Quote Originally Posted by cassiesmom

My dad was in the Army in Korea in 1951.
Over a year ago now we wrote to the Army to get a copy of his discharge certificate so he could apply for V.A. benefits. He got a letter saying that his was one of many thousands of records that was destroyed in a fire in the 1970s ...

I was going to say the Army would burn it for you,
but I hope things like that don't happen anymore!

So, congratulations for your retirement, and best wishes for whatever is coming next (leisure?)!
Better SAVE 'em, Fred!!

Don't "trust" Uncle Sammy to even remember your Name - let alone when you served.

MY Dad served in WW II - Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Corps of Engineers -
built the US airfields on the Japanese Pacific Islands, then served for years in the Active Reserves ---
ALL his records went to ashes in the Big Records Fire - July 12, 1973, the
St Louis National Personnel Record Center suffered a huge fire on the Sixth Floor,
but water destroyed military records on ALL the floors.

Lucky for Dad's Military Retirement, and later for Mom's Survivor's Benefits -
they had kept the originals of ALL Dad's military service records in the safe deposit box.
Those personally saved records insured he and Mom got their well-earned retirement benefits.

Here's a recent story about the 1973 Big Fire in St. Louis >>>
http://www.associatedcontent.com/art..._millions.html

So ... Lady's Human ...
I'd hold off on feeding that fire ... you just might WANT those papers, some day!