The National Archives and Records Administration is the official depository for records of military personnel separated from the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marine Corps. If you have lost or misplaced your Official Discharge Papers, aka DD-214’s, and if you have recorded it with the County Recorder’s Office, you may obtain a certified replacement copy from the Recorder at no cost to you.

If you have not recorded your DD-214 with the County Recorder, you may obtain an official copy by contacting the National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records at: 9700 Page Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63123-5100 or visit the  National Archives website.

Please note that a fire at the NPRC in St. Louis on July 12, 1973 destroyed about 80% of the records for Army personnel discharged between November 1, 1912 and January 1, 1960. About 75% of the records for Air Force personnel with surnames from “Hubbard” through “Z” discharged between September 25, 1947 and January 1, 1964 were also destroyed. If you should learn that your records have been lost in the fire, you may send photocopies of any documents that you possess to the NPRC, particularly separation documents. The NPRC will add these documents to the computerized index and file them permanently.