Daily AncestorIndividual Deceased Personnel File
An Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) is the military's file on a service member who died in service, 1939 to 1975, documenting the death and its handling.
The National Archives at St. Louis holds these files for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, covering 1939 to 1975. Also called mortuary or casualty files, they vary by branch and period but can hold correspondence, memos and teletype messages about the death, along with the person's rank, serial number, date of birth and a short account of how he died.
To locate one, the archives asks for the full name, service number, dates of service, and date and place of death.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Individual Deceased Personnel File." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/military/individual-deceased-personnel-file. Last checked 2026-10-12.