How a FOIA request for a VA C-File Helps in your Genealogy Research
A FOIA request or Freedom of Information Act can be made to obtain a Veterans Administration Claims File (VA C-File) from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.[1] It contains any claim the Veteran made, including the DD214 and valuable information you might not otherwise have. For example, if you have tried to obtain an Army file from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, prior to 1960 you are more than likely out of luck. A terrible fire burned out of control for 22 hours in July 1973 and destroyed 80% of Army files of veterans discharged from 1 Nov 1912 to 1959.[2] So a VA file can be invaluable in learning some of the missing information.
I have ordered two files for my records and helped a number of people obtain them, so these are examples of what’s in the files and how to obtain them.
My father, John Freeman Wade, died in 1991 at 43. This is photo of him ca. 1967-1968.
I was only 20 years old then, so I’ve gotten to know pieces of his life through records. John was in the U.S. Marine Corps and served two tours of duty in Vietnam from 1967-1969. He was in Hotel 2/5 in the 1st Marine Div. The movie Full Metal Jacket is about John’s unit in Hue City during TET in 1968. He also received a Purple Heart for an incident in 1968 when he was hit by shrapnel from a boobytrap a fellow Marine stepped on. Marine Corps files were not affected by that fire in 1973 so I ordered his entire military file which had all his information including every combat history expedition he was in and all of his military awards. I ordered his VA C-File to see what the file contained, and I was surprised! It was completely different than his military file. It contained 38 pages and was mainly from his time in Vietnam. I learned all kinds of things from his C-File, some of which I probably didn’t need to know (which I won’t mention in this blog).
- The file contains birthdate, address, service number, and all kinds of information. I love seeing their actual signatures on some of these pages!
- John suffered a laceration on the left side of his neck (from the abovementioned incident) and perforated ear drums from 155 round on 31 July 1969 in Quang Nam Province. Complaints of constant ringing in ears. (see photo below)
- He had malaria in 1969
- He tried to apply for a pension file in 1986; all the paperwork is in this file including information on his wives and children (I'm included in this information).
The next C-File I ordered was my father-in-law, Joe Mucia’s file. Well, technically my husband ordered his VA file… Joe served in the Merchant Marines and the Army. I obtained his Merchant Marine records which were amazing but I didn’t have any luck with the Army file due to the fire in 1973. (Here's how to order Merchant Marine files.) My husband said Joe fought in the Korean War so I wanted to confirm the family story. His DD214 confirmed he served overseas but didn’t give a location and the dates didn’t align with the combat time of the Korean War. The VA file answered our questions!!! His file was 188 pages and had all kinds of gems in there.
- Dates of his active service from 13 April 1954 to 28 February 1956.
- It was noted on his medical history he had scarlet fever in childhood.
- The biggest clue for confirming family lore was Joe was at “KComZ Aid Station in Taegu, Korea” from Oct 1954 to Feb 1956. A little search revealed KComZ stands for Korean Communication Zone. While he was in Korea just after the war, he didn’t seem to serve in combat.
- He was also at Fort Dix in New Jersey in April 1954 and the record states, “He is considered unfit for the following types of duties: He should not be given combat duty if this will mean the use of small arms requirement sighting with the right eye. The vision of his right eye is very poor and cannot be improved with glasses.”
Keep in mind to obtain VA files from more recent veterans, you need to be the Veteran OR the next of kin. Here are the steps I took to acquire these files:
Steps to Request a veterans VA File:
1. You need to print and fill out the VA form 3288 then sign it with an actual signature.
http://www.va.gov/vaforms/va/pdf/VA3288.pdf
2. I’ve attached a sample of the form and how to fill it out. The blue section can be static except for the red boxes. That relationship and name of the Veteran should be filled out for how the requester is related to the Veteran, and the requester should fill out the red section with that information.
In the box labeled: “Information Requested,” you need to put the following:
Veteran’s name – Service Identification no. (if known)
“I hearby request a copy of all documents contained in [fill in name of Veteran and relationship] VA claims folder to include all documents in the right flap, left flap and center flap as well as any temporary files. Please forward the copied documents to me at the address provided above.”
Details about Veteran’s service like approximate years, branch, service location and rank should also be added here.
3. The requester will need to provide proof of relationship to the Veteran. (For example, a copy of the requester’s birth certificate naming the father.)
4. A copy of the requester’s driver’s license should also be included with the request.
5. You can fax the request with the above documents or mail it:
Claims Intake Center Fax Numbers:
844-531-7818 or 844-822-5246
Mail:
Department of Veterans Affairs Claims Intake Center
PO Box 5235
Janesville, WI 53547-5235
I hope you can obtain some of these very valuable records! Let me know if you find anything you’ve been missing. You can email me at keeperofthepastgenealogy@gmail.com.
[2] National Archives Record Administration, “The 1973 Fire, National Personnel Records Center;” https://www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center/fire-1973. 75% of the Air Force records from 1947-1964 starting with Hubbard, James E were destroyed as well.
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