07 January 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday - The Only Surviving Copy

One of the first things my grandfather gave me was his father's Army discharge. It was folded up in an envelope.

Earl Bruce Shaw served in the Army Air Corp from 1917 to 1919 as a mechanic. He was discharged as a private first class (PFC) from Post Field, Fort Sill on 19 January 1919.

I contacted the National Personal Records Center for more information on his service. Unfortunately his records were destroyed in the 1973 fire. All they had were his name, military service number, and date of separation. When they learned that I had his original discharge, the NPRC asked me for a copy, which I sent them.



________
Source
    Earl B. Shaw, "Honorable Discharge from the Army of the United States," 1919; privately held by Jennifer Shaw, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Canyon Country, CA, 2005. Passed from Earl to his son James, who gave it to his granddaughter.

2 comments:

dustbunny8 said...

You are so very lucky to have this!I don't think this country is really aware of how much of our history was lost in that fire.My fathers WW2 records were lost and he lost his discharge papers.I will never know the details of 5 years of his life and service.I was glad to hear they wanted a copy for their records.Thank you for sharing!

Jen said...

Did your father use the VA before 1973? If so, they might have a copy of his records.

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