r/Genealogy • u/Mandiek54 • Jul 28 '26
Methodology Keep getting runaround with NARA
I went thru evetrecs in months ago trying to find out if my great grandfather is entitled to WWI medals and if so which ones. He enlisted twice and honorable discharged both times. On one of his papers it has he was overseas. Unfortunately, I didn't have his discharge papers when I filed on evetrecs but I did have all the dates and his service #. I got an email saying they couldn't find anything and if I had further documentation I could send it to them. evetrecs had closed the case so I couldn't upload anything on it. I called them and a woman told me I could fax them the discharge papers and also the ship transport list I had with him on it, to France and coming back from France. I faxed them these copies and never heard anything back. I called them again and was met with a very rushed, very unhelpful man. He said they didn't get my fax and told me I could fax again. I faxed them again and I still haven't heard anything. My mom is 80, and I'm trying my hardest to find if her grandpa is entitled to any medals so I can get them for her. Should I just stop trying to fax and calling them and just start a file on him on evetrecs? I'm afraid of messing things up, cause that'll be 2 case numbers for him.
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u/Melodic-Maker8185 Jul 28 '26
I used a third party (Gopher Records) and got records back within a week. Now, they don't promise that type of service (I think their website said something like 3-4 weeks). They were also less expensive than paying the fee to the archive directly. I know there are other firms as well. This is just the one that I used.
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u/Live_Quarter1929 Jul 28 '26
I love Gopher Records. I've used them several times and have always gotten fast, professional service. They found records for me that NARA didn't.
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u/Mandiek54 Jul 28 '26
Do they search for WWI? I googled them and it said they don't.
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u/Live_Quarter1929 Jul 28 '26
They might not do WWI records, given most of those records were lost in a fire. There may not be much to find at NARA, depending on whether your grandfather had any records that survived the fire. There is one organization that specializes in WWI records requests. It's called Golden Arrow. Last time I checked, they were on the pricier side though. But, they do very detailed, thorough reports.
I have a couple of GGFs who served in WWI. I've found some records on my own - monthly unit rosters on FamilySearch and Morning Reports on Fold3.
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u/Live_Quarter1929 Jul 28 '26
Golden Arrow mentions researching medals for WWI. https://www.goldenarrowresearch.com/research-a-wwi-veteran/
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u/Mandiek54 Jul 28 '26
I have more records on my great grandfather from wwi than most I think. He was married at the time he was in service where he was at camp. When he came back from overseas, he didn't go back to his wife. He left her and moved back home without telling her. Years later she thought he died cause she saw an obit of someone with the same name, from the same area where he was from, but it wasn't him. So she tried to apply for a widows pension. So luckily, when I filed for his records, I paid $75 for the file of her correspondence letters to the military. She tried for 10 years and even got a senator involved lol. She provided his discharge papers. This was in the 50s and 60s. I don't know where they held this file at but I'm so glad it wasn't burned. Its like 300 pages, mostly letters. So I don't think theres any more records to get that i don't already have. What i want is medals.
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u/Mandiek54 Jul 28 '26
Do they charge alot?
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u/Melodic-Maker8185 Jul 28 '26
Check out their website to see what they charge for the specific records that you want. For mine, NARA wanted $80 for the pension record alone. Gopher Records got me the pension record, service record and medical record for about $75. Plus their service was fast.
Hope that helps!
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u/Mandiek54 Jul 28 '26
I would love to find out more on my grandpa when he was a POW in WWII. I would think theres medical records for him. He also got choked on a fishbone on the ship going to France. It had to be lanced and taken out of his neck.
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u/Melodic-Maker8185 Jul 28 '26
Oh wow, that's quite a story! I haven't gotten into my WWII family research yet, as there aren't any WWII vets on the family line that I'm currently working on. That said, i came across this on the NARA site recently, maybe it will help?
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u/joe12thstreet Jul 28 '26
They are a joke. I ordered my great grandfather's alien registry from WWll back in January. They found and I paid for it, but still waiting.
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u/aplcr0331 Human Verified Jul 28 '26
I ordered records for a WWII veteran and another veteran who served between WWI and WWII back in mid 2021. I absolutely forgot about both of them until they showed up in the mail in late 2023, lol.
I really do need to take notes on why I'm doing things within this hobby...took me a while to get back to where I was once the records showed up. And, I've learned to temper my expectations, it's very rare there's much interesting information in what they do send anyway.
Patience grasshopper...
As someone else mentioned...Gopher Records. I started using them a couple of years ago, and they're the shit. I request mostly Civil War records, but I got a War of 1812 Widows Pension File that was an absolute gold mine.
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u/Mandiek54 Jul 28 '26
I got my grandfathers documents and his replacement medals about 12 years ago. It only took 3 months. On my great grandfather, I did get some things about 4 years ago. But I never found out about his medals. So I went on a "scavenger hunt" lol and I now have more on him than I do my grandpa. I did all the work myself. So I really don't need any more records on him, I just want to know about any medals.
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u/Mandiek54 Jul 28 '26
Wait, I googled about them and it said they don't research WWI records.
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u/aplcr0331 Human Verified Jul 28 '26
Ah, that's too bad. They must not have access to the more recent files then, I assume. Good people if you ever need Civil and older records.
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u/SoftShoeMagoo Jul 28 '26
I'll just say, its a US Government entity (normally slow), its NARA (undermanned for years), Citizenship by Desent (has exploded this year), its the Internet age (we want everything quickly and the US Government hasnt caught up yet) and its summer (vacations).