Seeking Recommendations for Valor (Form DA 638)

Dear Ms. Davis,

Thanks for posting your request to History Hub!

We searched the NARA Catalog and located 7 series: Unclassified Unit Award Case Files, 1963-1969; Awards Case Files, 1969-1971; Awards Case Files, 1972-1973; Award Case Files, 1970-1971; Individual Award Case Files, 1968-6/1972; Individual Awards Case Files, 1971-8/1972; and Individual Awards Case Files, 4/1971-3/1973 in Records of U.S. Forces in Southeast Asia, 1950-1976 (Record Group 472). These records are not digitized or available yet in the Catalog. For access to these RG 472 records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.

Individual award information often is filed in a soldier’s Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). OMPFs and individual medical reports for those who served in the U.S. Army after 1957 and prior to October 16, 1992 are in the custody of NARA’s National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. 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, and a certificate of military service will be issued. To request a copy of a Form DA 638 filed in an OMPF, 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. Certain information in the records is not available to the general public without the written consent of the veteran or his next of kin.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!