Diana’s husband Murray Scheshko, as I’ve discussed in previous posts, was in the Air Corps of the U.S. Army in WWII. There is a little question as to whether he was in the 353rd or 352nd Fighter Group or perhaps both.

We knew he had bronze stars and a purple heart, but wanted to order his full records from NARA (National Archives) in St. Louis, MO. Well, the gardener and I ordered them, but we received an unsettling response. Apparently, his records were lost in a fire.

According to NARA, the only hope we have for information is to send $25 for the “final pay voucher.” The idea is that there is information on that document that might be helpful. Why the original documents were not better taken care of, I do not know. Thank you VA for taking care of our vets in yet another way (sarcasm alert).

I’m going to order the final payment voucher. Wish me luck! Also, if you have had to do this, please let me know in what ways it helped your research.