Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress

09/06/2026

We took a tour of The Source with Alli Hartley-Kong, who helped design the experiential gallery before joining the Veterans History Project staff. The Source at the Library of Congress is specially designed for young visitors ages 8-15, and Alli highlighted many VHP collections that are included as examples of how children have utilized Library primary sources for school or personal projects. Kids have even created Library collections of their own, like the granddaughter of Korean War veteran Adolfo Marocco who submitted her grandfather’s oral history to VHP when she became eligible to become an interviewer at 15.

We recommend you check out The Source in-person or online to embolden kids to become researchers and start their creative or academic journey at the Library of Congress. It was fun for us adults, too! https://www.loc.gov/programs/the-source/

09/05/2026

Mosquitoes were a serious problem for U.S. troops in the Pacific during World War II. About 60% contracted malaria, and for some, the effects lasted long after the war.

VHP collections include some striking firsthand accounts of malaria, from 105-degree fevers to the work of servicemembers who spent their time studying mosquitoes.

Read more about these stories from the collections in Megan Harris's blog at https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2026/08/bad-air-malaria-in-veterans-history-project-wwii-collections/

09/05/2026

Join the Library of Congress on Thursday, September 10, 2026 for "Love LEtters of World War II."

Mélange Dance Theater’s dance and musical performance confronts the challenge of love during wartime. In addition to the stage performance, we welcome you to a pre-show special collections display of World War II veterans’ love letters. Through the powerful music and choreography of 22 dancers and nine musicians, their powerful words will come to life.

Get your ticket, here! https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/79883684/love-letters-of-world-war-ii-liveat-the-library-of-congress-washington-events-from-the-library-of-congress

09/04/2026

On Sept. 22, 2006, the U.S. Navy marked the end of an era as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat completed 36 years of service.

Three years earlier, Heather Sandler captured this F-14 flying over USS Harry S. Truman during an airshow. As an Aviation Ordnanceman, Sandler trained to assemble and handle the live weapons carried by aircraft like the Tomcat.

Sandler joined the Navy in 1995, initially hoping to become a rescue swimmer. She went on to serve aboard USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Harry S. Truman and was among the first groups of women to deploy aboard an aircraft carrier.

Her Veterans History Project collection preserves both the aircraft and the experiences of the people like her who served alongside them.

Learn more at https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.87289/

09/04/2026

Hey parents, guardians, and kiddos! Join us for Family Day on Saturday, September 19, to celebrate 50 years of the American Folklife Center. From 10:30am -3:30pm, in the Library of Congress' Great Hall, we'll have activities, games, and opportunities to tour AFC's new exhibition, Alive in Many Hands: The American Folklife Center at 50. It will be fun for the entire family. The event is free and open to the public, but registration required. See the link below for more information and to register.

https://www.loc.gov/item/event-421595/family-day-celebrating-50-years-of-the-american-folklife-center/2026-09-19/?loclr=fbafc

09/03/2026

What can a letter from a World War I servicemember tell us more than a century later?

VHP has more than 400 collections from World War I veterans, including letters, photographs, journals, military documents and memoirs. Together, these materials offer an intimate look at the experiences of Americans who served in the first “modern” war.

Letters are especially valuable because they capture servicemembers’ thoughts and experiences as they were happening. Some discuss everyday matters back home. Others reveal homesickness, fear, grief, hope and the importance of staying connected to family.

VHP’s guide to World War I correspondence highlights selected collections and provides ways to explore more of these firsthand accounts via the website.

Explore the guide and discover the stories preserved in these letters at

Veterans have long used correspondence as a means of communication and as a way to document their military service experience. This guide features a selection of World War I correspondence collections available online.

09/02/2026

What do The Notebook and the Veterans History Project have in common? More than you might think!

Members of the cast and crew of The Notebook musical recently stopped by VHP to explore some of the real stories preserved in our collections.

They viewed World War II photographs, letters, artwork and poems from VHP collections, along with materials from the Library of Congress Music Division.

It was a fitting visit for a musical that centers on memory, love and the stories we hold onto. At VHP, we preserve those memories through oral histories, original photographs, letters, artwork, journals, poems and so much more.

Love letters. Poems. Photographs. Memories.

Different stories, but all reminders of the people behind the history.

Learn more at loc.gov/vets.

Photo by Shawn Miller.

09/01/2026

“As soon as you step off the plane home, find your veterans hospital and walk in the door.”

That’s what Marva Gray wants new veterans to know.

A single mother and Army National Guard soldier, Gray deployed to Iraq after 9/11. During two years there, she weathered shelling and IEDs. When she came home, she struggled with insomnia, anxiety and reminders of Iraq.

Her Veterans History Project oral history captures what happened after the deployment and the advice she wishes every returning veteran would hear.

Hear Marva Gray tell her story in her own words:
https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.93346/

08/31/2026

"For our family, we didn't know that he was a Code Talker." (Annabelle Smallcanyon, veteran's daughter, Video interview, 35:16)

Born in a hogan near Sawmill, Arizona, George B. Willie was inspired by the attack on Pearl Harbor to join the Marines at the age of 17. He volunteered to become a Code Talker while at recruit training, and at the Battle of Okinawa he came face to face with the ferocity of combat in the Pacific Theater. Willie spent several months in Nagasaki and Tokyo after hostilities ended, where he also bore witness to the toll that the war had taken on Japanese civilians. Faithful to the oath of secrecy he took during the war, he did not tell any of his family members about his role as a Code Talker until the 1990s.

Private First Class, Marine Corps, World War, 1939-1945 - Camp Pendleton, California; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Japan; Hawaii; Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); Pacific Theater.

08/30/2026

Is today laundry day for you?

In 2003, at Camp Matilda in Kuwait, David Paxson photographed laundry hanging between tents, a remarkably familiar sight in a decidedly unfamiliar setting.

Paxson’s photographs capture the everyday rhythms of life during deployment: Marines eating, relaxing, spending time together and, apparently, finding a place to hang the laundry. These small details offer a glimpse of what life looked like between the bigger moments of military service.

Explore the collection: https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.35232/