VOB Member Call to Action: StoryCorps Launches Military Voices Initiative

The oral history group StoryCorps has begun recording the stories of U.S. troops returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Military Voices Initiative aims to record 1,500 interviews with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. The project will be conducted as a year long effort with mobile StoryCorps units visiting military bases, veterans organizations and communities with vibrant military populations for a series that will be broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR).   NPR’s “Weekend Edition” will regularly broadcast the stories throughout 2013.

StoryCorps founder Dave Isay said listening to these soldiers is a way to show how much they matter and to ensure they aren’t forgotten.

NPR President and CEO Gary Knell said hearing veterans’ stories will help people understand the impact of the recent wars.

The recordings will be archived at the Library of Congress. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Boeing Company are funding the project.