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Last updated on Wednesday, October 23, 2013
(BEDFORD) - Brad Bough, Director of Veterans Services, is stressing that military men and woman who are released from their federal active duty need to record their DD-214, or Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty at the court house.
The document from the United States Department of Defense is issued upon a military service member's retirement, separation or discharge from active-duty.
Bough says many service men and woman don't bother to record the important form.
The document represents the complete, verified record of a service member's time in the military, awards and medals, and other pertinent service information, such as promotions, combat service or overseas service, Military Occupational Specialty identifiers and record of training and schools completed.
The DD-214 is commonly used by various government agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, to secure veteran benefits, and may be requested by employers should a person indicate he or she has served in the military.
"We had a sad situation not too long ago, a man's son came into the office distraught because they could not get a burial flag for the casket, have military rites at the grave site, couldn't obtain a military grave marker, have the 21 gun salute or Taps played because they didn't have the DD-214 form and it was not recorded," Bough says. "It is a free service. I can't stress enough how important it is to have that document recorded."
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