How to do Military Records Research

The Scuttlebutt: Understanding Military Culture

Beth Reuschel is a professional military records researcher who helps families discover their legacies of service. She conducts research for people and also coaches them to do their own detective work. Through her expertise and guidance, dozens of people have tracked down service records of veteran parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, as well as brothers and sisters.

Beth joins The Scuttlebutt to give us “Military Records Research 101” briefing. She’ll offer tips and tricks to guide family history seekers through their own research journeys. If you’ve ever been curious about your veteran ancestors or family members, you’ll want to join us to talk with Beth and ask questions about how to start or get past the obstacles in your way.

Beth’s own path to archives began with a search for her grandfather, Jack Perz, who died before Beth was born.

An airman in Europe, Jack spoke little of the war. He even threw away his uniform in 1945. It was a black hole in her family history.

By asking questions and digging into archives, she discovered a picture of his crew, his original Certificate of Discharge (DD-214), his ribbon bar, even his Individual Flight Record. She eventually traced him a B-24 tailgun position in the 766th squadron, the 461st Bomb Group, 15th Army Air Force in Italy.

Researching his unit both online and at the National Archives II, she was able to compile a complete list of every single combat mission he flew—all 36 of them– including the target, mission number, accuracy rating, and, for some, the number of the aircraft the crew flew that day.

With a little more work, Beth then discovered the Holy Grail for any military researcher: the Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). The OMPF is the official administrative records of a service member’s military career. It tracks where they trained, what they qualified to do, where they went, how they performed, what trouble they got into, and most other highlights and lowlights along the way.

She requested Jack Perz’s OMPF through the National Archives website. She was prepared to be disappointed. Up to 80% of all Army OMPFs were destroyed in the NPRC 1973 fire.

It turned out, Beth’s grandfather’s records were scorched, to be sure, but not totally destroyed. She received 60 pages of his file. And the stories she learned about her grandfather’s service provided her relatives, including her grandmother, a source of pride and love for a long lost family member.

This first experience taught Beth her biggest lesson in military records research:

Don’t give up.

There will be obstacles and seeming dead-ends. They can seem insurmountable. But the paths to discovery are many, and there’s almost always a workaround.

Even brick walls can be climbed.

Join us to share your questions and our research story! And learn more about Beth’s work at reuschelresearch.com.

Thank you to Tobacco Free Adagio Health and UPMC for Life for sponsoring this event!

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