What's holding you up from ordering your dad's World War 2 military records? If it's the "DD-214" copy, this may is valuable to you. DD-214...This was first used in 1950. It's a full-page, official U.S. Department of *Defense* certificate titled "Discharge from Active Duty" or "Certificate of Release" issued upon a veteran's retirement, separation, or discharge from the the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard. Essentially it's a synopsis of a veteran's military duty. DD-214 image> http://thisainthell.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/millard-dd214.jpg Prior to the establishment of the Department of Defense (September 18, 1949), our military served under the U.S. Department of the War. This agency provided a "separation" document known as "WD AGO." So, if you never found a copy of your dad's DD-214, chances are he never had one. Service time after 1950 required the usage of a DD-214, but you can request a file without one. The one exception that I'm aware of is IF your dad was injured during military service, he was kept on the government's radar so that his formal discharge date may have been a much later date than anticipated. My county veteran's specialist stressed that with common names it's most important to provide such differentiating specifics as: full name, including middle and Jr., Sr., etc; date and place of birth; Social Security number; branch of service and specialty; date entered service; if veteran was an officer or enlisted man; and, military ID number (found on dog tags.) Also advised is separating the veterans active duty time from his reservist time. When you file for a full file, your veteran's records may have to be gathered from the main base in St. Louis, as well as from other reservist duty sites in the U.S. After serving five years during WW2, my dad retired from the US Army Reserves as an officer. I'm submitting a simple timeline of my dad with my application. There, I'll stipulate a chronology of Dad's home address (from enlistment to death,) plus where he served in the reserves for two weeks each summer. IF your dad enlisted before WW2 was declared, or served active duty time after the war officially ended, you need to emphasis this. Ancestry.com has some basic military records to guide you. ORDER FORM [See last page for mailing locations] http://www.archives.gov/research/order/standard-form-180.pdf If you have supplemental information, please post. Barb [email protected]