Dispatches from the Veterans History Project

Secretary Shinseki Issues Call to Action—Dispatch November 5, 2009

“VA has partnered with the Library of Congress to honor our Veterans, preserve their histories and ensure that their service, sacrifice and heroism will never be forgotten,” said Secretary Shinseki. “We want to encourage Americans to record the oral histories of Veterans for future generations.”
Every day between November 1st and Veterans Day, compelling personal oral histories of veterans from each of the 50 states, DC, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will be featured at www.va.gov.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc.gov/vets.

House Designates National Veterans History Project Week—Dispatch November 5, 2009

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, to designate “National Veterans History Project Week to encourage public participation in a nationwide project that collects and preserves the stories of the men and women who served our Nation in times of war and conflict.”

Congressman Ron Kind (for himself and for Congressman Zach Wamp) submitted the resolution, which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc.gov/vets.

Honor our Veterans. Record their stories!—Dispatch November 3, 2009

During the countdown to Veterans Day 2009, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki issue a call to action for all Americans, âHonor our Veterans. Record their stories!â

Every day between November 1st and Veterans Day, compelling personal oral histories of veterans from each of the 50 states, DC, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will be featured at www.va.gov.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

NEW! VHP Field Kit COMPANION VIDEO—Dispatch November 2, 2009

Watch the new Companion Video to easily navigate the VHP Field Kit—the “how-to” record a story booklet that volunteer interviewers use to record the first-person oral histories of American wartime veterans. Visit www.loc.gov/vets and click on the “Companion Video” button in the upper right corner.

NOTE: RealPlayer is required to play the VHP Field Kit Companion Video. Free RealPlayer software download available at http://www.real.com/realplayer.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc.gov/vets.

Commemorating VHP’s 9th Year—Dispatch October 27, 2009

The United States Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000. The authorizing legislation (Public Law 106-380), sponsored by Representatives Ron Kind, Amo Houghton, and Steny Hoyer in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senators Max Cleland and Chuck Hagel in the U.S. Senate, received unanimous support and was signed into law by President William Jefferson Clinton on October 27, 2000.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

Watch the National Teach-In Online Anytime—Dispatch October 26, 2009

National Teach-In is Archived Online. Watch it anytime!

HISTORY™, together with the Veterans History Project, hosted a National Teach-In on Veterans History on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009, at 12pm EST.

Over 2,000 schools from all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico participated in the largest educational event ever held at the Library!

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

NEW! VHP Resources for Educators—Dispatch October 21, 2009

New Veterans History Project primary source sets are available on the Library of Congress Teachers Page.

A Teacher Guide and Classroom Tools are offered as well—a great resource for teachers planning for Veterans Day.

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/veterans/
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/veterans/struggles.html

It’s not too late to register for today’s Teach-In and the Take a Veteran to School program. Visit www.veterans.com. HISTORY™, together with the Veterans History Project, will host the National Teach-In on Veterans History on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009, at 12pm EST.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

National Teach-In is October 21st—Dispatch October 20, 2009

2,000 schools from all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico will participate via webcast making this the largest educational event ever held at the Library!

It’s not too late to register for this webcast and the Take a Veteran to School program, visit www.veterans.com.

HISTORY™, together with the Veterans History Project, will host a National Teach-In on Veterans History on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009, at 12pm EST. Educators and students nationwide can tune-in and view this LIVE webcast online at www.veterans.com. The webcast will be broadcast live from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Each school or teacher that signs up for the October 21st webcast will receive a colorful WWII in HD poster and a field kit developed by the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress. (These are available while supplies last, so sign up now!)

If you have any additional questions or feedback, contact at veterans@aetn.com.

There is no registration fee. HISTORY fully funded this event.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

Opportunity for Educators on October 21st—Dispatch October 08, 2009

National Teach-In is October 21st

To register for this webcast and the Take a Veteran to School program, visit www.veterans.com. 1,000 teachers have already signed up through History!

HISTORY™, together with the Veterans History Project, will host a National Teach-In on Veterans History on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009, at 12pm EST. Educators and students nationwide can tune-in and view this LIVE webcast online at www.veterans.com. The webcast will be broadcast live from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Each school or teacher that signs up for the October 21st webcast will receive a colorful WWII in HD poster and a field kit developed by the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress. (These are available while supplies last, so sign up now!)

