How to Record a Veteran's Story for the Veterans History Project

It's the story that comes out at the holiday table. Basic training, the ship, the buddy whose name still makes them smile. Someone always says, "We should really record that." Then the dishes get done, and another year goes by.

I was married to a Navy veteran, and I know how quickly "someday" can run out. You don't need special skills or fancy equipment to keep a veteran's story. A phone, a quiet room, and one good question are enough to begin.

So let's walk through it together: recording their story for your own family, adding it to the Library of Congress if they'd like, and what to do if the memories are hard, if memory is fading, or if your veteran has already died.

A Place That Keeps Their Story

It helps to know where a story can go once it's told, and that someone will take good care of it.

Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000, as part of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. It keeps veterans' stories in their own words, so their great-grandchildren can hear them someday. Thanks to volunteers, families, and neighbors, it now holds more than 121,000 collections.

Taking part is free, and the veteran and their family keep the copyright. The Library keeps these as personal memories, not as an official military record, and doesn't check them for accuracy. So nobody has to get every date exactly right.

Who Can Take Part

Probably more people than you'd think.

Your veteran very likely qualifies. The project welcomes veterans of every era since World War I, any branch and any rank, whether or not they saw combat. It uses VA's definition of a veteran (discharged under conditions other than dishonorable) and takes stories from people who are no longer serving. Members of the Guard and Reserve can qualify too. If you're not sure, the project's eligibility answer explains it, or you can simply ask them.

You can be the one who asks. Anyone 15 or older can do the interview: a son, daughter, grandchild, spouse, friend, or neighbor. If you're under 18, a parent or guardian signs your form.

One veteran at a time. The project doesn't accept group interviews, so if two of you served, record two separate conversations.

Gold Star families have a place here, too. If your parent, spouse, sibling, or child died as a result of wartime service or went missing, you can record your own memories of them. Both people in the interview need to be 18 or older. Email the project at vohp@loc.gov for the Gold Star guidelines before you start.

Start With Your Own Family

You don't have to send anything to anyone. A recording that lives on your phone, shared with your kids and grandchildren, is a treasure all by itself. If your veteran isn't sure about the Library of Congress, record for your family first and decide later.

Some veterans would rather write than talk. Our free book Honor and Memory: A Veteran's Story Journal walks them through their story a page at a time. For a veteran facing a serious illness or in hospice, the hospice edition of Honor and Memory also makes room for their wishes and where the important papers are.

Step 1: Get Ready

A little preparation makes the real conversation easier on both of you.

Have a short talk first. The Library asks interviewers to do a "pre-interview," by phone or in person. Go over the forms together, learn the basics of their service, and figure out which questions fit. It's also a gentle way to let your veteran tell you what they'd rather not talk about.

Print some questions. Our Ten Questions sheet above is a good start, and the project has its own sample interview questions. Think of them as an outline, not a script. Add your own about their job, their friends, and the people back home.

Get the free field kit. The Veterans History Project Field Kit has step-by-step instructions and every form you'll need, as a fillable PDF and in audio and braille versions. The main ones are a release form signed by your veteran, a release form signed by you, a short form with their service details, and a simple log of the topics you covered. Our Before You Send It checklist (en español) lists every one, so you can check them off.

Pick a quiet indoor room. Test the sound and lighting before you begin, and set water and tissues within reach.

Your phone is fine. The field kit says most smartphones can make recordings the project accepts, and it lists the settings for iPhone and Android. If you happen to have an external microphone, the kit recommends using it.

Step 2: Record the Conversation

This is the part that matters most, and it's simpler than it sounds. You're mostly just listening.

Start with a short introduction on the recording: your name, your veteran's full name, the date, and the town or city where you are. Leave out home addresses, Social Security numbers, and service numbers.

Let them lead. Ask, then listen. If they wander into a story you didn't plan for, follow it. Some of the best stories come that way.

Set the camera and leave it. Get it in place ahead of time, and don't zoom or adjust it while you're recording.

For the Library, keep it whole. The recording needs to be at least 30 minutes long and unedited, with one interview per file, disc, or drive. Don't trim anything out.

Living far apart? The project accepts interviews recorded over Zoom or Microsoft Teams, with the same rules for length and forms. The field kit asks you to email the project for guidance first, and the Oral History Association has free remote interviewing tips.

