How Do I Find My Deck Logs?

Here is how to get Deck Logs. BUT WAIT! First, think through these questions before going to all the trouble:

• Are you sure you NEED your Deck Logs or do you just want them?
• We do not know what the VA requirement will be for showing Deck Logs IF the legislation goes through. You *may not* need them. You *might* be better off waiting to see what will be required. You *might* know the answer to that within the next few weeks, e.g., end of Sept, or early Oct, 2015.
• The current SHIP LIST is only for ships that entered the geographical boundaries of South Vietnam up rivers or in the Delta. It is NOT for ships in a port or harbor.
• It might be a lot easier to locate someone who already HAS the Deck Logs. See below.

To Obtain Deck Logs:

Go to http://www.bluewaternavy.org/shiplocater.htm

Go to the last item NARA ON-LINE DECK LOGS. The link there opens an Excel Spreadsheet. Make sure the tab at the bottom is the one labeled COMPLETE LIST.

Find SHIPNAME on the list and click the month(s) you want. This will open the Public Portal at the NARA College Park. The first pages to show up will be IMAGE FILES. These are typically large and harder to work with.

Look below these pages for the PDF Symbol and click on that. When that set of pages opens, click the DOWNLOAD icon on the top-right of the page, or do whatever your system requires to down load that .pdf file.

Once the entire file (the full month of whichever ship/month/year you chose) is downloaded to your computer, you can review each page, and print whichever page(s) you need.

If your ship or the specific dates for your ship are not listed, then it has not yet been scanned to the Public Portal. At this point, I would suggest two actions:

• First, check the Ship's Association Website (you can google it) and see if they have any Deck Logs available. Also, simply google "(SHIP NAME) deck logs" to see if any other site might already have the Deck Logs.
• If the Logs are not available through that first method, you will need to contact the National Archives at College Park to request paper copies of those Deck Logs. There are several ways to contact them at http://www.archives.gov/contact/ . The Deck Logs typically cost about $0.80/page. You can order them from NARA.

  You can also contact your Congressman or Senator and see if they can procure the Deck Logs for you, usually at no cost to you. That is not always possible, but it is worth a try. Also remember, all your shipmates will be after the same Deck Logs, so if you can work together, you can lower the cost for everybody and speed up the process. If only a few specific pages are needed, one person could get the copies and distribute them around. Keep your orders to a minimum: e.g., Do not order an entire month if you know the incident occurred in the last week of that month, etc.

  And if you submit Deck Logs to the VA, only send the one or two pages that are specifically needed for your claim.

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