Illinois is home to more than 636,000 veterans, but only a small portion of their experiences have been preserved for posterity. As your Congressman, I am committed to supporting the 50,800 veterans who reside in the 16th District - including giving them an opportunity to tell their stories.
The Veterans History Project collects, preserves, and makes accessible the firsthand accounts of American wartime veterans so that future generations may learn about veterans’ experiences in their own words to better understand the realities of war. The United States Congress created the Veterans History Project (VHP) in 2000, and the project is overseen and archived by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (LOC).
The Project collects first-hand accounts of U.S. Veterans from the following wars:
- World War I
- World War II
- Cold War
- Korean War
- Vietnam War
- Grenada--History--American Invasion
- Panama--History--American Invasion
- Operation Restore Hope
- Persian Gulf War
- United Nations Operation in Somalia
- Haiti--History--American intervention
- Operation Allied Force
- Peacekeeping forces--Bosnia and Hercegovina
- Operation Joint Guardian
- War on Terrorism
- Afghanistan War
- Iraq War
In addition, U.S. citizen civilians who were actively involved in supporting war efforts (such as war industry workers, USO workers, flight instructors, medical volunteers, etc.) also are invited to share their valuable stories.
To learn more about how to submit a story to the Veterans History Project, click here.
