Happy birthday, VHP! In 2020, we celebrated twenty years of preserving the stories of United States veterans. While we are honored to archive every submission, there are particular collections that catch our eye, engage our minds, or touch our hearts, and sometimes do all three. Since 2000, our staff has worked to ensure that these narratives—and all of those in our archive—are preserved and made accessible for generations to come. As part of our anniversary celebration, we asked staff from the American Folklife Center and the Veterans History Project to select collections that resonate on a personal level. We share some of these collections here, and we hope you connect with them as much as we do. To find a collection that speaks to you, please search our full holdings through our online database, or explore our list of online web features like this one.

In addition to the highlighted collections below, you will find links to related blog posts and a series of event videos in the additional sections of this guide.