My grandfather was a photojournalist stationed on Paris Island in the Marine Corps for the entirety of his service from 1968-1970, during which time the photo was taken (probably later in the time frame). The photo was black and white and may have "Photo by Berry" stamped on the back. It is of an officer (unsure of who) presenting a young girl being with a medal that would've been her father's, with sunlight glinting off of a tear on her cheek. Right now, that is all of the information I have on it. I can't ask my grandfather about it directly, as a framed copy of it is intended to be a gift for him for either Christmas or, in the likely case that tracking it down takes a while, for Father's Day, but I may be able to narrow down the date it was taken or which officer is in it if necessary.
I've never tried to get records from the National Archives, so I don't know where to start or if finding this is even possible. Does anyone have any tips on finding this? We live close enough to DC that we could go down to the National Archives Museum. If we narrow down our search, would it be helpful to physically visit and look through records, and would we be able to access the Research Room for personal use like this as opposed to academic research?
