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From: David Baker
Date: 31 Jan 2001
Time: 08:27:16
Near the end of the Vietnam conflict, the military had compiled a huge cache of personnel records in a St. Louis warehouse; military records of both retired and active duty soldiers. What was unique about this storage plan was that some records were the complete set, unreplicated and unprotected. Well, it figures...Just as the Vietnam conflict ended, a huge fire engulfed the facility, and thousands of permanent personnel files were destroyed. Soon after, a commission was tasked to determine how these records could be reconstructed. It came as no surprise that several "ex-military" people voluntarily aided this process by reconstructing their own personal records. Though it could not be determined through other means whether these people had actually served during wartime, or served at all, the urgency of the matter dictated that whatever means could be employed to reestablish a viable record, they would satisfy the commission's criteria. It comes as no surprise that, given the time constraints placed upon this effort, there may be "retirees" who weren't retired, or "war veterans" who were never in battle, receiving preferential treatment accorded those levels of service. There may also be "psuedo veterans", who saw an opportunity to attach themselves to the military, availing themselves of veteran job training, college funding and other benefits. Even among actual veterans, there are many who take full advantage of whatever loopholes the military provides (Few Vietnam era military retirees are without at least a 10% disability, which reappears strikingly close to the annual evaluation examination date). Just a thought.