Fire is certainly the bane of genealogists. I often think about what research progress I could have made if the 1890 U.S. Federal Census had not been lost in the Commerce Department building fire on 10 January 1921 and to water damage. Courthouses destroyed by fire during the U.S. Civil War, either by troops or by citizens wishing to prevent opposing troops gaining access to records, also have stymied my research.

Another catastrophic fire occurred on 12 July 1973 in St. Louis, Missouri, at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). Between 16 and 18 million official military pension records were destroyed and many more were damaged. For many of us whose ancestors and relatives served in the United States Army and Air Force in the 20th century, the loss is horrendous. It is estimated that 80% of the records for Army personnel discharged from 1 November 1912 to 1 January 1960, and 75% of the Air Force personnel records for personnel discharged from 25 September 1947 to 1 January 1964 (with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.) were lost.

The records from World War II service can be difficult to replace, but there are alternative records used by the NPRC to reconstruct general information and to respond to inquiries. In "Along Those Lines . . ." this week, I want to address some of the alternatives we have that can help us prove basic service and to possibly work around the lost records.

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