Background

Introduction to UConn’s Veteran History Project:

 

Listen to the WILI Radio interview on July 30, 2019 with Alyssa Kelleher, George Penney, and Paul Hanlon about the Veterans History Project.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Veterans History Project is a nationwide effort of the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress 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.

Stories can be told through:

  • Personal Narratives
    • Audio and Video-Taped Interviews, Written Memoirs
  • Correspondence
    • Letters, Postacards, VMail, Personal Diaries
  • Visual Material
    • Photographs, Drawings, Scrapbooks

Origin of the Veterans History Project

The United States Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000. The authorizing legislation, 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.

AARP is the founding corporate sponsor of the Veterans History Project.  In addition to providing initial major funding for the Project, AARP also spread the word to its legion of volunteers and almost 37 million members, encouraging them to get involved.  Numerous state chapters have also been involved in the Project.

The Project collects first-hand accounts of 
U.S. Veterans from the following wars:

  • World War, 1914-1918
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • Cold War
  • Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Grenada--History--American Invasion, 1983
  • Panama--History--American Invasion, 1989
  • Operation Restore Hope, 1992-1993
  • Persian Gulf War, 1991
  • United Nations Operation in Somalia
  • Haiti--History--American intervention, 1994-1995
  • Operation Allied Force, 1999
  • Peacekeeping forces--Bosnia and Hercegovina
  • Operation Joint Guardian, 1999-
  • War on Terrorism, 2001-2009
  • Afghan War, 2001-
  • Iraq War, 2003-2011

UConn's Veteran History Project

UConn's Office of Veterans Affairs and Military Programs, in cooperation with UConn's Department of History, brings the Veterans History Project to the University of Connecticut.

The Veterans History Program presents an opportunity for UConn students, faculty, and staff to improve their interviewing techniques and open a window into the past as Veterans far and wide share their incredible stories.