Mary; Just so everyone knows .... I called the NARA in Washington DC and also the NPRC on Page Ave. here in St Louis and asked about this. They told me it is just a rumor - they don't know how it got started but it is not true. They have posted a notice about it on their website but that notice is hard to locate. With their help on the phone I did find it and here is what it says: Notice: DoD or the National Personnel Records Center do not intend to destroy paper Official Military Personnel Records (OMPF) stored at the Center. The purpose of any electronic scanning that may be done in the future would be to reduce handling of fragile records during the reference process or to reduce the time necessary to locate an OMPF. It is our responsibility to preserve and protect Official Military Personnel Files, as they are permanently valuable records documenting the essential evidence of military service for the veterans of our nation. I hope this saves some people some worry and problems. I am personally relieved to know they are not destroying such national treasures. Margy ] #2 Re: Veterans records to be destroy ["Maria Edwards" Subject: Re: Veterans records to be destroyed Thank you to the few who actually responded appropriately to the post. It did say to visit their site for more details. The whole intent of the posting was to share what isn't being made widely known. I reposted it again for you to see. My intent was not that the original papers were going to be lost but that the records were being made availabe to surviving family members. The message came down through official military communications... not the general public. I thought this was pretty awesome of the government myself. Genealogy was intended to SHARE info... from original post... > >The National Personnel Record Center that is responsible for maintaining > >archives of our military records is automating their storage and > >management of our military records. When this is complete they plan to > >destroy the hard copies of the records unless requested by the veteran > >or a deceased veteran's family to send those records to them. > > > >If a veteran or members of the deceased veteran's family wants to > >request those records be sent to them instead of being destroyed he/she > >can make a request by mail to: > > > >National Personnel Records Center > >Military Personnel Records > >9700 Page Ave. > >St. Louis, MO 63132-5100 > > > >or: > >make the request online at: > > > >http://vetrecs.archives.gov/ > >When you submit your request online, a signature form downloadable from > >the site can be sent to you for completion and submission. The National > >Personnel Records Center will then send you an e-mail acknowledging your > >request.