{"id":3206,"date":"2026-08-24T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thirstier.news\/?p=3206"},"modified":"2026-08-24T12:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:30:00","slug":"claims-process-streamlined-for-veterans-affected-by-1973-nprc-records-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=3206","title":{"rendered":"Claims process streamlined for Veterans affected by 1973 NPRC records fire"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is making the claims process easier for Veterans whose records were damaged or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

VA Deputy Secretary Paul R. Lawrence, Ph.D., and VA\u2019s Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits Margarita Devlin, sat down to discuss the problem, noted how VA is fixing it, and then explained what affected Veterans should know and do moving forward. <\/p>\n

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1973 National Personnel Records Center fire<\/h2>\n

In July 1973, a massive fire broke out at the NPRC near St. Louis, Missouri<\/a>, destroying an estimated 16 to 18 million military personnel records. The fire mainly impacted Army Veterans discharged between 1912 and 1960, and Air Force Veterans discharged between 1947 and 1964 with last names starting with Hubbard through Z.<\/p>\n

For many of these Veterans, the records that burned may have contained crucial details about their military service and medical treatment\u2014the kind of evidence often needed to support a disability claim decades later.<\/p>\n

The problem VA is fixing<\/h2>\n

Even though it\u2019s been over 50 years, the effects of that fire are still being felt today. When a Veteran\u2019s records are missing due to the fire, VA seeks alternate sources\u2014things like morning reports, hospital admission cards,and old Surgeon General\u2019s Office extracts\u2014to help reconstruct what happened during their service.<\/p>\n

To do that, VA typically asks Veterans to fill out two forms: one about their medical treatment (NA Form 13055) and one about their military service history (NA Form 13075). Historically, VA has asked Veterans to fill out these same forms more than once\u2014even when the information was already on file\u2014because it wasn\u2019t always easy for different claims processors to see what information had already been submitted. This contributed to delays for Veterans trying to get the benefits they\u2019ve earned.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s changing for Veterans<\/h2>\n

VA began using a more consistent, Veteran-friendly process last month. That process includes:<\/p>\n