If Hard Memories Come Up

Sometimes a question opens a door you didn't know was there. That's okay. You don't have to fix it. You just have to stay kind.

For some veterans, memories of their service come back more strongly later in life. Researchers who study aging veterans have found that retirement, illness, and the deaths of a spouse or old friends can stir them up.

Let your veteran know they're in charge. They can skip any question, stop the recording, or change the subject, and a lighter story is always close by. You can come back another day. The project is ongoing, so there's no deadline to race.

If nightmares, fear, or guilt seem to get worse afterward, tell their doctor or hospice team. And keep the Veterans Crisis Line close. It's for veterans and the people who love them: dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255. For TTY, call 1-800-799-4889.

If your veteran is in hospice, our free page Sitting With Someone Who's Scared (en español) has a section just for veterans, and our family guide Honor and Comfort explains why the past can come back near the end.

For more on why this happens and what helps, read When Old War Memories Come Back Near the End of Life, and keep our short card When the Past Comes Back nearby (large print · en español · letra grande).

If Memory Is Fading or Energy Is Low

A story told slowly, or a little out of order, is still their story.

Don't worry about correcting them. Because the Library keeps these as personal memories, what they tell you doesn't have to match the paperwork. You can add notes from their DD-214 to your family's copy later.

Ask before splitting it up. The Library needs at least 30 unedited minutes. If your veteran tires quickly, email the project before you start and ask how they'd like you to handle more than one short session. For your family, any length is worth keeping.

Photos and letters count too. The project also takes original photographs and letters that tell a veteran's story, even when the veteran can't share an oral history. The next section explains how much they need.

If Your Veteran Has Already Died

If you're reading this wishing you'd asked sooner, please be gentle with yourself. So many of us wish that. And it isn't too late.

The Library welcomes the stories of veterans who have died, told through what they left behind in their own words and pictures. A collection needs either 20 or more pages of their own memoir, diaries, or journals, or 10 or more original photographs, letters, maps, or pieces of their two-dimensional artwork. The person donating signs the veteran's release form in their place.

What the project can't take is a "proxy" interview, where someone else is recorded telling the veteran's story for them. The exception is Gold Star families, whose own memories are welcome under the rules above.

You can still record your family's memories for yourselves. Your grandchildren will want to hear them. And VA's Veterans Legacy Memorial, from its National Cemetery Administration, offers online memorial pages where people can share stories and memories of a veteran.

Step 3: Send It to the Library of Congress

When you're ready to send it, there are just a few things to get right. The Before You Send It checklist above has every step on one page, with a place to write the date you sent it and the tracking number.

Make copies first. Make two extra copies of the recording and everything else: one for you and one for your veteran or family. Keep a digital file for at least a year. The Library can't send you free copies later.

Send originals, and keep what you love. The Library wants original, unedited materials, not photocopies or scans, and once accepted they become part of its permanent collection. So copy or scan anything you want to keep before it goes in the box.

Keep the uniforms, medals, and dog tags at home. The project doesn't take objects like these, though the field kit points to other places that may.

Pack it with care. The recording, the forms, and a cover letter all go in one box. Put discs or flash drives in labeled cases or envelopes rather than writing on them.

Ship it by FedEx or UPS, never the U.S. Postal Service. The Library's security screening can damage mail. Ground shipping is fine. Send it to:

Veterans History Project
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20540-4615

Other ways to send it. You can hand-deliver a collection in Washington if you email the project ahead to plan your visit. The Library also has a Digital Submission Portal that takes oral history interviews online; email to ask about it. If you have more than 50 photos, letters, or pages, contact the project before sending anything.

What Happens Next

Then comes the waiting, and it's a long wait. That's normal.

Within 10 weeks, you should get a postcard saying they received it. The project reviews each collection to make sure it meets the minimums, and anything that doesn't is sent back to you. Accepted collections get an online record with your veteran's name and service details, searchable on the project's website. The whole process can take 8 to 12 months.

Not every collection is put online, though the project says more than 70 percent now have materials people can view. That's one more reason to keep your own copy close.

It's always free. The project asks participants never to pay or accept payment to take part. If anyone asks for money to "submit" your veteran's story, say no.

Making It Work for Every Veteran and Family

Every family looks different, and every veteran's story deserves a way to be kept.

