Every year, Veterans Day is a chance to honor those individuals who have served their country to promote and defend liberty and freedom.  What better way to honor our veterans than to preserve their stories for future generations. By having veterans share their experiences, they leave behind tangible accounts of the service, sacrifice, and courage they gave on behalf of the country and their fellow Americans.  

To preserve the experiences of our country’s veterans, I authored legislation creating the Veteran’s History Project (VHP) in 2000.  The Veteran’s History Project uses volunteer interviews to record the experiences of our veterans.  These stories are recorded and entered into the permanent collection of the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center.  It is these living testaments that provide the most powerful record of the sacrifice and hardship of our nation at peace and at war.    

Today, the VHP is the largest oral history collection with 78,000 stories.  Nearly 1,000 Wisconsin veterans have shared their stories, but there are still millions of stories that can and should be told. Recording a story is easy; all you need is a home video camera or tape recorder. Veterans can even submit drawings or journal entries. And to help make it even easier, the VHP is looking for volunteers and partners to help record interviews and ensure they are preserved in history.

As part of the 11th Anniversary of the Veterans History Project this year, we are asking community organizations, schools and civic groups to partner with the VHP to help preserve the stories of our veterans. The VA Hospital in Madison, University of Wisconsin – La Crosse Communications Department, La Crosse Public Library, and DeLong Middle School in Eau Claire have all jumped on board. My office and the Library of Congress can provide materials and direction, including brochures to share; help connect your organization with veterans or veterans with volunteer interviewers; and even supply a curriculum for teachers to use in the classroom. I believe communities can work together and combine their resources to grow this program and continue to honor our veterans.

Those interested in becoming involved in the VHP are encouraged to contact Mark in my office at 608-782-2558, send an e-mail to vohp@loc.gov or call the toll-free message line at (888) 371-5848 to request a project kit. More information is also available at www.loc.gov/vets.