The 1973 National Personnel Records Center Fire: Loss and Recovery

The 1973 National Personnel Records Center fire destroyed between 16 and 18 million Official Military Personnel Files at the facility in St. Louis, Missouri, wiping out the primary service records of most Army veterans discharged between 1912 and 1960 and most Air Force veterans discharged between 1947 and 1964.¹ No duplicate copies or microfilm existed, and no master index of the building’s holdings had ever been created, so a full accounting of what burned is impossible. If your record or a family member’s was among them, the practical question is what you can still get. The National Archives can often reconstruct enough of a file from alternate sources to verify service and support a benefits claim, and the process starts with a records request.

Whose Records Were Affected

The fire began shortly after midnight on July 12, 1973, on the sixth floor of the records building at 9700 Page Boulevard, where Army and Air Force files were shelved by branch and discharge date. That storage arrangement is why the loss is so lopsided. Roughly 80 percent of Army personnel records and 75 percent of Air Force personnel records held at the facility were destroyed.¹ Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard files sat elsewhere in the building and were not reached by the flames.

Two windows define the loss. Army records for personnel discharged between November 1, 1912 and January 1, 1960 were destroyed. Air Force records for personnel discharged between September 25, 1947 and January 1, 1964 with surnames alphabetically after Hubbard, James E. were destroyed.¹ Veterans of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War are the most heavily affected. A discharge outside those windows was almost certainly stored elsewhere and survived.

What Survived: The B-Registry

About 6.5 million damaged files were pulled from the sixth floor after the fire and indexed into what the National Personnel Records Center calls the B-Registry, short for “Burned File.”¹ These range from lightly singed to heavily charred and are now kept in a separate temperature-controlled area. When a request falls within the affected date ranges, archivists check the B-Registry first.

Because no pre-fire inventory exists, a search that comes back empty does not confirm the record burned. It may simply never have been indexed. The National Archives has said plainly that a complete listing of what was lost is not available.¹ That uncertainty is part of every fire-related search.

How the National Archives Reconstructs a Record

When the original file is gone, the National Personnel Records Center rebuilds service history from other collections. The primary source is a set of roughly 19 million final pay vouchers documenting the last transactions made to service members at discharge. Enlistment ledgers and service number indexes help confirm identity and dates.²

For medical information, archivists turn to about 10 million hospital and treatment facility admission records originally created by the U.S. Army Surgeon General’s Office, covering treatment primarily at Army hospitals during some years from 1942 through 1954. These records generally show only the dates of treatment or hospitalization; diagnoses and details of care are rarely included.³

When service can be verified from these sources, the center issues NA Form 13038, a Certification of Military Service. The Department of Veterans Affairs accepts this certification in place of a standard discharge document for benefits eligibility.⁴ State archives and county recorder offices are worth checking too, since many veterans filed discharge papers locally after leaving service, and VA regional claim folders survived the fire and can hold significant medical detail for veterans who applied for benefits soon after discharge.

How to Request a Search

Requests go through the National Archives’ eVetRecs online portal, which requires identity verification through ID.me, or by mail using Standard Form 180.⁵ Every request needs the veteran’s full name as used during service, service number, Social Security number, branch, dates of service, and date and place of birth.

If you believe the record was involved in the 1973 fire, include three more items: place of discharge, last unit of assignment, and place of entry into service.⁵ These details help archivists find matches in the alternate collections. Fire-related requests take longer than routine searches because the center often has to contact outside agencies to assemble a picture of service.⁶

If the search moves into medical reconstruction, the center will send NA Form 13055 asking for specific months and years of treatment. Year alone is not enough. Archivists need at least a season and year to search the Surgeon General’s admission records usefully, and the more precise your dates and locations, the better the chance of a match.³

Emergencies and Burials

Requests tied to an urgent medical situation or a pending burial can be expedited. In eVetRecs, select “Emergency Request” on the Veteran Service Details page. For help submitting, call the NPRC Customer Service Line at 314-801-0800, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Central.⁷

For burial at a VA National Cemetery, contact the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 800-535-1117 and the VA will coordinate service verification with the National Archives. For burial at a non-VA cemetery, next of kin can fax a signed SF 180 with proof of death to 314-801-0764.⁷

What the Loss Means for VA Benefits

A missing service record can stall a disability claim, a home loan application, or funeral arrangements. It does not close those doors, but it changes the evidence you have to bring.

For disability compensation, the VA accepts supplemental evidence when originals are gone. That includes statements from service medical personnel, certified “buddy” statements from fellow service members who witnessed an injury or illness, military accident reports, employment or insurance physicals, period photographs, prescription records, and treatment records from private doctors or hospitals. The VA will also ask you to complete NA Form 13055 so the NPRC can look for hospital admission records and other alternate documentation.⁸

Federal courts have held that when the government has lost a veteran’s records, the VA carries a heightened duty to weigh favorable evidence and explain any decision to reject it. The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims stated this in Washington v. Nicholson. For combat veterans, federal law goes further: the VA must accept lay evidence of a service-connected injury or disease if it is consistent with the circumstances of that service, even without an official record, and any reasonable doubt must be resolved in the veteran’s favor. The VA can rebut such a claim only with clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.⁹

Home Loans and Funeral Honors

VA home loan eligibility runs on a Certificate of Eligibility, which the VA issues after reviewing service records. Missing records slow the process without stopping it. You can request a COE online, through a lender, or by mailing VA Form 26-1880. Questions can go to the VA Loan Guaranty Service at 877-827-3702, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern.¹⁰

Military funeral honors normally require a DD Form 214 as proof of honorable service. When that document was destroyed, the National Archives will issue a verification letter in its place, and other documentation reflecting honorable service is accepted. Families with no paperwork at all can ask a funeral director to contact the relevant service branch using the veteran’s Social Security number.¹¹

Replacing Lost Medals

Veterans or next of kin can request replacement medals by writing to the National Personnel Records Center at 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138, or online through the National Archives.¹² Whether the file is archival (62 or more years since separation) or non-archival affects the process. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps requests are accepted at no cost regardless of that status. For Air Force and Coast Guard archival records, next-of-kin requests are not accepted through the standard replacement process; the family would need to purchase a copy of the Official Military Personnel File and obtain medals from a commercial source.

Next-of-kin definitions vary by branch. The Army works down a fixed order from surviving spouse to eldest child, parent, eldest sibling, and eldest grandchild. The Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard recognize the un-remarried surviving spouse, any son or daughter, a parent, or a sibling.¹² A replacement medal can usually be issued when the file itself is gone, but the specific wording of an original citation is often lost for good.

1
National Archives. The 1973 Fire, National Personnel Records Center
2
National Archives. Other Methods to Obtain Military Service Records
3
National Archives. NA Form 13055 – Request for Information Needed to Reconstruct Medical Data
4
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Complete List of Discharge Documents
5
National Archives. Request Military Service Records
6
National Archives. Request Military Personnel Records Using Standard Form 180
7
National Archives. Emergency Requests
8
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Reconstruct Military Records Destroyed in NPRC Fire
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 38 – Section 1154
10
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Eligibility for VA Home Loan Programs
11
Military OneSource. Military Funeral Honors Directors and Planners
12
National Archives. Replace Veterans’ Medals, Awards, and Decorations