In the interest of providing our members with news and information concerning The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as well as Pennsylvania, this page is being added
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
PA Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
Up In Smoke
The 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed about 80 percent of the records for Army personnel discharged between Nov. 1, 1912, and Jan 1, 1960. Also destroyed were about 75 percent of the records for Army Air Force and Air Force personnel, with surnames from "Hubbard" through "Z", discharged between Sep. 25, 1947, and Jan. 1, 1964.
Officials have never determined what exactly was lost in the fire because there are no indices to the blocks of records involved. They were simply filed in alphabetical order for the following groups:
World War I (Army) - Sep. 7, 1930, to Nov. 1, 1912
World War II (Army) - Dec. 31, 1946, to Sep. 8, 1939
Post -World War I (Army) - Dec. 31, 1959, to Jan. 1, 1947
Post World-War II (Army) - Dec. 31, 1963, to Sep. 25, 1947
If your records were lost
The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) will attempt to reconstruct a vetern's records only if asked by the veteran or the next of kin of a deceased veteran. Next of kin are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, husbands or wives. Given sufficent information, NPRC may be able to reconstruct a file.
This includes:
Full name used during military service
Date of birth
Branch of service
Approximate dates of service
Service number
Place of entry into the service
Last unit of assignment
Place of discharge
Send this infomation to:
National Personnel Records Center Millitary Personnel REcords 9700 Page Avenue St. Louis, MO 63132-5100If a veteran does not have any of the necessary documents or infomation, they may be available from VA or state veterans service center.
Veterans or next of kin may also submit a request for records online at www.vetrecs.archives.gov NPRC can also be contacted at (314) 810-0800 or by email at mpr.center@nara.gov. NPRC cannot accept email requests for records. Email queries should only be sent to ask general information, such as procedures or hours of operation.