General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnyone every hear of this disaster?
<http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html>
The destruction of military personnel files in 1973..I've never heard of it before. I guess a person is never too old to learn.
LiberalLoner
(9,761 posts)Igel
(35,191 posts)Unless it affected you, it was the loss of a lot of paperwork.
Problem was, a lot of those affected didn't know they'd be affected. It's a disaster that'll keep on giving for a few years longer. Fortunately some content could be reconstructed.
Long term, the real loss was the data that could be mined by historians.
shraby
(21,946 posts)a fire...records need to be duplicated and stored in various places..not one big pile.
DJ13
(23,671 posts)shraby
(21,946 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Many whose records were not affected were told that their records were "destroyed in the fire." It was an easy way to clear cases and make quotas. While vets got shafted.
Stainless
(717 posts)The fire occurred a year after I was discharged. Seems I remember being told there might be a problem down the road if I ever needed to prove anything. I used your link to file a request for a dd-214. We'll see what happens.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)KharmaTrain
(31,706 posts)He served in WWII and Korea and when he passed away we were told we would have have to produce our own documentation if he was to have an honor guard at his funeral cause his records had been destroyed in that fire. Fortunately we kept his discharge papers so that he was given military honors...
niyad
(112,432 posts)"oh gosh, we can't find your records, they must have burned in st louis)