Serving: Our Voices

Serving in the military is an experience unique to each veteran. Our mission at the Veterans History Project (VHP) is to collect, preserve, and make accessible these stories of service for future generations. Whether these narratives take the form of oral history interviews or original manuscript and photograph materials, they are a treasure trove of individual feelings, personal recollections, and primary source materials representing the voices of those who took an oath to serve our nation.

Serving: Our Voices is a series of online presentations designed to highlight VHP collections centered on a particular theme. Since 2003, we have curated these exhibits to illuminate the broad spectrum of experiences, topics, and materials contained within the archive. Organized by topic and conflict, Serving: Our Voices offers a glimpse into the infinite research possibilities that our collections contain. Here, we serve collections that open our eyes and our hearts, that surprise and confound us, and that complicate and expand typical narratives of service.

Use the navigation menu to the left to dive into the dozens of online presentations that we currently offer. Return frequently, as this list is ever growing. Other resources for discovery are available via the Explore the Collections section of our website.

Please join our effort by contributing a veteran’s collection to the Veterans History Project. Each contribution makes our collection all the richer for researchers and future generations. Learn how you can participate in the Veterans History Project.

Featured Theme

Battle of the Bulge

In mid-December 1944, the Germans—desperate to stem the tide of the Allied forces’ victory at Normandy and their ensuing advance through France—launched an offensive in the area around the Ardennes Forest in Belgium and Luxembourg. The ensuing battle, which lasted from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945, eventually brought Allied victory but also staggering losses. The battle was the bloodiest of the entire war for the United States, resulting in over 80,000 American casualties, with 20,000 more taken prisoner by the Germans. Nearly as deadly as the enemy was the bitter winter cold, as the battle took place during a particularly harsh winter. Today, the Ardennes Offensive or “Battle of the Bulge,” as it is popularly known, reverberates through the memory of World War II.

In this online presentation, created to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, we share the stories of 12 veterans who survived the Bulge. Through oral history interviews, letters, photographs, and even artwork, they personalize our understanding of one of World War II’s most infamous battles.