I’ve hit this wall myself. You’re tracing a veteran’s service record a grandfather, a great-uncle, someone whose uniform photo sits in a frame but whose story has never been told in full. You request his military personnel file. Weeks later, a letter comes back. Records destroyed. Fire. 1973. And just like that, it feels like he’s gone twice. On July 12, 1973, a fire broke out at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It burned for nearly two days. When it was over, an ...

The Fire That Took Their Records

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