Dear Ms. Adams,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) and individual medical reports for those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and who were separated from the service before October 2002 are in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. In many cases where Army and Air Force personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire, proof of service can be provided from other records such as morning reports, payrolls, and military orders, and a certificate of military service will be issued. Navy and Marine Corps OMPFs were not affected by the fire. Please complete a GSA Standard Form 180 and mail it to NARA's National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO  63138-1002. Veterans and their next of kin also may use eVetRecs to request records. See eVetRecs Help for instructions.

Military personnel records are completely opened to the public 62 years after the veteran leaves the military. If less than 62 years have passed since the veteran’s discharge date (to include any reserve time), certain information in the records is not available to the general public without the written consent of the veteran or his next of kin. For more information see Request Military Service Records and Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Holdings.

Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) for those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and were separated after September 30, 2002 (Army); after September 30, 2004 (Air Force); after 1994 (Navy); and after 1998 (Marine Corps) are available in electronic format via https://milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/.

We hope this is helpful.

I notice that the eVetRecs form does not allow for grandchildren as next of kin. Annoying. But I will use the Form 180.

It is my understanding that the VA also had files that were not involved in the fire.  I was able to access my father;'s VA file and used it to trace his duty stations etc. 

There was a fire in the St. Louis office ( 1970's) where many of these files were kept and were lost in the fire.

If you do get a paper from the military, it might just give you the basics, like the one I got:

When he joined, when released, address, basic stuff. No details of what he did while in the army.

Good luck.

A few years ago I requested my parents’ military records from WWII. I received a copy of my father’s Navy record in its entirety. My mother’s Army record was mostly destroyed in the 1973 fire. I received photocopies of the few scorched pages remaining. Such a pity, she had a very interesting military career and received the Bronze Star as well as the Croix de Guerre. At the time I paid $50 for each record. That may have changed since then.

The 1973 Fire, National Personnel Records Center

https://www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center/fire-1973 

Overview:

On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF). The records affected:

No duplicate copies of these records were ever maintained, nor were microfilm copies produced. Neither were any indexes created prior to the fire. In addition, millions of documents had been lent to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the fire occurred. Therefore, a complete listing of the records that were lost is not available. However, in the years following the fire, the NPRC collected numerous series of records (referred to as Auxiliary Records) that are used to reconstruct basic service information.