If another language is spoken at home, know that the Library can only take interviews and forms in English, though it offers a Spanish/English field kit on request. For your family, record in whatever language your veteran is most comfortable in. For Latino and Latina veterans, the Voces Oral History Center at the University of Texas at Austin records the stories of Latinas and Latinos in the U.S.; you can email voces@utexas.edu to ask about taking part.

If your veteran has vision or hearing loss, the field kit comes in audio and braille formats. Let them choose a recording setup that feels comfortable, and ask the project about anything else they need.

If there's no one to do the interview, many members of Congress run Veterans History Project programs and will set up a recorded interview, so call your representative's or senator's local office. Some public libraries do this too. You can also call the project at 888-371-5848 and ask.

If your veteran gets care at a VA medical center, VA's My Life, My Story program, at about 75 VA medical facilities, interviews veterans enrolled in VA health care and writes a short life story. With the veteran's permission, it goes into their medical record so their care team knows them as a person, and the veteran gets copies to share. You can email mystory@va.gov.

If the discharge was complicated, the Library's rules may not fit, because it follows VA's definition of a veteran. Their story still belongs to your family. Record it for the people who love them.

Every Veteran Has a Story, Including Those With No One to Ask

Some of the stories most likely to be lost belong to veterans with no family close by: a veteran in a nursing home or a veterans home, or a veteran in prison. Their stories count just as much.

In a nursing home or veterans home, the interviewer doesn't have to be family. Anyone 15 or older can do it, and the Library names retirement communities, places of worship, and veterans organizations among the groups that take part. An activities staff member, a chaplain, a hospice or facility volunteer, or a neighbor down the hall can be the one who asks and listens. A local congressional office or library program may also come to them.

In prison, a veteran's story still belongs in the Library of Congress. Eligibility depends on service and discharge, not on what happened after. Incarcerated veterans have shared their stories with the project; one of the first, a Navy veteran at a Maryland prison, told his in 2008.

Writing may be the easiest way. A veteran can send their own unpublished memoir of 20 pages or more, with no recording equipment needed. A recorded interview is possible too, by anyone 15 or older (a fellow veteran, a chaplain, a volunteer, or staff) if the facility allows it. The chaplain, education, or programs office is the place to ask what's possible.

VA's Health Care for Re-entry Veterans program meets with veterans in prison before release and connects them to care, housing, and work afterward. And if a veteran in prison is seriously ill or dying, our family guide When a Veteran Is Dying or Has Died in Prison covers visits, early release, burial and military honors, and the family's own grief.

Sometimes a veteran's service is part of how they ended up where they are. In a government survey, about 8 percent of people in U.S. prisons and jails were veterans, and veterans in prison were about twice as likely as other prisoners to say they'd been told they had PTSD. Historian Jason Higgins recorded incarcerated veterans' own stories for his book Prisoners After War, which is free to read online. Their stories deserve to be heard, in their own words.

What Can Wait

If this all feels like a lot, here's what you can let go of for now.

The forms can wait. So can the box, the shipping, and deciding about the Library of Congress at all. The perfect microphone can wait, and so can the perfect list of questions. Getting dates right can wait, too; nobody is grading this.

The only thing that can't always wait is the conversation itself. If you have your veteran with you today, press record and ask one question. Everything else can come later.

Their Voice, Kept

Someday, someone in your family will want to hear how your veteran laughed, the way they said a buddy's name, the pause before the hard part. A recording keeps all of that, in a way a photo can't.

You don't have to do this perfectly. You just have to sit down and listen. That's the gift: not the box sent to Washington, but the afternoon they knew someone wanted to hear it.

More Help

• Honor and Memory: A Story Journal for Veterans to Pass Down Their Service and Wisdom
• Honor and Memory: A Book for Veterans to Leave Their Story, Wishes, and Words for Family
• When Old War Memories Come Back Near the End of Life
• When a Veteran Is in Hospice: A Family Guide to Comfort, Honors, and Benefits
• How to Write a Tribute for Your Veteran Loved One
• Military and Veteran Obituary Examples
• All our free printables

Please note: This post shares general information, checked against the Library of Congress and VA in October 2026. It is not legal, medical, or benefits advice. The Veterans History Project's rules and forms can change, so check the current field kit or contact the project at vohp@loc.gov or 888-371-5848 before you send anything.

Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1; text 838255; or chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net. In an emergency, call 911.

With care,
C. Lindorfer, Noted & Charmed