Way back in February, after learning that my dad was actually in the Marines instead of the Army in WWII as I had thought, I sent away for his service record. After patiently waiting for over three months, finally it comes in the mail today! But wait, no it’s not the service record. It’s a letter saying my dad didn’t sign the request. No duh.

Well, it’s the government, what do you expect. The instructions on the form were not very clear. If you have ever dealt with any government forms, you know what I’m talking about. The instructions for the form I filled out in February said for Archival Records, a signature is not required, so I didn’t sign it. The letter today says a signature is required. (An Archival Record is one where the veteran was discharged at least 62 years ago, and he was discharged 67 years ago.) So there is conflicting information here, and I get to guess what I need to do. Are the instructions wrong about the definition of an Archival Record? Or are they wrong when they say that a signature is not required?

And if the veteran is deceased, you have to provide proof of death. The letter says “The following are acceptable forms of proof of death:” and then there is… nothing. What are they trying to say here, there’s no proof of death that is acceptable to them? Sheesh. And I did send a copy of the death certificate with the form, so what happened, did they lose it?

So my plan is to sign the form (even though I don’t need to according to the instructions) and include a copy of the death certificate (even though they already have it), and see if that works. Wish me luck! I should hear back from them… let’s see, three and a half months… sometime in October.