2023 Genealogy Series National Personnel Records Center Fire 1973

The catastrophic fire at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973 destroyed millions of military personnel records and presents a variety of challenges for researchers. This presentation will examine the fire, record losses, and common myths, and will provide guidance on how to research the records of veterans who were affected by the fire. Part of overcoming these challenges is knowing about other records that are available to supplement information lost in the fire. This presentation will highlight those record series at the National Archives at St. Louis and their usefulness for unlocking information from the past.

2023 Genealogy Series, Session 3 of 6 - National Archives at St. Louis: Understanding the 1973 NPRC Fire and Its Impact on Genealogical Research by Eric Kilgore

Eric Kilgore is an Archives Specialist from the National Archives at St. Louis

⇒ Presentation Slides/Handout: https://www.archives.gov/files/calendar/genealogy-series/2023/2023-05-17-kilgore-presentation.pdf
⇒ Transcript: Request from KYR@nara.gov
⇒ Event Evaluation Form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KYREventEval
⇒ 2023 Genealogy Series web page: https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-series/2023
⇒ 2023 Genealogy Series playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLugwVCjzrJsW5LpOyGo7oYnc0FR0kqPW7

Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome
01:39 - Introduction to The 1973 Fire at St. Louis
01:52 - Presenter biography and responsibilities
02:59 - Session Overview
03:24 - Background and history of the St. Louis Facility
06:05 - The fire and its aftermath
13:47 - The facility today
14:56 - Doing research at St. Louis
18:27 - Examples of what kinds of records to research
21:03 - The Registry and “B” files
24:52 - "R"- Reconstructed files
26:26 - Alternative Sources - VA Index Cards
28:45 - Alternative Sources - Morning Reports
32:18 - Individual Deceased Personnel Files
35:40 - Samples of personal data series at St. Louis
36:23 - More information on doing research at St. Louis
36:37 - Closing, Event Survey, Other Resources
37:54 - Questions and Answers in the chat

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