U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) recently coordinated the recording of three New Jersey veterans' stories for the Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Paramus Veterans Memorial Home in Bergen County. The VHP is a federal Library of Congress initiative to preserve the stories of veterans throughout the nation.
The participants included World War II veterans Gladys Conlin, who served in the Navy, David Hinton, a Tuskegee Airman, and Frank Neceskas, who served in the Army. They are all residents of the memorial home.
"I thank these veterans for serving our nation and recording their stories for the Veterans History Project," stated Lautenberg. "Preserving these stories will help make sure the service and sacrifice of America's brave military men and women is never forgotten and available to inspire future generations. I will continue working with New Jersey's veterans to increase the number of stories from our state that will be forever preserved in the Library of Congress."
Senator Lautenberg, who served in the Army during World War II, recorded his personal wartime history with the Veterans History Project in October 2007. In January 2011, he kicked off a statewide effort to record as many stories from New Jersey's veterans as possible about their service.
The Veterans History Project was created by Congress in 2000, and marked its 10-year anniversary last fall. The mission of the VHP is to collect, preserve and make accessible the first-hand accounts of American wartime veterans. This includes collections of oral histories, memoirs, diaries and photographs. More than 70,000 veteran stories have been collected so far, including over 1,200 from New Jersey. An online database of the Veteran's History Project can be found at: http://www.loc.gov/vets/
Information about the project and how to participate is available on Senator Lautenberg's website at: http://www.lautenberg.senate.gov/VHP.cfm