"We've been helping genealogists and researchers make FOIA requests for these incredible never-before-online VA files through our new BIRLS.org website for almost a year now. Hundreds of lucky, early requesters got DVDs sent to their homes with newly-scanned images of these benefits claims files (C-Files or XC-Files), sometimes containing hundreds of pages of material which have been amazing resources for genealogists, journalists, and researchers. And then suddenly the federal government decided that they just didn't want to do that anymore, and started sending out these weird "genealogy letters" instead of DVDs with PDFs on them.

(This suddenly did not have any warning or public comment period about the VA's change in public records policies, but it coincidentally happened at the same time as thousands of federal workers at the VA getting the axe a few months ago. Funny how that worked.)"

See the entire email, and the link to helpful resources, here.