If you have any additional questions or feedback, contact at veterans@aetn.com.

There is no registration fee. HISTORY™ fully funded this event.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

Hector Ponton’s Story—Dispatch October 5, 2009

Hector R. Ponton joined the Puerto Rico Army National Guard at age fifteen in order to attend their summer camp with his friends. Little did he know that he would spend the next thirty-six years of his life serving with the US Army, deploying to Berlin, when the Wall was being built; to Vietnam for two tours of duty; to the volatile Military Demarcation Line between North and South Korea; and to Nicaragua, when the Sandinista National Liberation Front overthrew the Somoza regime.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

VHP is Repository for Hundreds of Hispanic Veteran Interviews—Dispatch September 24, 2009

VHP currently holds over 500 individual stories of Hispanic veterans, but there are likely many more among the over 65,000 stories in the VHP collection.

VHP Director Bob Patrick said, “Veterans who share a story with VHP have the option to self identify their race or ethnicity on VHP’s required forms. As we commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month, we encourage all veterans to identify their heritage so that we can accurately reflect the diversity within the VHP collection and of those who served.”

Bob Patrick will join StoryCorps’ Historias Initiative kick-off on the grounds of the U.S. Botanic Garden today, September 24th to talk about VHP’s ongoing initiatives to collect the stories our nation’s Hispanic veterans.

“It’s timely that StoryCorps will now begin to record the broader stories of Hispanic culture and share them with the Library of Congress American Folklife Center where they will be preserved alongside the stories that the Veterans History Project has collected, preserved, and shared since we were created by Congress in 2000,” offered Patrick.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

VHP Marks Hispanic Heritage Month—Dispatch September 21, 2009

The Veterans History Project features stories from its collection during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Jose Zaragoza was the son of Mexican immigrants and a teenager in Los Angeles during the Depression. He joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, which provided him with discipline that served him well when he enlisted in the Coast Guard shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to a walking beach patrol along northern California’s shore, first on his own, and then with dogs he helped train. A stint in radar school and additional training in a new tracking system called LORAN got him placed on Ulithi, a tiny atoll just east of the Philippines. He manned a tracking station on that hot and lonely outpost until well after the war ended.

Listen to his full interview and see his photographs.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

They Also Served—Dispatch September 7, 2009

The Veterans History Project commemorates Labor Day with “They Also Served,” an online presentation that features a dozen first-person accounts of Coast Guard and Merchant Marine veterans who went to sea to transport troops, deliver vital supplies, protect our shores, and patrol enemy waters.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

Court Reporters Gather in Washington, DC—Dispatch August 4, 2009

What: The National Court Reporters Foundation (NCRF) sponsors “VHP Day” during The National Court Reporters Association’s (NCRA) Annual Convention.

Where: Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland.

When: Friday, August 7th, from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

NCRF volunteers and NCRA court reporters will interview veterans and transcribe their stories on site.

Veterans in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area are invited to attend “VHP Day” and tell their story of wartime experience.

Contact Beth Kilker at 703/556-6272, ext. 174, or e-mail her at bkilker@ncrahq.org.

Interview time slots still open:
10:30 am to 11:30 am
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
3:30 pm to 4:30 pm

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

Unwavering Service—Dispatch July 10, 2009

The men and women who dedicate themselves to serve our country allow us to enjoy the freedoms we have today. Cookie Avvampato is an example of this steadfast commitment to service.

Avvampato is a self-described “military brat” who grew up to become a professional nurse. She was the mother of two late-teen children when she joined the Air Force Reserves. Three months later she was called into active duty to serve in Desert Storm as a backfill medical specialist in Kuwait.

Fourteen years later, she volunteered to serve in Iraq. Daily life in Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom was a study in contrasts. Her medical facility in Kuwait had many amenities with little sense of danger, and conditions at her base in Balad, Iraq, were confining and dominated by the Big Voice, a public address announcer who warned of incoming mortar attacks—usually after they had started.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc/vets.

Independence—Dispatch July 2, 2009

Independence is perhaps most appreciated by those who have lived in captivity.

