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The Kentucky Department of Military Affairs is reminding veterans of both the Kentucky Army and Air National Guard that they may obtain copies of their military records, through the DMA Military Records and Research Branch in Frankfort.

Although there are private firms that charge for the records, the DMA provides them free to the veteran or, if he/she is deceased, his/her surviving next of kin.  This way they will have proof of service for such things as VA benefits, home loans, veteran’s discharge papers, nursing home applications and burial benefits.

“All a service member needs to do is contact this office and ask for their DD 214 or fill out an individual form to fax to us and we can turn that around in about 15 to 30 minutes,” said Kathy Boyle, branch manager.

They hold over 750,000 Kentucky veterans’ records from all conflicts from the Spanish-American War to the present. Records are stored on microfilm for those who were serving prior to 1951. Those who served after 1951 are paper copies. Federal funds are being awarded in the future to digitize those records.

“We pride ourselves on customer service and taking care of our veterans,” said Boyle.  “We have Kentucky National Guard retired veterans tell us that a company was charging anywhere from $100 to $250 for records and all they do is fax us a form and we send the records back.  When we figured out that was what the company was doing, we knew we had to get the word out.  Now we have them provide us with the Veterans name, address or telephone contact information, and we send records directly to the veteran.”

To find out more, call the DMA Military Records and Research branch at (502) 607-6041, or go to: https://ky.ng.mil/Contact-Us/Ky-Military-Records-eg-DD214-discharge-paperwork-separation-documents/.