Are you looking for military records for an ancestor? The current issue of
the Military Times has an article that gives nine steps to help you obtain
records and awards. The Military Times received advice >from the National
Personnel Records Center -- NPRC ( St. Louis, MO) for basic steps. There
was a devastating fire in July 1973 which destroyed 18 million personnel
files -- but even if the file you are searching was destroyed some
information may be recovered. That is because the fire destroyed individual
records and unit records were stored elsewhere -- in the National Archives
-- but they are not indexed so the more information you can provide in your
request form the better chance of finding the correct unit record.
To read the article see:
https://tinyurl.com/ybmewldm
Original url:
https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/salute-veterans/2017/11/14/preserving-the-past-9-tips-on-obtaining-military-records-medals-for-you-or-a-loved-one/

The (US) National Archives National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis
Missouri has information on military records -- not awards. Awards is a
function of each military service department. Requests for the issuance or
replacement of military service medals, decorations and awards should be
directed to the specific branch of the military in which the veteran served.
However, for the Army and Air Force the NPRC the NPRC will verify the awards
to which a veteran is entitled and forward the request along with the
records verification to the appropriate service department for issuance of
the medals. For forms requesting information on service, the National
Archives has a page with information. Go to:
https://www.archives.gov/veterans and see what is available online and more
on awards.

Jan Meisels Allen
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee