Fix your military records: Give yourself the future you have earned David Johnson January 29 Sgt. Reginald Pearsall explains to Spc. Joshua Lewis on how his official military personal file is used to keep track of important documents such as enlistment and reenlistment contracts, awards, and military education on Oct. 3, 2008, in Baghdad, Iraq. (Army) Serving in the military is a sacrifice. When your service is complete, you want your record of service to be accurate and helpful. If you are a veteran who was discharged for misconduct, you may find yourself missing out on veteran benefits and being rejected by potential employers. This commentary will give you an overview of the ways you can change your record. Changes to incorrect information can be made, and even accurate information can be changed under certain circumstances. The process can be complex and time consuming, so being knowledgeable about the process will improve your chances for success.
Honor restored: Veteran stripes reinstated posthumously
Paige Withey, paige.withey@hearstnp.com
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Sergeant Edwin O. Pochert was striped of his stripes after in incident in WWII, with the promise to have them reinstated. After receiving an honorable discharge shortly after, following an injury, his rank remained recorded as a Private First Class. His work to reinstate his stripes was passed down to his daughter after his passing in 2012. (Courtesy Photo) Show MoreShow Less
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Edwin Pochert would go on to marry his wife Arley after receiving his honorable discharge in WWII, the two children and he began to worry about what they would think when they saw his Sergeant stripes in photos, but saw his rank of PFC upon discharge. (Courtesy Photo) Show MoreShow Less
Now and again I get asked about “missing government files” (or “hidden files”) on UFOs. It’s an issue that a lot of people don’t seem to understand – and it’s also something that demonstrates a great amount of naivety on the part of the questioner. I’ll explain what I mean. It relates to both those who believe there are UFO conspiracies and those who don’t – but for very different reasons. On many occasions, when I’m in debate with skeptics and debunkers, someone will say something like this: “There can’t be any truth to Rendlesham Forest or to Roswell because nothing of any significance has ever surfaced through the Freedom of Information Act.” That is such a pathetic and uninformed approach to take. And, it’s also a misinformed stance. A few day ago, I used the words “La La Land” in an article here at Mysterious Universe. I’ll use it again: “La La Land.” I use it because that’s where some of the debunkers and skeptics are happy to dwell.
Jan. 8, 2021 8:22 am ET
A bottleneck at the National Archives is delaying benefits claims for 32,000 military veterans, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Covid-19 pandemic shut the National Personnel Records Center, a unit of the Archives, for months last year except for emergency requests. After briefly operating at low capacity, it once again closed in the fall for all but emergency requests.
A veteran’s record may need certification by the Archives as one of the first steps in the benefits process. Veterans who left the service after 2000 likely have digitized records that can be more easily accessed for certification purposes, but many older veterans’ records are kept in old-fashioned paper archives. When one of those veterans makes a claim, the center’s archivists have to retrieve those records by hand from among the 60 million maintained at the facility in St. Louis.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to Democrats this morning that she “spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike.” | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo