Oct 30, 2013 2 min read

With Veterans Day on the horizon, the state House of Representatives, by way of a resolution, is encouraging veterans to take advantage of a free service and record a copy of their discharge documents Friday as a way of safeguarding them from loss or destruction.

“Recording preserves the safety and accessibility to the discharge for the veteran or the family member,” said Barry Grimm, Washington County director of veterans affairs, who subscribes electronically to the discharge docket.

“Family members have to come to me to get the discharge. I get calls every week from the spouse of a deceased veteran wanting the veteran’s discharge for the funeral director. Without it you cannot get a flag for the coffin or for the family member. You cannot get an honor guard from the military or burial in the national cemetery, either.

“It’s a pretty important document, not to mention accessing any Veterans Administration benefits.”

The Washington County recorder of deeds office copies the document, dockets it and returns the original to the veteran.

State Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Elizabeth, a U.S. Air Force veteran who represents Washington County’s part of the 39th District, a co-sponsor of the noncontroversial resolution, notes that a veteran is oftentimes required to provide certified copies for use in the execution of wills and estate purposes, as well as certain employment purposes.

The documents remain private for 75 years after they are recorded. Washington County Recorder of Deeds Debbie Bardella said veterans lobbied after World War II to keep the documents away from public scrutiny for several decades because, when they were open to the public, salespeople were gleaning the information to target returning veterans.

Bardella said there are not many requests to see the dockets that become part of the public record, which would now include discharge papers prior to 1938.

Destruction of discharge documents doesn’t occur only at a veteran’s household. The National Archives website shows a shortcoming to the military’s own recordkeeping that occurred July 12, 1973, when a disastrous fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed approximately 17 million official military personnel files of 80 percent of U.S. Army veterans discharged between Nov. 1, 1912, and Jan. 1, 1960, and 75 percent of Air Force veterans discharged between 1947 and 1964.

As a substitute, the records center produces a certificate of military service.