Visiting Angels, a local provider of in-home care for seniors, has launched an initiative to collect oral testimonies and biographies from veterans of World War II and the Korean War. These audio recordings will be archived in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. as part of their Veterans History Project.
Every day, approximately 1,000 veterans of World War II and Korea pass away and take their stories with them. It is critical to future generations of Americans that we capture the stories of the men and women who participated in these great conflicts, either overseas or stateside. The Library of Congress, through its Veterans History Project, has mounted an aggressive effort to gather the oral testimonies of soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and nurses, as well as the factory workers who supported them. These oral histories are literally priceless, both for the families and for our country, that is why Visiting Angels has made the commitment to be part of this project.
Visiting Angels has partnered with American StoryKeepers of Mesa, Arizona to provide specific training to Visiting Angels staff and to supply Audio-Biography Kits. These kits include audio cassettes and a booklet with a series of interview questions designed to draw out the veteran’s life story.
Visiting Angels of Santa Clarita is excited about being part of this national initiative and intend to do our part to collect the oral histories of several veterans from the Santa Clarita Valley. Although creating an autobiography from scratch can be a huge and intimidating job, the entire process has been streamlined and simplified for us. No writing or computer skills are needed. The person being interviewed just sits back and tells his or her story, with a trained StoryKeeper™ from our organization skillfully guiding the process and recording the story.
Veterans wishing to be interviewed for this project may contact Visiting Angels at 661-263-2273. The project is provided as a public service and there is no charge to the veteran or their family. Visiting Angels will provide a duplicate recording for the family to treasure, in addition to the original copy, which will be archived in the Library of Congress.
For more information, please call Visiting Angels at 661-263-2273.