Marine records for Bernard Wilburn, Vietnam

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To get started with your research, we recommend that you request their Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). In general, OMPFs for military personnel who were separated from the service between 1912 and 1999 are serviced by NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. For the location of all service records organized by branch and year, please see Locations of Service Records.  In many cases where 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. 

You may use eVetRecs to submit your records request online. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. Alternatively, you may 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. If there is any information requested by the forms that you do not know, you may omit it or provide estimates (such as for dates), but the more information you provide, the easier it will be to locate the correct file. For more information see Request Military Service Records. 

Since fewer than 62 years have passed since his 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 the next of kin the deceased veteran. Please note that next of kin of a deceased veteran must provide proof of death of the veteran such as a copy of death certificate, letter from funeral home, or published obituary. For more information, see  Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Non-Archival Holdings.

Response times from NPRC vary depending on the complexity of your request, the availability of the records, and their workload.  The NPRC staff works actively to respond to each request in a timely fashion, but keep in mind they receive approximately 4,000 - 5,000 requests per day. If your request is urgent, please see Emergency Requests and Deadlines.

We hope this information has been helpful!