I'm researching an individual who served in the German military during WW II. One of the sites I Googled said those records were destroyed. I'd appreciate any tips.

There are some German records that were seized by the U.S. Army during and after World War II. I wouldn't just assume that WWII German service records were destroyed. Some of these files and information were used during the Nuremberg and subsequent trials of Nazi war criminals.

http://aaronjhill.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/german-records-at...

Depends on what branch the individual served with. If he was a member of the Kriegsmarine there should still be some records. Whatever the case, if you submit a tracing request with the Deutsche Dienstelle, they will confirm whether or not there are any records. It will take between 6 months to a year, if not more, to receive a reply.

http://www.dd-wast.de/

thanks for the information. does the Deutsche Dienstelle charge for the confirmation request?

They will not charge for the initial search. What used to happen is that they only indicated that there were available records, but more recently for some reason they have included a summary of the individual's service. Their response will include instructions--only in German--on obtaining copies of any documents, for which there is a fee. This is based on my own request for information for the same person twice. A number of years ago I submitted the request, but decided against actually getting the documents. When I reconsidered about two years ago, I sent another request and was surprised that this time they included a breakdown of his service. It was all I needed to know, so I again decided against ordering the documents (most surviving files are only a few pages, anyway). This person was in the Kriegsmarine, though. I'm not sure what information, if any, you will get if he was with a different branch of the military.