Why are personal military records important?

helping them in a symbolic way.

Military life can take a toll. Some people develop mental health conditions such as PTSD; others experience physical conditions such as losing their hearing, a limb, or other types of disabilities. Plus, as we age, we all need periodic checkups with the physician. Veterans do have access to healthcare. However, their level of care is determined by many factors, including the type of discharge a service member received (e.g., entry-level, medical, general, or honorable discharge) and whether they are currently enrolled on Medicare. The same factors also serve the VA to determine whether a veteran’s immediate family members are eligible for healthcare coverage. Veterans’ records are a means to demonstrate that they have served. In some cases, their immediate relatives can continue receiving benefits even if the policyholder passes. Similarly, if a veteran wants to go to college, the education benefits, such as the GI bill, allow them to afford their studies. Once again, veterans need their personal records for that.

In addition to accessing benefits, the veterans we talked to explained how important their personal records were to help them go down memory lane. Whether it is the hard days during their last deployment or those missions they can’t really talk about because the information is classified, veterans’ records may help them remember. In remembering, they can go back and feel the thrill. Plus, when they deem it appropriate, veterans can use their records to reminisce together with their peers. We noticed in our research how veterans take pride in their service, and remembering allows them to strengthen that pride. If this sounds like the people you work with, then their records can also help them remember where they come from and what they have accomplished.

Besides the trips down memory lane, some veterans thought that their records would also be a nice inheritance to leave behind once they are gone. Through their records, veterans hope to show other aspects of their lives to their loved ones. Some veterans also hope to inspire their relatives and friends in their own lives. Additionally, we found that personal military records also have historical value; that is, they are important to society.

Historical Importance

In earlier times, governments would create grandiose monuments to their heroes of earlier wars. For instance, think about the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. These monuments are important, of course, but they tell us little about the stories of the individuals who served. The veterans you work with are not anonymous war heroes. They have a name, a history, and plans for their future, and their individual story matters. We believe that future generations will want to know what were the challenges that soldiers faced during their service. Their records are an important source to help people see the individual stories behind the larger struggles that the veterans you work with, and others like them, underwent. Thus, by enabling access to their stories and other stories like theirs, veterans’ records can help the public better understand what it is like to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Finally, veterans’ records may also be important to historians and other researchers. There are aspects of the experience of war that go beyond the official records. The history of war is also about the individuals who fought, what they did, and how they felt throughout. Thus, if the veterans you are working with ever consider donating their records to a museum or an archive, it’s important to let them know that their records can also become important sources for future research.

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