Begun by Congress in 2000, The Veterans History Project includes veterans from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War and the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars as well as US-citizen civilians who were actively involved in supporting the war efforts, such as war industry workers, USO workers, flight instructors and medical volunteers.
Volunteers in the Service to Armed Forces Department of The Greater Long Beach Chapter of the American Red Cross conducted videotaped interviews with veterans, which are sent to the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress will feature these videos, and each veteran will have a page dedicated in his or her honor.
Chairman of the Service to the Armed Forces Committee and volunteer Mike Farrar is leading the local effort. “When we began participating a year and half ago, our goal was to conduct as many interviews as possible,” Farrar said. “In that time our volunteer team has interviewed 200 veterans.” The 200th interview was a World War II pilot who flew a B-29 bomber’s weather chase plane in the group behind the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“We are proud of our volunteers’ recent accomplishment of reaching the 200th Veterans History Project interview,” said Margaret Arbini Madonna, CEO of the chapter. “The volunteer commitment to the preservation of the stories of war veterans is an inspiration to our nation and a great service to your community.”
Visit the Library of Congress at loc.gov/vets for more information. Veterans may call Farrar at (562) 490-4003 to schedule an interview.
Source: Red Cross
