Seeking military records for mother

Peggy,

Could you provide any additional information pertaining to your mother. Such as name, DOB, and place of birth.

Thanks,

Elliot Schneider

Dear Ms. Frey,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

If she served in the military, there may be an Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) for her. OMPFs and individual medical reports for those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and who were separated from the service prior to 1958 are in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. In many cases where Army and Army Air Corps 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. If there is any information requested by the form which you do not know, you may leave it blank or provide estimates (such as writing “World War II” instead of dates). For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests.

If she was a civilian employee of the federal government, to include civilian employees of the military services, there may be an Official Personnel File (OPF) for her. OPFs and medical information for individuals who worked for the U.S. government in a civilian capacity prior to 1952 are in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis (RL-SL). Please email RL-SL via email at stl.archives@nara.gov and  include the full name used during Federal employment, date of birth, Social Security Number (if applicable), name and location of the employing Federal agency, beginning and ending dates of Federal Service. Again, if you do not know all this information you may omit some of it, however the more information you provide, the easier it will be for RL-SL staff to locate the correct file. For more information, the web site is https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/opf.

Given that there is uncertainty about whether she served as a servicemember or as a civilian, we suggest that you email RL-SL first to explain the entire situation before submitting the SF-180. They may be able to make initial searches of their finding aids and provide you with further information.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RL-SL. Also, the NPRC is closed except for emergencies. Currently, NPRC will continue servicing requests ONLY associated with medical treatments, burials, and homeless veterans seeking admittance to a homeless shelter. If your request is urgent, please see Emergency Requests and Deadlines. Please refrain from submitting non-emergency requests such as replacement medals, administrative corrections, or records research until NPRC returns to pre-COVID staffing levels. Please check archives.gov/veterans for updates to the NPRC operating hours and status. We apologize for any inconvenience.

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