News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

Keep the Record Straight
By Major WaddeD F. SJDlth
Man7 claims by dependents of military
personnel for GovernmentInaurance, National
Service Life Inaurance, pensions, CaDpensat1on,
six months' gratui ty and arrears
of pq are unduly delqed becauee of DOt
having at hand properly cert1t1ed copies
of birth and marriage ce~tificates 8n4
divorce decrees.
Probably 75 per cent of people OTer the
ICe of 35 are under the impress10n that
they cannot obtain a birth certificate.
Most all of these people can obtain a birth
certificate if they write to the proper
office of record.
Officers and enlisted men themselves do
not need birth certificates except for
passport purposes. However, it is al~
desirable to have one. It is par8lllount,
however, that all mili t817 personnel should
have on file authentic certified copies of
.the record of birth of wife and children
and a certified coPT of the record of marriage.
If ei ther husband or wife hat been
previously lllaZ'ried, no oertificate of that
marriage is required but a certified copy
of the record of the d1vorce is required.
Whenevera certified copy of the record
of birth or marriage mar be obtained, then
no governmental agencycharged with settling
a cla1ll will accept 8ZIl'th1ngin i te place.
J'rOlllthis it JIRQ'" be seen that church recorda,
records of fsa117 !ibles, affidavits
of parents, affidavits of people who knew
the parents at ti.e of birth, at.tidavits
of individuals who witnessed a marriage,
minieters' certUicates of having performed
a marri..,;e, etc., are all retuaed.
Jrca the foregoing it Il8if be seen that
the first step is to detend.ne it there is
.Tailable a public record in the state,
county or ci t1' in. which born and in wMch
II&rried. Military personnel shO'tlld write
1IDmediate17 to the proper authori Ues to
obtain these doCUlllents. Aa the United
States Veterans Bure~ hat been constantly
called upon to advise cla1Jnanta where to
obtain certified copies of these public
recorda, Mr. :w.ther I. Illis, of the Veteransi
Administration compiled the nsmes and
addresses in all states and possessions of
the offices charged with keeping the public
records of birth and aarriece.
The book iI of laUChgreat utility that
the United States Social Security B~--'
asked pe1'll1.. ion to reproc1uce it. The
author is glad to be able to advise that
this book, under the n8IIleof .00stod1&1U1
of Public Becords. is in the hands of each
of 471 field offices of the Social Seouri V
!oard. !hese field offices are all being
advised to make the inf01"lDat1onin the book
aVallable to A1r Corps personnel who c_
nsi t eDT ot the field offices.
In this volWDewill be found a separate
lilting for each .tate and where to write
and howfar back the record. of marria«e.
and birth. go. Where it is found ~t
.tate records were not kept previous to
certain dates it will show what county and
city authorities mar be written to to obtain
the records locally. The book also
advises on records of deaths and divorces.
Obtaining these necessary certified copies
of the public records is very eas7 to
put otf. However. it must be remembered
that it is much easier for the records to
be obtained now than to leaTe the Job to
dependents, 7ears later. The p~nt of
1II8D7cla1Jls for Govermaentinaurance, penlion.
and cODlpen.ationhaTe been held up
because ot delq in obtaining certificates,
frequent17 occasioning much financial e~
barras8lllent to dependents. Iven when it is
found that no state records are kept, many
oi ties and counties haTe bureaua of vi tal
statistics available and it al~. should
be the rnle to vri te to the bureau of vi tal
statistics of your city or county, when no
state records are available.
Muchbad information and misunderatancJ,..
1ng 18 extant ab011t birth and 1I&1'riage
certificates.Jor exsmple, in order to marry,
a lioense 1IlU8t be obta1ned--but that
18 not 8Ufficient to support a claim, for
the marrtase Jlight not even haTS been performed.
!ut let's astromethat it was. !hen
the minister or church official who performed
the service tarnished a very beautitally
engraved certificate that he did
on a certain d.a.v perf orin said marriage.
That st1ll is not sufficient. HOY8Ter,the
minister or church official, after performing
the cereaoDT, makes a return stfidavi t
with the license to the burean of T1tal
statietics which il charged with keeping
the record. That office then makes an 1')09
ficial record of th~ ~--1
COPT of that
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