Rhonda Cornum served in the brief and lopsided Persian Gulf War. It may be surprising that there were actually American prisoners of war, but Cornum was one. She served with an Attack Helicopter Battalion as a medical officer, went down in a helicopter crash, and was held by the Iraqis for seven days. She drew on her training as both a soldier and doctor to survive her brief but painful ordeal.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc.gov/vets.

Born on the Fourth of July—Dispatch July 4, 2009

As we mark July 4th as a day to celebrate our independence, we invite you to listen to the story of WWII veteran Warren Tsuneishi.

Warren Tsuneishi was born on July 4, 1921, to Japanese immigrants. After Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entered World War II, his family was evacuated to Heart Mountain, a Japanese internment facility in Wyoming. But Tsuneishi craved freedom and the chance to serve his country, in spite of his family's confinement. He volunteered for the Military Intelligence Service Language School and served in the Pacific, translating captured documents that gave U.S. forces a big advantage in securing the Philippines and Okinawa.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc.gov/vets.

Tears in the Darkness - Dispatch June 23, 2009

Book Talk at the Library of Congress on Friday, June 26, 2009, from 12:00 - 1:00 PM.

Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath is about World War II, in the tradition of All Quiet on the Western Front and Hiroshima.

Authors Michael and Elizabeth Norman will discuss their powerfully original book about the battle for the tiny Philippine peninsula of Bataan.

Interested parties in or near Washington, DC, are invited to join us in the West Dining Room, 6th Floor of the James Madison Building (101 Independence Ave., SE). The event is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations required.

Sponsored by the Asian Division Friends Society, Embassy of the Philippines, Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress American Folklife Center, and the Library of Congress Professional Association Veterans Forum.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc.gov/vets.

D-Day: 65th Anniversary--Dispatch June 5, 2009

As the 65th anniversary of D-Day approaches, we invite you to listen to some of the personal accounts of those who were there.

Next to December 7, 1941, the most memorable date in the history of World War II is June 6, 1944, when Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. Thanks to German miscalculations, the invasion met much less resistance than thought possible. D-Day marked the beginning of the end of the war in Europe, though it would rage on for another 11 months. Here are stories of men who stormed those beaches, who directed the landings, who sailed or flew in support of the invasion, who parachuted or piloted gliders into France on the night of June 5, and who arrived in the days after June 6 (D-Day Plus 1, etc.) to continue the perilous work of pushing back and defeating the German Army.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc.gov/vets.

Unhealed Wounds - Dispatch May 22, 2009

To start the Memorial Day weekend, the Veterans History Project launches its latest Experiencing War presentation, “Disabled Veterans: The Unhealed Wounds.”

Among the stories featured is that of Connie Spinks, who served in Iraq with a U.S. Army civil affairs battalion. A suicide bomber set off his charge next to her armored vehicle, and the explosion ejected, severely injuring her and burning her face. She spent four months in a wheelchair before she could walk on her own. Spinks received her Purple Heart from a very special fan of the military-movie star Denzel Washington. More stories like this at www.loc.gov/vets

The GI Film Festival - Dispatch May 14, 2009

Two Films recently screened at the Library of Congress will be part of the GI Film Festival.

The Wars We Fought is a documentary produced by Congressman Ed Perlmutter and the Community College of Aurora, which features interviews of veterans from ColoradoÃ¢ÂÂs 7th District.

Lioness is the story of the first group of women soldiers in US history to be sent into direct ground combat.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc.gov/vets.

Tracy Sugarman Lecture and Book Signing-Dispatch May 1, 2009

The Library of Congress American Folklife Center presents the Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lecture Series, an Acquisitions & Preservations Project.

Tracy Sugarman (WWII veteran who recorded his personal story of military experience for the Veterans History Project) will talk about and sign his latest book.

We Had Sneakers, They Had Guns: The Kids Who Fought for Civil Rights in Mississippi.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 5, 2009, 12:00-1:00 PM
WHERE: Mumford Room Sixth Floor, James Madison Memorial Building, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave, SE

Those in the DC Metropolitan area on May 5th are encouraged to attend.

The Mission of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Learn more at www.loc.gov/vets.