. His oral history gave the nickname And number of his unit. I then searched using Google again and found an Army Air Forces Website that contained lots of information. I corresponded by e-mail With them and discovered there was an Army Air Force historical Document center that had flight records for all flights during WWII, Including those my uncle flew on. I then went back to the WWII enlistment records and found the home Towns of all the members of his crew. I went back to Google (white Pages) and found several crew members who were still living in their Original hometowns. I wrote to them and found one was still living. He had excellent memories of my uncle's service, and even had Additional pictures of interest. >From this I have completely reconstructed his service, have a number of photos of his unit, and have established contact with several of his crew or their families. * * * Re: "Locating Information about Your Veteran" (http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0221.txt) By Katrina Hargus I think you gave out some great information on the VA office, but here a few things you might want to add: 1) If you think your relative was a veteran, check the state as well as federal military cemeteries. 2) Double-check with NARA (National Archives). Even though the record center in St. Louis burned, there are hundreds if not thousands of records held in other repositories and veterans offices, etc. Keep hunting; chances are they exist. 3) The "magical" one piece of paper does exist. It is referred to as a DD 214. This is the official separation/retirement document. One copy is held by the service department, one is held by the Veterans Administration (if they requested aid or pension), and one copy is given to the veteran. 4) If you do find your veteran you can request replacement medals for your family if you contact the department in which he/she served. Again, your veterans office or your local recruiting office can help with this. 5) When you call the VA 800 number listed in the phone book, you will be connected to the office nearest your home. When you talk to them, explain where your veteran was inducted/discharged. They may give you another phone number to contact. 6) If your veteran or family member worked for the VA in any capacity, their records are not held at the VA office where they worked. For example, my father-in-law and sister-in-law worked for the VA in St. Louis. Both his records and my husband's are held and processed in Lincoln, Nebraska. Not the first place I would look. 7) If you believe your veteran was "career" military or served longer than just the period of conflict, look at the children's birth records. Is there one that seems oddly out of place? If so, check for military bases in the area. This can help narrow your search. My daughter was born at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. Her legal birth certificate is filed in Green County, Ohio. Again, not anywhere people would start looking for her. Re: "Locating Information about Your Veteran" (http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0221.txt) By Rusty Macon Weber My dad served in the army in WWII. As with most everyone else, his records were involved in the fire in St. Louis. I had never thought much about his military records as I felt sure that he had them. Going through his things after his death, I found his medals and a paper showing that he qualified for separation, but not his actual DD 214. I tried everywhere that I could think of to find a copy of it. He had spent a year in the VA hospital in Atlanta. When I called to ask if they had any records on him, they looked it up on the computer and told me that they had a folder, but couldn't tell what might be in it. I printed out a request and faxed it to them. Within twenty minutes they faxed back a copy of his DD 214. I was on cloud nine. I finally had what I had spent two years looking for. About two weeks later, I got a surprise package in the mail. I had been so excited to get the DD 214 that I forgot that I had requested a copy of the complete file. In the mail were about fifty pages from his hospital stay, which included his dental records, x-ray reports, operative reports--the whole works. So don't ever give up--there is usually a stray source out there somewhere, and it's up to us to find it. * * * Re: "Locating Information about Your Veteran" (http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0221.txt) By B. Gillespie When my uncle, Jack Gillespie, passed away without heirs, I undertook the task of seeing that he was honored for his WWII service in the navy. I first worked with the local lawyer assigned to assist veterans but he was unable to obtain anything from the VA. I then went into microfilm records of the local newspaper and copied information about his enlistment, information about where he served, information about being home on leave, and information about his having a piano concert in Boston, MA, while serving in the navy. Even with this information the VA said that his records could not be located probably due to a fire in the records storage. Later, while talking with a state senator, I mentioned my problems with the VA to him. He had his aide contact the VA and they were able to "find" his original signed documents. Needless to say, I am not a fan of the VA, even though I am classed as a Vietnam Era Veteran. * * * Re: "Locating Information about Your Veteran" (http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0221.txt) By George McKinney That was a nice article on finding information on veterans. I recently worked to find information on my Uncle Cecil's service and his flight crew (he was a B29 bomber pilot who died in WWII, and his records were destroyed in the fire). However, you omitted five sources I have found useful. First, you have the WWII enlistment records. I use the ancestry.com version since I'm a subscriber, but there is a free version out there as well. Second, you have organizations of veterans who are associated with specific military units. Third, you have family letters and photos. Fourth, you have libraries for the military units themselves. Fifth, you have Google. Here's how I used the above. From an old family photo I found a picture of my uncle and the names of his flight crew. My grandparent's home was flooded and it was the only information from his service. I put the names of each member of the flight crew in Google and found that one crew member had dictated an oral history to his local veterans organization. His oral history gave the nickname and number of his unit. I then searched using Google again and found an Army Air Forces website that contained lots of information. I corresponded by e-mail with them and discovered there was an Army Air Force historical document center that had flight records for all flights during WWII, including those my uncle flew on. I then went back to the WWII enlistment records and found the home towns of all the members of his crew. I went back to Google (white pages) and found several crew members who were still living in their original hometowns. I wrote to them and found one was still living. He had excellent memories of my uncle's service, and even had additional pictures of interest. >From this I have completely reconstructed his service, have a number of photos of his unit, and have established contact with several of his crew or their families. * * * Re: "Locating Information about Your Veteran" (http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0221.txt) By Katrina Hargus I think you gave out some great information on the VA office, but here a few things you might want to add: 1) If you think your relative was a veteran, check the state as well as federal military cemeteries. 2) Double-check with NARA (National Archives). Even though the record center in St. Louis burned, there are hundreds if not thousands of records held in other repositories and veterans offices, etc. Keep hunting; chances are they exist. 3) The "magical" one piece of paper does exist. It is referred to as a DD 214. This is the official separation/retirement document. One copy is held by the service department, one is held by the Veterans Administration (if they requested aid or pension), and one copy is given to the veteran. 4) If you do find your veteran you can request replacement medals for your family if you contact the department in which he/she served. Again, your veterans office or your local recruiting office can help with this. 5) When you call the VA 800 number listed in the phone book, you will be connected to the office nearest your home. When you talk to them, explain where your veteran was inducted/discharged. They may give you another phone number to contact. 6) If your veteran or family member worked for the VA in any capacity, their records are not held at the VA office where they worked. For example, my father-in-law and sister-in-law worked for the VA in St. Louis. Both his records and my husband's are held and processed in Lincoln, Nebraska. Not the first place I would look. 7) If you believe your veteran was "career" military or served longer than just the period of conflict, look at the children's birth records. Is there one that seems oddly out of place? If so, check for military bases in the area. This can help narrow your search. My daughter was born at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. Her legal birth certificate is filed in Green County, Ohio. Again, not anywhere people would start looking for her.