Veterans Consider Filing Your DD 214 (discharge) at the County Clerk's Office

YOU SERVED YOUR COUNTRY, NOW LET US SERVE YOU! Veterans, or those caring for a Veteran, may not know that the Office of the Douglas County Clerk is authorized to serve as a safe and local depository for military discharge records. The County Clerk staff will record and provide copies of a military Veteran’s recorded discharge paper (DD Form 214) at no charge. The Veteran must be a resident of the county or was a resident at the time of entry into military service. Recent fire season evacuations provide a reminder of how quickly we can get separated from some of our vital documents, such as a Veteran’s DD Form 214. When a DD Form 214 gets lost, misplaced, or destroyed it can take weeks to get a replacement issued from the National Archives. Even longer during the pandemic. The DD Form 214 contains valuable information that can help the Veteran with their VA healthcare benefits, VA Home Loan, GI Bill, state benefits, identification, employment, membership in Veterans’ organizations, and even a proper military funeral. It is a smart idea to make a plan to prevent losing access to that document in the future. The County Clerk, Dan Loomis, served over 23 years in the US Army and knows how important a Veteran’s discharge paper is. He encourages all U. S. Military Veterans living in Douglas County to file a copy of their discharge paper (DD Form 214) with our office. If you file a copy here and ever have the unfortunate scenario of losing or damaging your discharge papers, the County Clerk's office can quickly provide a copy free of charge. Some Veterans may have concerns about privacy issues when filing a copy of their military discharge paperwork with the county, but access to the record is controlled. Please note that only the Veteran, Veteran's spouse, legal guardian or personal representative, county Veteran's Services Officer, representative of the Department of Veteran's Affairs or representative of a licensed funeral establishment can have access to DD Form 214's. Per Oregon Revised Statute 408.425, these military records are kept sealed for privacy protection purposes. For more information on requesting a recorded DD Form 214, please visit https://douglascounty-oregon.us/214/Military-Discharge-DD-214 An additional resource is the Douglas County Veterans Service Office (VSO). If a Veteran has provided their DD Form 214 to the VSO, they may be able to contact the VSO for a copy of the one they provided. For VSO information, please visit https://douglascounty-oregon.us/408/Veterans-Services