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Archiver > NY-Military > 2000-04 > 0955509445


From: "fred jones" <>
Subject: Re: [NY-Mil] Re: More on obtaining records from WWI
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 20:17:25 -0700


John: I have had occasion to deal with VA hospitals. My GG grandfather was
a veteran of the civil war and my GG Grandmother was in the VA Hospital
(Veteran's Home) in Retsil, Washington. I contacted them and within a week
I had all the papers and files on both of them. Pension, dependants
affidavit, witness reports, etc. They were extremely helpful. I guess like
anything else it all depends on who you are dealing with and what kind of a
mood they are in. Retsil Home in Washington ranks right up near the top
with me.

Fred Jones
----- Original Message -----
From: John Clavin <>
To: <>
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2000 5:01 PM
Subject: Re: [NY-Mil] Re: More on obtaining records from WWI


> At 10:42 AM 4/11/00 -0400, robmarth wrote:
> >Hi Folks,
> >I just want to thank everyone who has e-mailed info on NARA for WWI
records.
> >Leslie Albright died at the VA hospital in Batavia, NY in 1978. I sent
them
> >a letter (w/SASE) requesting any info on the family or anything else.
This
> >was back in 1998. I never received a reply. Has anyone gone this route
and
> >what were their dealings with Veterans hospitals?
>
> I have not dealt with VA hospitals, but did try to get information out of
> the VA about a pension file. My great-grandfather had a Civil War pension
> when he died in 1934. Most civil war pension files were transferred to the
> National Archives about 1932 if I recall correctly. Since his file was
> still active, it remained with the VA and is still in their possession per
> a records storage agreement they have with the Archives. However, unlike
> the Archives, their mind set is not focused on old records. They are too
> busy providing services to the living. It took me quite a while to even
get
> someone there to acknowledge what I was talking about. After two or three
> letters and about two years, I finally got a copy of the pension file.
>
> One approach you might try which may yield faster results is to request
the
> information under the Freedom of Information Act. However, because the
> death was relatively recent, genealogically speaking, the privacy acts may
> take precedence. I also would try directing the request to the VA Regional
> Office for the area which contained the hospital (see http://www.va.gov/ )
> . They would have a better understanding of records retention and storage
> issues. The hospitals almost certainly send the records off to be archived
> after some number of years and probably don't know what you are talking
about.
>
> John
>
> ********** John Clavin | | Austin, TX **********
>
>
>

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