Military Medical Records (Where Could They Be)

[Fat]

I have a co worker whom husband severely fractured his femur and tore his knee up in basic training in 2001.

He was hospitalized for 5 months while he recovered and subsequentially discharged upon him recovering.

He received no injury pay, just a hope you get well wish. He still has surgical pins in his femur bone and left knee.

He is bothered with restless leg syndrome, stiffness, limited ROM, and pain.

In addition, he is not able to maintain a regular exercise program due to the physical limitations.

He seems to have a fairly decent claim for the injuries; however the VA is unable to locate his medical records.

They sent correspondence to Missouri and they replied, "no records of note".

He called the hospital where the surgery was performed and they indicated they no longer have the records either.

Records don't just disappear, but they have to be somewhere.

I even think due to the short stint in service, the personnel and medical records might be somewhere together.

Any good information and leads would be greatly appreciated.

[Berta]

He could try www.archives.gov/.

At their Veterans Service Records area, he can file out a SF 180 on line and needs to print off the bar coded thing they will let him download, then he should sign it, copy it for himself , then mail the original to where the form directs him to.

"however the VA is unable to locate his medical records." Sometimes they don't even try.

[Philip Rogers]

If he was hospitalized in a military hospital, you should check w/the National Personnel records center (NPRC) in St Louis, MO. I believe they store all the military hospital records, there. http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/

If not they can direct you.

pr

[Fat]

Thanks, I will pass the information along.

[justrluk]

After the member separates, the records are *supposed* to be sent to the archive center while being shared with the VA. Mine were lost in transit between my last duty station and the VARO (two hours away by highway), so I would look for anything like orders, etc. that can be found wherever you can think. Even a copy of the decision to discharge should help. Usually, the MEB/PEB (Medical Evaluation Board/Physical Evaluation Board) folks should be able to help locate some information on the case. Did he go to the MEB/PEB? Talk to the service secretary's office in which he served and see if they can't get you in touch with the appropriate board. You can also try to search on line. Usually, they don't just discharge for medical reasons. Members are supposed to be put through the process. The board should still have copies of what was submitted for consideration.

[john999]

If he was hurt that bad that they discharged him I am thinking (maybe I am wrong) that they must have given him some disability rating if he went through MEB/PEB. I wonder since he was in less than 180 days if they asked him if he wanted a discharge and he took it. The military is very tricky. If they think they can get out of paying disability they will willingly cheat any vet. A friend of mine had poor eyesight but was accepted as an enlisted man and went through basic. When he went to AIT they gave him an option of getting out of the Army or staying in due to his poor eyesight. He took the honorable discharge. No G.I. Benefits. He was in less than 6 months back in 1968. I thought he was the luckiest guy in the world because my eyes were pretty bad as well, but I got sent to Vietnam. Flip of a coin? I was in a military hospital for 3 weeks due to a lung infection. There is no record of this in my SMR's. My SMR's from Basic do not exist where I complained about my feet and knees over and over again.

John

[Fat]

Its been a hard fight for him looking for the records, but I am gonna encourage him to not give up.