For Bilingual Veterans Outreach in Springfield, shutdown has shut off paperwork, endangers housing project

SPRINGFIELD – The government shutdown has stopped the National Archives from fulfilling requests from veterans and their families for copies of discharge paperwork.

The discharge form — called the DD-214 — is the key that unlocks veterans benefits from health care to housing and — in the case of recently deceased veterans — burial at Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Agawam, said Gumersindo Gomez, executive director of Bilingual Veterans Outreach Centers of Massachusetts. Workers at the centers usually rely on the National Archives in St. Louis to replace the DD-214 when a veteran or a family needs one but the documents cannot be located.

"I can't do anything," said Gomez, known as "Sarge," who founded in 1987 the organization that would become the Bilingual Veterans. "Just send for it and wait."

Signs at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site warn visitors that the museum is closed due to the federal government shutdown but welcome visitors to stroll the grounds seen here Oct. 7, 2025. Visitors to the armory spent more than $1.1 million here last year. (Jim Kinney/ The Republican)The Republican

Also in limbo, Gomez said Tuesday as the shutdown entered its 14th day, is $19 million in Veterans Administration funding for veterans housing.

Gomez said he has plans to purchase two buildings, one in Agawam and one in neighboring West Springfield, totaling 115 apartments.

"I'm hoping to move veterans and their families in," he said. "We want to focus on women veterans with young children because there are a lot of them."

Now, he fears the seller in the real estate transaction will find another buyer.

The uncertainty comes as Trump administration budget officials signaled "batten down the hatches" while promising to pay military members Wednesday. Service members are paid on the 15th and 30th of each month.

But workers are being furloughed, and some are working with the expectation of getting paid in the future.

Kim Caisse, executive director of Lorraine's Soup Kitchen & Pantry in Chicopee, said government furloughs will send more people looking for help.

"We are going to start seeing people who are not working because of the shutdown," she said.

The shutdown has also closed the museum and visitors center at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site.

At the Bilingual Veterans Outreach Centers of Massachusetts, Gomez said he's working with families who cannot schedule cemetery interments because their veteran did not have a copy of the DD-214. Under normal circumstances, he'd contact the National Archives in St. Louis.

U.S. Veterans Affairs spokesman Gary J. Kunich said in an email that DD-214s are the responsibility of the National Archives. The National Archives says on its website that most offices are closed.

The state Executive Office of Veterans Services said no state-level services have been impacted and veterans and families can continue to access burial and benefits services as normal.

Though a spokeswoman, the state office said it is not hearing of any widespread problems with DD-214s from either veterans service officers or families.

Alyssa Sealander, from South Windsor, Conn., came to Agawam to visit her great grandmother, Dolores C. Sealander, and great grandfather, Richard J. Sealander Sr. The latter served in the U.S. Coast Guard in the Second World War, Monday, May 26, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook

But the National Archives and Records Administration is largely closed to the public. The Archives' National Personnel Records Center — the office responsible for processing military service records — remains operational but with limited staff.

If a veteran or family does experience a delay obtaining their DD-214, they can contact their local veterans service office or the state Executive Office of Veterans Services Engagement Team.

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