Not keeping records

In our research, we found that some veterans didn’t keep track of their time of service. Their reasons for this varied. Some people didn’t document at all simply because the idea didn’t cross their minds as they were serving. One of our interviewees said that not having records made it all the more difficult for him to access materials because, given his PTSD, he had forgotten this part of their life. Others did recall some of their experiences but lamented not having records to help them piece together the details. A second group did keep some records here and there but did not add any metadata (e.g., naming their files and folders) and didn’t organize them. As a result, they are missing context to understand the few records they have (e.g., where were certain pictures taken, what are the events or people that they mentioned in a letter). A third group was comprised of veterans who consciously chose not to keep certain records, such as photographs, due to the sensitive nature of their missions, though they still argued during our focus groups that perhaps they could have kept other types of records, such as journals. Unfortunately, the idea did not occur to them. As one veteran noted,

“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of stuff I know now that I wished I had known when I generated a lot of the photos and videos especially. especially. So, one thing I think would be really helpful and I wished I’d done a better job of years ago, just capturing the metadata for a lot of photos and videos, especially. Like I have a lot of photos from deployments that either have guys that I worked with or translators, or in certain some random village somewhere. And maybe for a couple years after I took that, I could have told you a lot of the details about those photos, but at this point a lot of that is gone.”

The fact that some veterans do not have in their possession personal records of their time of service does not always mean they didn’t generate records about it. For instance, a couple of the people we interviewed explained that kept regular correspondence with friends and family. However, they did not keep copies of those records, neither the ones they sent nor the ones they received.

Records getting damaged

Some veterans reported having lost access to their records due to damage either to the records themselves or the devices storing the information. For instance, in the case of electronic records, a couple of veterans mentioned that the batteries in their cell phones got damaged. Because some files were in the internal memory of their devices, the damaged batteries resulted in veterans no longer being able to access their files. As they noted,

“So, I had this cell phone that they literally said, "Do not ever turn it on again," because your battery might explode, that I want data off of because that's actually the main phone with, basically, a majority of my military photos.”

In other cases, veterans lost access because their personal computers got infected with viruses, thus rendering their equipment useless. In other cases, hardware problems led to their computers or their external hard drives crashing. In all these cases, the extent to which veterans were able to preserve some of their data was due to having copies in alternative formats, such as pictures posted on social media, cloud storage, or additional drives. However, in most cases, veterans did not have backups of their records.

In terms of physical hazards to records, fire and flooding were the common culprits. Some veterans lost records in these incidents. To protect themselves from the fires, some were considering getting a safe. One person who experienced flooding said he had decided to store their records in the attic. Finally, one person told us they had kept their records in a safe deposit box in a bank. They felt pretty secure about their choice until the bank closed while they were away on a trip. This person would have lost their records safe for the fact that one of their parents was also an account holder and thus was able to retrieve the at-risk records. The common denominator in these cases is that these veterans did not have extra copies of their materials. Some explicitly lamented not having digital copies on the cloud.

Losing or misplacing records

Some veterans mentioned having gotten some of their online accounts hacked and therefore losing access to some records, such as photos. Others had physical records and objects stolen during break-ins. One person recalled having received a sword as a present during their service. They left the sword at their parents’ place. Someone broke into that house and stole the sword, among other things, such as boxes filled with books. Another person had their smartphone stolen.

The different branches and units within the armed forces also play a role in losing records. Some veterans complained that the VA does not communicate with active service members about the records in its possession. As a result, when people go into retirement, some may find their discharge status already registered in the VA system, whereas others may find the VA has partial or no information. One person mentioned transferring across branches and realizing late that the branch where they first served had lost their records, and the VA had no copies either. This was a common theme, as seen in the following quotes:

“I get nervous when I move, all the time. I'm afraid I'll lose something from a unit that's important. I've had the unfortunate experience, as well, of having moved and my boxes did not come with me. So, you start to get a little bit paranoid. You start wondering how much you can fit in the car.”

“Every PCS move, there has been things that I bring that I don't trust anybody else to pack. Important family documents, the photographs always go with me and there's a real risk of losing those things. Maybe not so much now because you've got better ways to keep track of people through Facebook and whatnot.”

“I think the biggest challenge is that every PCS season, it’s like a roulette wheel for what’s gonna go missing. Every time you move. But you know, just being – I kind of keep everything that’s super, super important locked up in folders, and a safe, and I hand-carry it with me.”

The losing records also affected active service members waiting for a commission. Even though they had concluded their training and met the requirements, their commissions would be put on hold, sometimes for months, because the academies had lost the records certifying their accreditations. This would leave some active service members waiting, sometimes for months, for new records to be produced. In the meantime, not only were these individuals not able to receive their commissions, but their pay would also be affected. Some would assume their duties as officers but continue to receive the pay of an enlisted member for months until their situations are resolved.

Losing Access

Veterans had varied opinions about the values of cloud storage services. Some felt optimistic that having cloud storage services was an advantage because it ensured their records would be there even if their computers failed, phones, and external hard drives got lost or damaged. However, others expressed their distrust of cloud storage services due to cybersecurity threats. Finally, a couple of veterans lamented having lost access to one or more cloud storage services, such as Photo Bucket, because they did not sign in often enough. This veteran noted,

“I decided to back up a lot of stuff on Photo Bucket, which was a great idea per se, except that if I didn’t go to Photo Bucket for about five years, then I cannot find the password. I’ve tried contacting them. They said, “Oh, well, we revamp it after like three years. If you haven’t updated, then it’s gone.” So, I’m down to whatever I have left on my hard drives and computer, and just hard copies of stuff.”

Another veteran said,

“ I actually had my Facebook account, of all things, was hacked four years ago, and I lost something like 560 photos.”

In their experience, having their accounts closed due to inactivity is a permanent loss. One of those affected emailed the admins asking for their account to be reopened but got no answer.

Implications for GLAM workers

The four issues outlined about the challenges and issues surrounding personal military records matter to stakeholders of Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAMS). GLAM professionals can help military personnel with the following:

1. Diagnosing the state of their own personal collections, such as where their scattered collections are, and how to request copies of their service records, such as their discharge papers from the government.

2. Learning to preserve in the long-term their existing records, both physical and digital.

3. Developing strategies to organize and keep track of their collections

4. Learn strategies to mitigate the risk of losing records, such as keeping multiple copies on different places and periodically updating their copies.

End of Module 1

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