June 2007

Dear Seniors:

I am writing to you today to encourage your participation in what is one of the premier archival projects in our nation’s history. As you may know, in the year 2000, the United States Congress introduced legislation to create the Veterans History Project as part of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The purpose of the project is to collect and preserve the personal recollections of U.S. wartime veterans in an effort to honor their service and share their stories with current and future generations. The Veterans History Project also collects stories from home front civilians who worked in support of our armed forces.

Since its inception, the Veterans History Project has become the largest oral history archive in the nation, with over 45,000 collections, including audio and video taped interviews as well as original photographs, illustrations, letters, diaries, and other personal documents. Narratives of the Veterans History Project collection have found their way into two books, Forever a Soldier and Voices of War, published by National Geographic.

Most recently, the Library of Congress Veterans History Project and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) announced a joint community initiative designed to gather even more first hand recollections from those who served our nation during wartime. The public outreach campaign begins this spring and will continue beyond the broadcast of filmmaker and historian Ken Burns’ new film, The War, which is scheduled to air on PBS beginning on September 23, 2007.

The War, is a seven part series directed and produced by Burns and Lynn Novick. It is meant to provide snapshots of the World War II experience through the personal accounts of men and women from four American towns: Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; and the Luverne, Minnesota. It is my hope that the up coming film will serve as an impetus for you and/or your loved ones to share your personal experiences and extraordinary tales so they may inform and inspire generations to come.

If you have access to a personal computer or access to a computer center and you are seeking information on how you or your friends and family can contribute to this living history, please visit www.pbs.org/thewar and/or www.loc.gov/vets. Alternatively, if you need additional assistance, please call Cheryl Gresek, Constituent Service Representative, in the Office of Congressman John Tierney at 1-978-531-1669.

Sincerely,

John F. Tierney
Member of Congress