If the veteran is deceased, retired or has no current reserve obligation, the service record should be at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The medical record may also be at the Records Center or in the hands of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. You can write to the Center or the VA to request copies. However, if you want to insure that you get a copy of everything in a file and you want the copies as quickly as possible, consider contacting U.S. Locator Service. This private firm specializes in locating and copying entire military records at the Records Center.
Normal turnaround is two weeks.
If the person is separated from the service and did not retired it may be more difficult. A. First obtain any type of military document that would contain a list of names, service numbers and rank. This may be a ship muster roll, unit roster, ship or unit history etc. This would give you important information such as the correct spelling of a last name and a middle initial or complete middle name. Nationwide Locator Specializing in current or former military searches.