Availability of Records in the Archives
Though the State Archives of North Carolina has no records which will establish
or support benefit claims for disabled veterans, it does have some records
which will be sufficient to establish the identity of a claimant as a
serviceman. These records are the reports which were completed at the time
of the veteran's separation from military service. A copy of a veteran's
record of service or report of separation can be furnished by the State Archives of North Carolina at no cost to: the veteran, his next of kin, or
designated agent; a Veterans Service Officer; or (in case of burial benefit
claims) the funeral director undertaking the burial of a veteran who was
honorably discharged. If the veteran had his report of separation from
military service recorded by the Register of Deeds in his county, a copy
of the record can be obtained from that office. The Archives also has
microfilm copies of the record books from the county Registers of Deeds.
For more information about pre-World War I military documents,
please consult our Military Collection page.
Types of Information Available
World War I
The State Archives of North Carolina has on file reports of military
service for approximately 86,000 North Carolinians who served in the Army,
Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard during World War I. A duplicate set
(photostat) of these reports has been furnished to the St. Louis National
Personnel Records Center.
World War II
Reports of separation from military service for approximately 300,000
North Carolina veterans who served between 1940 and 1948 are in the State Archives of North Carolina. These record are arranged in two groups: (1) men
who registered with local draft boards prior to service (Registrants); and (2)
service-women and men who enlisted at an age exempted from the provisions of
the draft act (Non-Registrants).
Post-World War II
The State Archives has on file approximately 10,000 separation reports for
North Carolinians who registered with local draft boards and who served on
active duty between the years 1948 to 1955; this small group of records is
no-where near complete. Approximately 12,000 separation reports are on file
for North Carolina non-registrants who were on active duty between the years
1955 to 1964.
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To Order a Copy of a Veteran's Record
Request for State Archives of North Carolina records of service and separation
reports can be made through local Veterans Service Officers or direct to
State Archives. In order to locate the correct individual record, it is
usually necessary to know as much of the following information as possible:
name used in service; service number; branch of service; dates of service;
race; residence at the time of entering service; date of birth; county in
which registered with the draft board; military unit; and grade, rate, or
rank.
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Destruction of Federal Records
The destruction of approximately 82% of the World War I military personnel
records and World War II Army personnel records in the July 1973 fire at the
National Personnel Records Center (Military) in St. Louis was the greatest
loss of records in the history of the United States. However, Records of
Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps veterans were not destroyed. Air Force
records of servicemen with surnames beginning with letters "A" through "I"
who served between 1947 and 1964 survived. All service records dating from
1964 had been computerized before the fire and thus are intact.
To contact the National Personnel Records Center:
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Last Modified: 04/30/2012
