I don't really think they are in denial nor closed mouth about the fire. Remember the fire happened in 1973 and you would be hard pressed to find anyone there now that was working there back then. The military personnel are long gone and most of the civilians transfered to other better jobs. The fire simply destroyed some records. They have done their best to try and reconstruct some of the records to the best of their abilities. However, one good thing did come of the fire. Since then all the records they receive on a daily basis are shipped to another location to be placed on microfiche. It takes about 6 months for this process to happen. The end result is a duplicate set of the records stored in another location. If my records were destroyed today, it would not be a problem since there is a "backup" copy. Also, I made a copy before I left the service. As much as I hate to say this about military records, one of the biggest problems in not finding out anything are the veterans themselves. Copies of all/most documents in those personnel records were also given to the soldier/sailor/marine/airmen at the time the document was issued. Most military members at the time did not take any care or precautions to safeguard the documents as they received them. Some like me did, but others did not. I have to admit it wasn't until the last couple of years during my 8-year hitch that I started to hang onto and make copies of earlier documents. When I die and my kids open my safe deposit box, they will find a DA Form 201 file (Army Military Personnel Records Jacket). This is another way of saying they will find a COMPLETE copy of my military record with the exception of my finance and health record. Those documents I tossed at the time of issuance. I used to work at the Records Center so I have a good idea of how the system works there. I now work for the Coast Guard. Course, I am also keeping copies of any personnel action documents I receive as a civilian worker. I hope you don't mind but I am also posting this to the GenTips list so other people may have a better idea of what happened and safeguards that are now in place. By the way, the fire was severe enough the building is now one floor less than what it used to be. George gebasden@worldnet.att.net http://www.basden.com ---------- > From: Tip4U@aol.com > To: gebasden@worldnet.att.net > Subject: Re: GenTips-D Digest V98 #455 > Date: Saturday, June 20, 1998 11:55 PM > > Interesting, this is exactly the same situation with my uncle. Of course, the > military are in denial about the fire. Cuse me not denial but closed mouth!