First to Fight: Charles F. Sexton, 35th Fighter Squadron WWII A.A.F.
Today we are sharing the service story of WWII Staff Sergeant Charles Sexton. Like many Army and Air Corps veterans of WWII, Sexton’s military service records were lost in the 1973 fire. Sexton’s family knew very little about his service during WWII and had only his discharge papers and a single letter that Sexton had written during the war. Using archived records, the research specialists at Golden Arrow Research were able to...
Using 20th Century Military Service Personnel Records to Research Your Family History
To get started with your research please visit Golden Arrow Research: Research a Veteran Most of us have relatives who served in the military at some point in the past. For those of us wanting to pursue genealogical research, the military records created during our ancestors’ time in the service can provide a wealth of information. This includes not only documentation of the individual veteran’s military service but also a number...
Requesting Information from a Military Service Record Under the Freedom of Information Act
If you need to access information from the military service record of a veteran whose service records are not open to the public (and you are not the veteran’s next of kin) your best bet may be to request basic information from the military service record under the Freedom of Information Act. Requesting basic information under the F.O.I.A. will allow you to access legally releasable information within the military service...
Understanding Which Military Service Records are Open to the Public
Understanding the way that the government categorizes and maintains military records can be frustrating. To complicate matters, the rules are often changing as the National Archives attempt to walk the tight-rope of allowing public to access to military service records while simultaneously protecting the privacy of individual veterans. One question that I hear quite frequently is: How do you know which military service records...
How to Obtain a Military Service Record
To request a military service record now please click here: Request a Military Service Record Ordering military service records which are held at the National Archives can be a confusing and frustrating process for those who are unfamiliar with the many rules and procedures involved in the process. I am on site at the National Archives working with military service records almost every day of the week, so I have a bit of inside...
New location of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam Army IDPF Casualty Personnel Files (as of 2017)
Exciting news regarding the transfer of Army I.D.P.F.’s to the National Archives! WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War Individual Deceased Personnel Files (Army I.D.P.F.’s) for Army veterans have been transferred to the custody of the National Archives. Prior to the start of 2017 the Army I.D.P.F.’s had been maintained under the custody of the Army. The process to acquire a veteran’s Army I.D.P.F has...
