Pic of my grandfather with his bring back Luger.

[BrianSFL]

Originally Posted by apis mellifera

If I can help, LMK. I just went down this same path with both of my grandfathers. Like yours, both of mine had no records on file. I was, however, able to get copies of their DD214. The Feds will offer you a copy of the final pay document or similar for $20. It will be a single page with information you already have. It may not be readable.

That said, your best bet to get a second-generation copy of their DD214 (and possibly other documents) is to first call the local Vet. Services office. They will likely have something on file; possibly a DD214 or a similar document. The real treasure is at the courthouse in the county the vet live in when discharged. They should have an original DD214 and the Honorable Discharge certificate. From what I could gather, vets where given these docs and required to put them on file at their local courthouse so they are first-gen copies, not copies of copies from the Feds. Usually the files the courthouse has are inverted (white on black rather than black on white). I guess that's how they were copies back then.

My grandfathers lived in the same state, but different counties. One courthouse mailed copies to me with nothing but my word that I was who I said I was. The other required the net of kin to appear in person.

With these documents, I was able to request replacement medals. So far, I have received them for one grandfather.

All this was free, save for the $20 the Feds charged each time for a single Xerox'ed page that was not readable.

That said, if you get stuck with an unreadable DD214 or are missing the Discharge certificate, I made templates in Photoshop and can replicate the type font they used as well as replicating the discharge officer's signature. Same goes for anyone else that wants a pristine DD214/DC for framing or display or just to have. No charge, of course.

Thanks for the information. I see you're in West Virginia. I'm fairly certain my grandfather's county would have been Kanawha.

[apis mellifera]

I live in Kanawha County. The local VA was very helpful and with a phone call, they emailed some documents directly to me.

[BrianSFL]

Interesting, I might look into that, although I'm not sure it (a DD-214) would give me any more information than I already have. My dad's family is from the Clendenin area.

[apis mellifera]

DD214s of that vintage will have the vet's signature and thumbprint as well as deployment dates and locations, awards, and medals issued. Also has pay info, education, and misc. pre-military info. Kind of neat if you're in to that sort of history.