History Commission seeks Vietnam veterans for an oral history project
The Fairfax County History Commission is encouraging county residents to participate in an oral history project about Vietnam War veterans.
Interviews will be conducted through early May 2027 and will become part of the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.
Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000 to collect and preserve firsthand remembrances of U.S. wartime veterans. Fairfax County residents will have the opportunity to add their voices to the existing national archive.
The History Commission is seeking both veterans to interview and student note-takers. To participate, contact Oral History Committee Chair Sue Kovach Shuman at [email protected]. You can also ask a veteran to participate and, with their permission, send their contact information to Shuman.
Interviews will be conducted through early May 2027. Interviews should take about 30 minutes and can be conducted by an adult and a teen at least 15 years old. Interviewers will receive training.
Interview questions could include the following:
- Did you enlist, or were you drafted?
- Who or what did you leave behind when you went to serve?
- What was your specific military job or unit?
- What were your feelings about the U.S. being involved in the war?
- When did you deploy to Vietnam, and what was your initial impression when you arrived?
- Do you remember your first time under fire?
- What were the daily living conditions like?
- How did you react to the protests in the United States?
- How did people treat you when your service ended?
- What do you want younger generations to understand about your service?
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