I learned this morning that Reclaim the Records won a lawsuit to provide access to the BIRLS records for our veterans. Their new BIRLS website allows you to search and submit a FOIA request for the C-File (Veterans Claims File).
From their website:
The Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) database was originally created and maintained by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA). It provides an index to basic biographical information on more than 18 million deceased American veterans who received some sort of veterans benefits in their lifetime, including health care, disability or life insurance policies, educational benefits (the GI Bill), mortgage assistance (VA loans), and more. The BIRLS database includes people who served in all branches of the US military, including some branches that no longer exist, such as the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) and the Army Air Corps, as well as a few associated non-military groups and government agencies, such as NOAA. It even includes files for some non-US nationals, including veterans of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and Philippine Scouts and Guerillas, who served prior to and during the Second World War.
When you prepare the forms to submit the FOIA request, there are many bullet points to read to make sure you understand the type of data you may receive. This may include mental health, sexual health, sensitive medical information, and other details. The form ends with you, the requestor, needing to acknowledge by checking a box that you understand the following:
You, the FOIA requester, therefore understand that these files might contain all sorts of information which might be considered sensitive, objectionable, upsetting, disparaging, invasive, or otherwise cause you or the veteran’s family members or heirs distress. If you are not okay with the possibility of learning this kind of information, then you should not make a FOIA request for this kind of file, and you should hit the cancel button now.
Once the request is submitted they send you an email with further information. It will likely take 6-8 weeks for the VA to even respond. There is also information provided throughout the process on what to do if you get an overly redacted file or they say they have nothing.
When we understand through the research, our veteran’s service experience and the VA File, their medical and mental health treatment, we may find more empathy or compassion for those who served. Let’s hope this provides families with more answers so we can begin to tell the stories, preserve the memories, learn lessons, and heal our families and ourselves.
If you would like to start a research project, email me at info@wiirwc.com and let’s set up a free phone consult to discuss your project.
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