As part of its efforts to help tell the Army story, Association of the U.S. Army staff members are sharing their own experiences as part of the Veterans History Project.

Established in 2000, the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through today. The goal is to ensure future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service, according to the project’s website.

“The Veterans History Project is a great program that honors the service and sacrifice of America’s veterans while helping them tell their stories,” said John Nobrega, AUSA’s assistant director of Government Affairs. “At AUSA, we work to help tell the Army story, and this is a good way to do that.”

AUSA is contributing to the Veterans History Project by recording and presenting stories from several of its own, including retired Gen. Bob Brown, AUSA’s president and CEO, a 1981 West Point graduate who retired in September 2019 after commanding U.S. Army Pacific.

Retired Lt. Gen. Leslie Smith, AUSA’s vice president of Leadership and Education who retired from the Army in 2021 after serving as the Army inspector general; retired Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel Dailey, the association’s vice president of NCO and Soldier Programs and the 15th sergeant major of the Army; and retired Sgt. Maj. Julie Guerra, director of NCO and Soldier Programs for AUSA and career intelligence soldier; are among those featured.

Also sharing their stories are retired Brig. Gen. Jack Haley, AUSA’s vice president of Membership and Meetings; retired Col. Glenn Yarborough, a former AUSA region president; and retired Col. Daniel Roper, AUSA’s director of National Security Studies.

The AUSA team’s interviews are available on the association’s YouTube channel here.

As the Army has struggled to recruit young people to serve, and as leaders work to combat misconceptions about service and what it means to join the Army, the service has asked veterans to help close the gap by telling their stories.

“The Veterans History Project is an easy and accessible way to spark conversations about service, patriotism and sacrifice in communities across America,” said Mark Haaland, director of Government Affairs at AUSA. “We hope AUSA’s members in chapters around the world will be inspired to participate and help us continue telling the Army story.”

Described as a national, grassroots oral history initiative, the Veterans History Project encourages participants to interview veterans in their lives and communities. Veterans from all services and ranks who served at any point since World War I are eligible to participate, even if they did not see combat, according to the project’s website. Anyone, including students ages 15 and older, may volunteer to record an oral history interview or gather and donate a veteran’s original photographs, correspondence or other materials.

Veterans also can submit their own materials to the Library of Congress.

Learn more about the Veterans History Project here.

Find out how to create and submit a Veterans History Project interview here.