{"id":19634,"date":"2026-09-14T20:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T00:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.militaryframes.com\/blog\/?p=19634"},"modified":"2026-10-12T14:37:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T18:37:29","slug":"how-to-replace-military-medals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.militaryframes.com\/blog\/how-to-replace-military-medals\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Replace Lost or Stolen Military Medals"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A military medal can vanish during a move, get stolen, or spend thirty years in a coffee can in the garage until nobody remembers where it went. Some were never issued in the first place, which families tend to discover while sorting through a parent’s things.<\/span><\/p>

If that’s what brought you here, start with this: eligible veterans and qualifying next of kin can request replacement military medals at no cost.<\/span><\/p>

The wait takes patience. The process doesn’t. Here’s who can request medals, which form to use, where to send it, and what happens after you do.<\/span><\/p>

Find Your Frame<\/a><\/div>\n

How Do You Get Replacement Military Medals?<\/b><\/h2>

The veteran, or the qualifying next of kin of a deceased veteran, requests replacement medals through the National Personnel Records Center, or NPRC. You can start online through eVetRecs<\/a> or mail in Standard Form 180<\/a>; either way, the same thing happens behind the scenes. NPRC pulls the veteran’s military record, confirms which awards were earned, and forwards the request to the branch of service, which issues and mails the medals.<\/span><\/p>

There’s no charge to the veteran or qualifying next of kin for the initial replacement set.<\/span><\/p>

Who Can Request Replacement Military Medals?<\/b><\/h2>

Replacing your own medals is the simple case. If you earned the award, you can request it. And if you’d rather skip the paperwork, a family member can submit the request for you with your signed authorization.<\/span><\/p>

For the family of a deceased veteran, eligibility depends on the branch.<\/span><\/p>

The Air Force, Space Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard define next of kin as the un-remarried widow or widower, son, daughter, father, mother, brother, or sister. The Army uses its own list: the surviving spouse, eldest child, father or mother, eldest sibling, or eldest grandchild.<\/span><\/p>

Other relatives, historians, and members of the general public generally can’t request government-issued replacement medals, though they can often obtain the military records that document what a veteran earned. If someone in the family qualifies as next of kin, the simplest route is to have that person submit the request.<\/span><\/p>

What About Military Records More Than 62 Years Old?<\/b><\/h2>

Military personnel records become archival 62 years after the service member’s separation, and the rules shift at that line.<\/span><\/p>

For archival records, the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps still accept qualifying next-of-kin medal requests at no cost. The Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard don’t. For those branches, families can purchase a copy of the personnel file from the National Archives to confirm the veteran’s awards, then order the medals from a commercial supplier.<\/span><\/p>

In most cases, the free replacement is one set for the veteran or primary next of kin. If you need more than that, the rules vary by branch.<\/span><\/p>

What to Gather Before You Start<\/b><\/h2>

You don’t need a complete service record to get started. The more you can provide, though, the easier it is for NPRC to find the right file, especially when the veteran had a common name.<\/span><\/p>

Gather as much of the following as you can:<\/span><\/p>