My Father's Service Records

[john999]

One year ago I asked the VA if they had any of my father's medical records or any records.  I had asked St. Louis and they said his records were burned in 1973 fire but they told me his old claim number and to write the VA and ask for those records if they had them.  I got back a response saying I needed to sign my request.  I did sign the request if they had of looked at it.   It took them one year for that response.  If I point out that I did sign the request I guess it will take another year for them to say "NO" we have no records.  I hate them.  When my mother was in a nursing home I tried to get A&A for her and the VA never responded at all.  She died and I had estates to deal with and I just forgot about it.  Now I see they intended to stall until she passed away and pay nothing.  As far as I know now I have his only complete discharge papers that show where he served and an honorable discharge.  He was right in the fight when Patton invaded Germany and the Allies beat the Germans.  All that is lost due to negligent St. Louis and lazy VA.  He also should have gotten medals because he was in 320th Glider Artillery that was part of 82nd Airborne.   I think his service may have led to his early death but no point in trying to prove that now.

 

              J King

 

 

[Berta]

WOW what a contribution to History they made:

http://www.ww2-airborne.us/units/320/320.html

I did a Thesis on D  Day when I was in Military school and sure mentioned these glider units.....my thesis was how General Eisenhower arrived at the date for the invasion and how weather played an enormous role in that decision he made.Hitler was getting the same weather forecasts as Eisenhower got but didn't interpret them they same way.

John, if your dad had a C file number, wouldn't that indicate they had his military records at some point?

 

In part the above link states:

"Normandy - D-Day
The 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion arrived into battle by glider and parachutes on 6 June 1944. Poor visibility and low ceiling made air navigation extremely difficult. As a result, gliders were badly scattered for miles along the drop zone.  By 0930 the following day, only two howitzers were in action - one firing north and one firing south."

I personally know 2 vets (and there have been a few here over the years) whereby VA said their records were lost in the Fire.One vet was born AFTER the fire! And one vet's rep handed me a few and said VA said the rest had been burned at St Louis. Ridiculous, The firemen couldn't save a few records here and there,...the SMRs the rep showed me had no char marks or watermarks,.so I told him to tell the vet to try again (using a SF 180 himself) and he got the rest of them.Sometimes the "lost in fire " stuff is just VA BS.

This site shows the unit receiving thw PUC ( Presidential Unit Citation) and also the  French Croix de Guerre with Palm. 

https://historianatsaratoga.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/otd-quaker-springs-traver-and-the-320th-glider-field-artillery-was-sent-from-the-front-lines-after-d-day/

Overwhelming bravery!!!!!! 

Some of the gliders fell into large mud holes from recent heavy rains.When one considers how limited air and land surveillance technology was then ,without Doppler and the sophisticated weather and GPS  tracking systems we have today- it is amazing what was accomplished on D Day.

They are truly the Greatest Generation.

 

[MikeHunt]

You could get a c-file number for something called 'sustainance', your spouse and children could be on it, too.

No idea what it actually was.

Go into your Regional Office and ask them to run a COVERS report. Ask them which station it reports, and how many folders(if it exists, it'll be 376). Ask them to put in a COVERS request if it exists.

[john999]

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[john999]

I have his claim number and I sent to the VA and asked for any records they had which is what St. Louis told me to do.  Then the VA waits one year to tell me I did not sign the records request when in fact I did sign it along with my claim number and my stats.   They just don't want to look for is records.  What happens when a vet who is getting compensation  dies?  He died in 1956 and my mother got some kind of benefits for years while we were children.  I just wonder where his compensation records went since the VA has denied in the past having them.  If they can stall for a year with a flat out lie what else can they do?  I was asking for some A&A that my mother did not get while she was alive due to VA stalling.   They are still stalling 15 years later.

[MikeHunt]

9 hours ago, john999 said:

... what else can they do?

Make more bureaucracy.

There's multiple, similar repositories in St. Louis. The two that concern you are:

The VA records are stored in station 376. You want your Regional Office to get those through COVERS.

His service records are in the NPRC, the Regional Office can get those through PIES.

[Buck52]

I wonder what they do with the records after the veteran passes? if a veteran had a claim going at the time of his death and never mention his claim to any one   and relative finds out about years later  what then? can his claim be reopen?

I get this question a lot.