[Eastbound]

"If he's a member of the American Legion, he must submit a copy of his DD214 to join."

Yes, but there are two types of DD214's. An UNDELETED Report of Separation and a DELETED Report of Separation.

You can select either, and here are the differences (per Standard Form 180):

UNDELETED VERSION: -- "This normally will be a copy of the full separation document including susch sensitive items as the character of separation, authority for separation, reason for separation, reenlistment code, separation (SPD/SPN) code, and dates of times lost. An undeleted version is ordinarily required to determine eligibility for benefits."

DELETED VERSION: -- "The following information will be deleted from the copy sent: authority for separation, reason for separation, reenlistment eligibility code, separation (SPD/SPN) code, and for separations after June 30, 1979, character of separation and time lost."

[Eastbound]

Meant to ping you to this reply.

[Mike Fieschko]

Regarding the SPD/SPN codes: IIRC, these stopped being put on DD214s mid-1970s.

If Kerry's DD214 (pdf format, from his web site) is from March 1970, where's the spin code?

(It's been 30+ years since I looked at DD214s, so corrections welcomed.)