remembering our fallen

Veterans, Share Your Stories

Encouraging Veterans to Share Their War Experiences

How to Begin
Submit Your Story
Veterans Oral History Websites

There is much to learn from our nation’s veterans; however, for some, it can be painful to revisit the memories and difficult to talk about the experiences of war.  Families and friends are often very curious about those times but, because the veteran may not bring them up, the loved ones feel they shouldn't either. 

Each veteran’s experience with war is an important part of history that should be passed on to future generations.  And, though difficult, sharing these stories can have a powerful healing effect both for veterans and their families. The form below provides an opportunity for you to write about your experiences.  Sometimes sharing your story the first time is the most difficult part of all. 

Please share your story with us by submitting answers to some or all of the questions below or whatever part of your story you want to tell or by video taping an interview and submitting it to this site.  

Please indicate on the form whether we have your permission to post your submission.

How to Begin

The following questions were developed to help start the conversation.

1. What was your reason for enlisting, or were you drafted?
2. In which branch of the military did you serve?
3. What was basic training like?
4. What was your military specialty (infantry, artillery, airborne, armor)?
5. When you think about your war experiences, what is the thought that first comes to mind?
6. What was your best experience? 
7. What was the worst experience?
8. Among your leaders and colleagues, whose story is the most compelling for you?  What makes it so compelling?
9. How did you cope with the frustrations and horror of war?
10. What would you most like your family and friends to understand about your war experience?

The above questionnaire was compiled by Helen Fitzgerald (CT), author and lecturer, and her husband, a veteran of WWII.  Source material is from the website of the National World War II Museum New Orleans.

Veterans Oral History Sites

There are many organizations striving to preserve the oral histories of veterans of America’s conflicts, such as:

The Library of Congress Veterans History Project
Collects and preserves the extraordinary wartime stories of ordinary people.

The National WWII Museum
Preserves the stories of those who fought in, supported and lived through WWII.

Coast Guard Oral History Program
Oral Histories, Memoirs & Other First-Person Accounts of Coast Guard History

WWII - Tales from the 91st Bomb Group
Stories from those who were there.

The Vietnam Center and Archive Oral History Project
This project seeks to create a more complete record of the wars in Southeast Asia by preserving, through recorded interviews, the recollections and experiences of all who were involved. Anyone can participate.

Operation Homecoming
The National Endowment for the Arts created Operation Homecoming in 2004 to help U.S. troops and their families write about their wartime experiences

How to Begin

If you are a veteran, the form below is to share your answers to the questions above (or write whatever you would like) This section can also be used to document an interview you have done with a veteran, upload a video of the interview, or write a remembrance in honor of your friend or loved one who served in one of America’s conflicts.

Please note that all comments are moderated and will not appear immediately.

Please provide the information below to share your story: