He came home from Vietnam practically deaf and has had no luck since. They said he had never been in combat. He finally went to the VA in a neighboring state, he had found an advocate and they were able to get him in there. They reconstructed his service by the papers he had along with news clippings from the local paper.
My dad (WWII vet) lost his hearing and his teeth during or after the war. He mustered out of the Army at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri. I wonder if his records were in that fire. He still was able to collect his pension. There must have been some record of his service for that. It seems like he should have been able to get disability too.