Iowa Veterans Record Their Stories for the Library of Congress at Van Meter Event Today
Van Meter is in Dallas County, Iowa. Ahead of Veterans Day, the office of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley is hosting a Veterans History Project event today (November 6), from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at American Legion Post 403 in Van Meter — the ninth such event the office has held to chronicle the firsthand accounts of Iowa veterans.
Grassley’s office says participating veterans will sit for interviews of 30 to 60 minutes about their time in service. To date, more than 100 Iowa veterans have shared their stories through the senator’s office; the Library of Congress catalogues the entries and makes the video interviews available to the public. Local veterans who wish to take part can contact the office’s Stars of Valor Fellow, Johnathon Remster, or call the senator’s Des Moines office at 515-288-1145.
The Veterans History Project was created by Congress in 2000 as part of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. It collects, preserves and makes accessible the personal accounts of American veterans from World War I through the present day. Under the Gold Star Families Voices Act, immediate family members of service members who died as a result of their service during a period of war may also contribute oral histories.
Similar collection events are held across the country in the week before Veterans Day. Organizers say letting veterans tell their own stories is the most direct way to preserve the memory of war for future generations. (Source: Office of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley)
Source: Office of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley
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Photo: 图：爱荷华州议会大厦（得梅因）。CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
