On April 17, 2007, the Library of Congress and the Veterans History Project held a joint press conference with PBS and Florentine Films to announce a partnership in connection with The War, Ken Burns’s World War II documentary television series.

Read the official press release on this event.

The War aired on PBS stations beginning September 23, 2007. All of the film’s onscreen participants are veterans of World War II, supporting civilian workers, or their relatives. Learn more about The War External from the PBS Web site. Ken Burns and PBS saw this film as sparking a national effort in which individual citizens would interview veterans for their first-hand accounts of wartime service. Ken Burns and PBS collaborated with the Veterans History Project (VHP), which has been collecting stories of wartime service since its creation in 2000, to be the repository for those accounts.

To participate in this effort or submit a collection to us, please visit our "How to Participate" page. Throughout 2007, PBS stations all over the country initiated outreach programs designed to raise awareness of World War II and the need for its veterans and civilian workers to tell their stories for the record. VHP participated in many public programs to encourage citizen participation in these efforts. 

In September 2007, this Companion to "The War" was originally launched as a website. Ken Burns and his colleagues filmed dozens of original interviews for their film. Our collection of veterans’ stories here enhances those you see in The War—and hopefully inspires you to join our joint effort with Ken Burns and PBS to collect more veterans’ stories.