National Personnel Records Center

After the pandemic, the backlog grew to 600,000 requests, leaving veterans waiting for needed services. Last week, the National Personnel Records Center based in St. Louis County reported it’s nearly caught up.

No one knows how the fire started. It burned 16-18 million military records.

Archivist Marta O’Neill was standing inside a warehouse-sized storage bay at the cavernous National Personnel Records Center, just off interstate 270 in…

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 1, 2012 - Blackened by fire, browned by heat and yellowed by age, much of what sits in the box…