New announcement from the NARA website. National Personnel Records Center (St. Louis, MO) Archival Programs Division The Department of Defense and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) signed an agreement on July 7, 2004, to make the Official Military Personnel Files a permanent series of records, transferred to NARA custody 62 years after the service member's separation from the military. On June 11, 2005, the Archival Programs Division at the National Personnel Records Center will open the following holdings: * Navy enlisted personnel files for individuals who were separated from the Navy from 1885 through September 8, 1939. * Marine Corps enlisted personnel files for individuals who were separated from the Marine Corps from 1906 through September 8, 1939. * A select collection, approximately 150 at this time, of records of prominent individuals (Persons of Exceptional Prominence) who have been deceased ten years or more. We will add to this initial transfer of records on a regular basis and a listing of these records open to researchers will be made available on this page later this year. The records described above will be open to researchers at this center after June 11, 2005. Written requests for records will initially be processed the same as requests for other military records from NPRC. As new reference procedures are developed they will be published on this web page. -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA http://www.connorsgenealogy.com All outgoing mail virus free, scanned by ZoneAlarm AntiVirus