Veterans Newsletters

VA just changed the rules for veterans whose records burned in a fire

Veterans whose records were damaged or destroyed in a fire in July 1973 now have an easier way to file claims, the Department of Veterans Affairs says.
A fire at the National Personnel Records Center near St. Louis, Missouri, in July 1973 affected about 16 million records. Among them were records of Army veterans discharged between 1912 and 1960 and Air Force veterans discharged between 1947 and 1964 whose last names began with Hubbard through Z.
Before now, affected veterans may have been required to repeatedly fill out special forms to file claims for benefits related to their service, because VA lacked a streamlined internal process for handling such cases.
That is changing.
“If a Veteran has already submitted the required forms, claims processors won’t ask again—unless NPRC specifically says it needs new or different information that isn’t already on file,” the department said in a news release on Monday.
Paul Lawrence, Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, said in a VA video, “Often when I go out and do a town hall and take questions from Veterans, one of the most disheartening thing to learn from Veterans is that ‘I would have applied for benefits, but a fire destroyed my records and now I can’t seem to get it.’”
Veterans can file a claim at va.gov or call 1-800-827-1000 to speak with a VA representative.