Restoration of Some Burned Military Records

One of the more frustrating record losses affecting 20th-century U.S. research is the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis that burned 80% of enlisted Army personnel records from 1957 back through World War I and earlier.  There has been no real substitute for the records, though a soldier's career can be pieced together somewhat with morning reports, as long as you know the unit he was in.  The loss of records affected not only research, but the ability of veterans to prove their service and obtain benefits.

An article from January 1, 2012 discusses restoration work being done on these records at the NPRC.  Of the approximately 6.5 million records that were damanged in the fire, so far about 15,000-20,000 records have been fully treated, which is admittedly only a small fraction.  Even the archivists in St. Louis concede that the restoration work will not be finished in their lifetimes.  But every piece of paper restored recovers more information and makes it available to researchers and veterans.

My thanks to Jan Meisels Allen for posting about this article.