Why There Is A Need To Collect Veteran Stories

By Margaret Schmidt


Military organizations, the United States government, and local and state governments are all cooperating in providing historical coverage for those who have fought in wars and other military operations. They have provided much to the country in terms of defending the rights, freedom and even lives. They have also protected American symbols, institutions and installations.

Wars, for Americans, have meant sacrifice. The nation simply puts all its resources to use, unites in giving boosting troop morale, and will given anything that can perhaps people survive battles. When peace is declared, a support network of reintegration services are available, including records kept by Veteran Stories College Station TX.

Lately, people have woken up to the needs of combat veterans to have their stories officially recorded and preserved by the relevant organizations. All veterans have great individual stories that need to be told or at least taken down for the future. The veterans of olders wars like World War I are getting fewer and fewer each day.

By preserving the stories of individual soldiers, people in the city College Station TX are now on the way to collecting the stories of veterans through the Brazos Valley. The need to do this is critical. Military historians have woken up to the fact that there is a dearth of such efforts for earlier wars, which meant that many individual memories have been completely lost.

One of the leading institutions that has lead the drive for better and more comprehensive records of the lives of soldiers is the Smithsonian Institute, together with national libraries and other archival entities. In the state of Texas, there have been so many heroic stories that have been lost from those who were not given to discuss them. The times now require that they need to be interviewed and talked to.

A survey of all Americans will give a very high percentage of families with a relative fighting for the armed forces. Some of these might even be in active service. For all involved in the effort, the need to defend democracy is the primary reason. There have been lots of studies related to the Vietnam War that have shed light on the motivations and reasons for fighting wars.

With the recent operations connected to the War on Terror, many professionals in the field of psychology and history have banded together for a great collective effort in accessing everything that can be studied in relation to military history. The main reason for it is to make the lives of former soldiers better. Plus, archiving can be vastly improved and any story has its lessons that can be learned to make less war and more peace.

In the end, memorials and statues to honor those who have been in combat are not enough. Many of these were constructed because these soldiers have fallen or have died since. The main idea today is to give dignity, cherish and honor those survivors who have also given over much of themselves in combat and are lucky enough to have lived.

What every American should be doing is to study the lives of soldiers more so that they will know how to deal with veterans. These are people in high need of encouragement and inspiration, and should not keep quiet about the horrors they have seen. Keeping silent might be a false heroism except for those who participated in classified operations. Ultimately, the histories of all soldiers can be of better use when they are opened up for people to learn from.




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