May 16, 2008 Veterans History Project Observes Memorial Day 2008

Press Contact: Jeffrey Lofton (202) 707-6432; Bob Patrick (202) 707-7308
Public Contact: Veterans History Project (202) 707-4916

The Veterans History Project (VHP) of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center plans several activities and events for Memorial Day 2008, including the Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. in support of the White House Commission on Remembrance. Visit the Library of Congress blog at www.loc.gov/blog/ or the VHP Web site at www.loc.gov/vets/ to “count down” to the Moment of Remembrance. Other VHP Memorial Day programs, which are dedicated to the memory of our nation’s veterans, include:

  • • A lecture on the global war on terrorism on Tuesday, May 20, at noon, in the National Digital Library Learning Center, first floor of the Library’s James Madison Building at 101 Independence Ave., SE. Larry Minear, former director of the Humanitarianism and War Project at the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University, will deliver the findings of the Tufts study on “The U.S. Citizen-Soldier and the Global War on Terror: The National Guard Experience.”
  • • The lecture’s companion Web feature, “The Global War on Terror,” debuts today at www.loc.gov/vets/ and highlights 16 VHP collections included in Minear’s study.
  • • The VHP collection of Frank Buckles, the last known surviving World War I veteran, is featured in the Memorial Day observance at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Mo.
  • • The video-recorded story of James Nappier becomes the 5,000th digitized interview on Memorial Day. Bob Patrick, VHP director, said, “Mr. Nappier’s story is a reminder to our nation that VHP is eager to receive the stories of veterans of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
  • • Members of the Library’s Integrated Library System (ILS) will join VHP staff during the month of May to enhance the VHP searchable database, which allows researchers and others who use the VHP collections to navigate the database more quickly and efficiently.
Learn more about the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance at www.remember.gov. The Veterans History Project was created in 2000 by Congress to record the first-hand accounts of American service personnel in major conflicts beginning with World War I, and it actively collects veterans’ personal accounts of the Global War on Terror. Currently there are more than 55,000 individual stories in its collections. Volunteer are always being sought to record the first-hand recollections of war veterans for the growing archive. Those interested can download a VHP Field Kit from the Veterans History Project Web site at www.loc.gov/vets/, request a kit via email at vohp@loc.gov or call the toll-free message line at (888) 371-5848.

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PR 08-103
2008-05-16
ISSN 0731-3527