Hi all, your friendly Firstmom here. I sent for my ggrandfathers pension record from the national archives. I sent the request in about February 1998 and got it sometime late May 1998. It cost $10 at the time. I don't know if theyve raised it. I have a guy on my Genealogy Researcher's List that could probably get it faster, and he charges $18 for military records and $31 for invalid and widows pension. A little more cost but could probably save you a couple months worth of anticipation....and I believe the fee includes all photocopying and postage as well. You can read his description and get a link to his homepage which has more details of what he offers by going to: http://members.tripod.com/~KHuish/research.html Scroll down to Maryland, McCullough genealogy. He lives a short distance from D.C. so it's quicker and easier ordering from him. Good luck all! Kathy <A HREF="http://members.tripod.com/~KHuish/index.html">Firstmoms Genealogy Resources and Records</A>