What is the perfect way to remind a Vietnam Veteran about what he accomplished, while his memory is starting to fail?
https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records
Request Your Military Service Records Online, by Mail, or by Fax
function Launch_RecServ() { var the_url = "https://vetrecs.archives.gov/VeteranRequest/home.html"; Onlink_App=window.open(the_url,"Onlink","width=800,height=600,left=0,top=0,scrollbars=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,resizable=no,status=no,toolbar=no,source=no"); } (Includes DD 214/Separation Documents, Personnel Records, Replacement Medals, and/or Medical Records) Review the Instructions Before you Begin! Looking for Pre-WWI Service...
Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)
Home Page for the Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Motivated by the urgent need to collect the stories and experiences of war veterans while they are still among us, the U.S. Congress created the Veterans History Project in October 2000. The legislation calls upon the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to collect and preserve audio- and video-taped oral histories, along with documents...
If he likes to discuss it, have him get into writing it down or otherwise recording it. You said his memory is failing, so getting started now would be ideal.
And, from me, thank him for his service. Vietnam vets never got the honor they deserved. That will never happen on our watch again.
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http://nvf.org/how-to-get-a-copy-of-dd214/
How to Get a Copy of DD214 - Instructions to Receive
NVF shows veterans how to get a copy of DD214 form and what information is needed. Instructions to receive your separation papers from the National Archives
You mentioned his memory was beginning to fail. My father-in-law was a WWII vet who suffered from dementia in his waning years. The only thing he would talk about was service related in the Pacific. If you plan on any type of assisted living (dementia can be hard for a family to deal with), you'll need important paperwork such as the DD214, VA disability etc. There are veterans homes (depending where you live) and the VA provides financial assistance towards long term care (depending on disability and service).
Scrapbooks, photo albums and shadowboxes as mentioned are a good start. You can get an idea by just Googling 'military shadowbox'; however the online businesses can be quite expensive. Most bases have businesses nearby that specialize in shadowboxes and are professionally done.
I also like the idea of him writing, a lot of our military history is lost every year. Perhaps he can preserve some of it for future generations.