Back in April I promised to talk about getting military
records for relatives who served prior to WWI or for people to whom you are not
related. So here it goes:
First head to the National Archives site http://www.archives.gov/veterans/
and you should have a screen that looks like this:
In the “Research Using Military Records” box (the one
with the magnifying glass) go down to the line “Locate older (pre-WWI) military
service records” line and click there. The next screen you see looks like this:
Scroll down to the section that says “How to Order Older
Military Service or Pension Records” and you will see “Order Online” in blue
with a shopping cart next to it:
Click on the shopping cart, which takes you to this
screen:
From here follow the directions to set up an account and
then you get to this screen:
Click on the “Order Reproductions” tab in the upper left
for this screen:
And click on “Compiled Military Service File” in the “Most
Requested” box in the center. The screen you see
looks like this:
In the way of the government, first we order it, then we
tell them what we want. You will notice that these records will cost you $25
and you can end up with 6 or 8 pages or 40
or 50 pages all for the same price. Select the delivery method (I prefer
the CD or DVD version because I have a literal hard copy that I can make paper
copies of to my heart’s content) and then click on the “Add to Cart” button.
And now we get to the heart of the matter:
This screen is pretty self-explanatory, and as you
complete sections, sometimes additional sections show up, so make sure that
once you think you are finished that you look over the whole thing to see if
anything new cropped up along the way.
Obviously, the more info you can provide, the better. If
you know the middle initial include it. If you don’t know the company, leave it
blank. And be sure to include any other information that you have in the
comments box. Real live people read and fulfill these orders, so help them out!
I recently requested records for a man who had a common enough name, so I
included his race, his commander’s name, and a few other bits that would help
to distinguish him from all the others out there.
Once you are satisfied that you have completed the
information as best you can, click on the “Continue to Pay and Ship” button and
fill in the information from there.
You’ll get a confirmation email that they have received
it, and usually a follow-up letting you know they are mailing it. Turn-around
time can take as little as 4 weeks and as long as 12 weeks, so be patient.
Then one day you will receive a large envelope in the
mail (lately they have been sending them certified, so I have to sign for it)
and you can enjoy the luxury of reading (hopefully) page after page of
information about your relative’s military service.
