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Lost Your DD-214? The State Will Go and Find It

The Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs will obtain discharge documentation for you, free of charge. It is a small service and it unlocks a large number of others: almost every record in this corpus asks for a DD-214, and a lost one is the most common reason a veteran gives up on a claim before starting it. For a WWII, Korea or Vietnam veteran the paperwork may be seventy years old and held in a federal archive that once burned — NDVA knows how to work that, and an individual usually does not.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

The Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs will obtain discharge documentation for you, free of charge. It is a small service and it unlocks a large number of others: almost every record in this corpus asks for a DD-214, and a lost one is the most common reason a veteran gives up on a claim before starting it. For a WWII, Korea or Vietnam veteran the paperwork may be seventy years old and held in a federal archive that once burned — NDVA knows how to work that, and an individual usually does not.

What it's worth: Free assistance obtaining discharge documentation

  • NDVA obtains discharge papers at no charge for veterans who need them to verify service for a benefit application.
  • It is listed on NDVA's own state benefits index.
  • The residency test is not established from the sources reviewed — ask if you have left Nebraska.
  • It is a prerequisite rather than a benefit: most other records require a DD-214.
  • Nebraska also records discharges locally, so a copy may already exist closer to home.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are in one of the groups this reaches.
  • Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Ask NDVA or your county veterans service officer before paying anyone to search for you. Commercial services charge for this.
  2. 2Have whatever you do know: name at service, service number or Social Security number, branch, and approximate dates.
  3. 3For a deceased veteran, families should ask too — the paperwork is needed for burial and survivor claims.
  4. 4Once you have it, RECORD IT with the county so a future copy is a short trip rather than another search.
  5. 5Start this before anything else if your DD-214 is missing. Most other applications stop without it.
Form
Request to NDVA or your county veterans service officer
File with
Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingNever pay a commercial service to retrieve a DD-214. The state does it free, and so does the National Archives.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.