We’ve had a few requests from people who are trying to find their father’s naval records. I went through this process a few years ago and here is the process:
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/index.html
If you are the Spouse, Son or Daughter, you can use this process directly at no cost to you. It takes about 2 weeks to a month to receive a large packet from the records office. It’s always a fascinating bit of history.
If you are not the spouse, son or daughter, you can request an FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request to get partial naval records of the person your interested in. Their is an elaborate process:
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/standard-form-180.html
They say they charge a ‘nominal fee’.
For Spouses, Sons and Daughters, you can get copies of the military awards and citations that were due your spouse/father from the Military. These include campaign ribbons for the appropriate campaigns that were fought by the USS Boston. Use the Erecs process above and cite that you want Military Awards and they will give you a site to write to.
If you do this for a USS Boston sailor, I’d love to get a copy of the “public” part of this record from what every you feel comfortable sharing.
I’ll discuss finding USS Boston ship records in a separate post.
Please use the ‘Contact’ link and send me an email if you have any questions.
Bill