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Vet's Vietnam accounts needed |
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July 13, 2017 |
By U.S. Senator Mike Crapo
Idahoan William Russell Woodfin Sr. served as a
first lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World
War II. He was interviewed in 2001 by longtime
member of my staff, the late Linda Norris, as
part of collecting a first-hand account of his
service for the Veterans History Project.
First Lieutenant Woodfin discusses bravery: “I
always say this to high school or elementary
schools when I talk to them that I hope no one
thinks I’m brave. I did so little compared to
many who lived, but particularly those who died
... Bravery to me is being scared to death, but
some way, with the help of your God, overcoming
the fear. You don’t overcome it, but you’re able
to go on, bear up, and do what you have to do.
And that’s an hourly, daily thing ... I’ll tell
you as nearly as I can so that I hope you
understand it.”
Discomfort with being considered “brave” is a
common thread among the veterans I meet, who
despite their great service, consider their
fellow service members, not themselves, to be
the true heroes.
First lieutenant Woodfin’s interview and other
personal service accounts of Idaho veterans and
veterans nationwide can be viewed on the
Veterans History Project (VHP) website, at
www.loc.gov/vets.
Congress established the Veterans History
Project in 2000. Since then, the Library of
Congress’ American Folklife Center has been
working with the public to collect veterans’
oral histories — now amounting to 104,830
collections.
As explained on the project’s website, the
Veterans History Project “collects, preserves,
and makes accessible the personal accounts of
American war veterans so that future generations
may hear directly from veterans and better
understand the realities of war.”
The collection is an enormously enriching
resource. The majority of the collections of
veterans’ experiences are interviews, diaries,
journals and memoirs.
In addition to archiving this important part of
our nation’s history for all Americans, the
collections have been used for museum exhibits,
academic papers, news articles and more. The VHP
can be searched for the accounts of veterans of
certain wars and from specific states, including
those from Idaho veterans.
If you have the opportunity to help collect the
stories of veterans you know, the Veterans
History Project website contains guidelines for
conducting interviews and submitting stories to
the project.
Veterans’ unedited audio or video recorded
interviews, photographs, letters, diaries,
journals, military documents, two-dimensional
artwork, maps and unpublished memoirs are among
the materials accepted to the VHP.
Accepted materials collected must fall within
VHP’s 30-20-10 Rule: 30 minutes is the minimum
length required for recorded interviews; 20
pages is the minimum number of pages required
for memoirs, diaries or journals; and 10 is the
minimum number of original photographs, letters,
maps or pieces of artwork required and the
minimum number of pages required for military
documents.
While progress is being made to ensure the
histories of our nation’s heroes are not lost to
time, the collection contains less than
one-percent of the stories of veterans
nationwide and one-percent of Idaho veterans’
stories.
Thank you to Idaho veterans and their families
who have provided 1,315 collections for the
project so far. Over the years, I have been
honored to participate in interviewing Idaho
veterans for the project.
Sitting with Idaho veterans, hearing their
first-hand accounts and learning from their
examples of limitless service has been immensely
rewarding. |
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