Proof of U.S. Military Service includes your military service papers, such as your Form DD-214 - Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty. If you served two or more periods of active duty that were separated by at least one month, we will need to see the DD-214s that show the beginning and ending dates of active duty for each period.

For your convenience, we can accept photocopies of your military service papers. We will return all documents and photocopies to you unless you specifically tell us otherwise. If you have the documents we need, you should submit them as soon as possible. If you don't have all the documents, you should still submit any documents you do have. We will help you get the other documents after we receive your application.

Note: If you mail any documents to us, we must have your Social Security Number so we can match them with your claim. Please write your Social Security Number on a separate sheet of paper and include it in the mailing envelope along with your documents.

Do not write anything on your original documents. If you do not want to mail your documents, you may bring them to the Social Security office where we will examine and return them to you. Or, if a later office visit becomes necessary, you may bring them with you at that time.