Stories of our Veterans
Grades 5-12, with parental supervision
In 1918, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Allied nations and Germany formally agreed to temporarily stop fighting, marking the beginning of the end of World War I. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th Armistice Day, a day of remembrance to honor those who lost their lives in the war. In 1954, Congress amended the Act of 1938 that had made Armistice Day a legal holiday, changing “Armistice Day” to “Veterans Day” to honor all veterans.
There are many ways to navigate this website. When you arrive at today’s link, you can learn about the project and how to participate, but the meat of the site is found by selecting the “Search the Veterans Collections” link. From here you can narrow your search to:
- By Conflict or Era – WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, Afghan War, Iraqi War, other
- By Branch of Service – Air Force, Army, Army Air Forces/Corps, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Merchant Marine, Navy, Civilian, other
- Gender
- Prisoner of War
- Type of Material – audio, video, manuscript, photo
- Type of Manuscript – correspondence, creative works, dairies, memoirs, transcripts
- And much more
Once you have refined your search options and selected the “Go” button at the top, a list of matching results will populate. Select the name of the veteran to learn about this person. If there is a “View Digital Collection” button beside the entry, click on this to be taken to the page with the digital content such as an audio or video interview or photographs. Not every entry includes digital content, but those that do provide fascinating first-hand accounts of life in the military and the wartime stories that accompanied their service.
Visitors can also browse collections from the home page by clicking on the “Experiencing War” image to find a special collection featuring more vets. From here, you will also find additional search options to explore more stories.
Today’s website helps your students learn about the men and women who served our country and to gain a better understanding of why they need to be honored on Veterans Day and always.
Note: We make every effort to recommend websites that have content that is appropriate for general audiences. However, all of ClickSchooling’s recommendations assume that parents will preview the sites for suitable content, and then review the sites together with their children.
