It has been more than a decade since the American Folklife Center, through the U.S. Library of Congress, launched the "Veterans History Project," an ongoing effort to document the biographies and experiences of American veterans of wars and conflicts since World War One. The collection also includes documentation of those who contributed to war efforts (including war workers, USO personnel, et al). (See: http://www.loc.gov/vets/)
The collection is comprised of oral histories and interviews, along with other items documenting war experiences, including scrapbooks and photographs. Anyone can sign up to conduct and interview and contribute a copy of it or other items to the collection.
The wars (or "conflicts" as they are called) in Afghanistan and Iraq are among the wars documented, which makes this collection of particular importance. To see these conflicts listed with the years "2001-present" underscores the interesting fact that these histories are being collected as the wars themselves unfold.
Beginning in World War II, and certainly during the Persian Gulf War, historians were deployed by the American military to document a war (its events, battles, etc) as it happened. The "rough draft" of history was created on site, and certainly the information proved useful to historians later.
But with the current wars, soldiers and personnel serve tours of duty and return home, (perhaps only to be re-deployed later). Thus, the interviews are likely being conducted once the person becomes a "veteran," so to speak, while the war continues. (The Vietnam War similarly saw soldiers return after the standard 13 month period of service.)
Just how the particular circumstances of the current military personnel and veterans will shape the body of information, the memories related, and ultimately our understanding of these wars, has yet to be seen.
But to my mind, the efforts to document the personal history of an individual's war experience is extremely valuable.
The collection is comprised of oral histories and interviews, along with other items documenting war experiences, including scrapbooks and photographs. Anyone can sign up to conduct and interview and contribute a copy of it or other items to the collection.
The wars (or "conflicts" as they are called) in Afghanistan and Iraq are among the wars documented, which makes this collection of particular importance. To see these conflicts listed with the years "2001-present" underscores the interesting fact that these histories are being collected as the wars themselves unfold.
Beginning in World War II, and certainly during the Persian Gulf War, historians were deployed by the American military to document a war (its events, battles, etc) as it happened. The "rough draft" of history was created on site, and certainly the information proved useful to historians later.
But with the current wars, soldiers and personnel serve tours of duty and return home, (perhaps only to be re-deployed later). Thus, the interviews are likely being conducted once the person becomes a "veteran," so to speak, while the war continues. (The Vietnam War similarly saw soldiers return after the standard 13 month period of service.)
Just how the particular circumstances of the current military personnel and veterans will shape the body of information, the memories related, and ultimately our understanding of these wars, has yet to be seen.
But to my mind, the efforts to document the personal history of an individual's war experience is extremely valuable.