About a year ago I requested my maternal uncle's Individual Deceased Personnel File, or IDPF. I wanted a better understanding of his military service in Vietnam, information on how he died, and what it took to get his body back home. As I pour over each page, I have begun to do just that.
Military documents are very thorough and I am learning so much as I study each detail. I get consumed with every itemized statement and travel voucher. Is it really important that the military paid $500 to the funeral home for my uncle's funeral? It is to me.
In my five years of doing research on my family, tree I have realized that each person has their own story and I want to know as much as I can about everyone. Every line of every page in this IDPF is a story. This is my uncle's story.
It has been the most interesting and the most haunting research I have done so far.
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