The National WWII Museum New Orleans

Memorial Day is a day for commemorating our nation’s war dead. But it is also a reminder for the need to preserve our veterans’ stories while they are still with us.

Every day, historians from The National WWII Museum travel the country collecting the oral histories of WWII veterans, but we know we cannot capture them all. We encourage everyone who knows a WWII veteran (or a veteran of any era) to conduct an oral history with him or her.

A thorough oral history interview will probably take more than an hour to complete, so you will need to set aside a sufficient amount of time to get the job done. Be sure to allow your veteran to elaborate as much as he or she wishes. It may be necessary to complete the interview over the course of more than one session to capture all of the information on tape. It may be helpful if your veteran has maps or service records close by during the interview.

Here are suggested questions to help with your interview:

What is your full name? When and where were you born? 
What were you doing before the war?
Where were you when you found out about Pearl Harbor? 
Did you enlist or were you drafted? What was your branch of service? (USA? USN? USMC? USCG? USMM?) 
When did you enter service? (month-day-year)  
Where did you enter service?  
Where did you receive your basic training?
Describe basic training. 
What was your military specialty? (Infantry? Artillery? Airborne? Armor? etc.)
Describe the people you trained with in basic training.
When did you deploy overseas? What theater of operations were you in? (ETO? PTO? MTO? CBI?) 
What was your port of embarkation for deployment? (New York? San Diego?) 
How long did it take for you to reach your theater of operations? 
Did you receive any training after you were deployed overseas? 
What type of equipment were you issued before you were deployed overseas? 
Were you involved in any invasions? (If ‘yes’ please describe.) 
Were you ever taken under enemy fire? (If ‘yes’ please describe.) 
Did you return fire? (If ‘yes’ please describe.) 
What was the food like? 
Were you wounded? (If ‘yes’ please describe.) 
Where were you on VE-Day?
Where were you on VJ-Day?
When did you return to the U.S.?
How long did you serve overseas?



Previous \| Next Memorial Day is a day for commemorating our nation’s war dead. But it is also a reminder for the need to preserve our veterans’ stories while they are still with us. Every day, historians from The National WWII Museum travel the country collecting the oral histories of WWII veterans, but we know we cannot capture them all. We encourage everyone who knows a WWII veteran (or a veteran of any era) to conduct an oral history with him or her. A thorough oral history interview will probably take more than an hour to complete, so you will need to set aside a sufficient amount of time to get the job done. Be sure to allow your veteran to elaborate as much as he or she wishes. It may be necessary to complete the interview over the course of more than one session to capture all of the information on tape. It may be helpful if your veteran has maps or service records close by during the interview. Here are suggested questions to help with your interview: What is your full name? When and where were you born?  What were you doing before the war? Where were you when you found out about Pearl Harbor?  Did you enlist or were you drafted? What was your branch of service? (USA? USN? USMC? USCG? USMM?)  When did you enter service? (month-day-year)   Where did you enter service?   Where did you receive your basic training? Describe basic training.  What was your military specialty? (Infantry? Artillery? Airborne? Armor? etc.) Describe the people you trained with in basic training. When did you deploy overseas? What theater of operations were you in? (ETO? PTO? MTO? CBI?)  What was your port of embarkation for deployment? (New York? San Diego?)  How long did it take for you to reach your theater of operations?  Did you receive any training after you were deployed overseas?  What type of equipment were you issued before you were deployed overseas?  Were you involved in any invasions? (If ‘yes’ please describe.)  Were you ever taken under enemy fire? (If ‘yes’ please describe.)  Did you return fire? (If ‘yes’ please describe.)  What was the food like?  Were you wounded? (If ‘yes’ please describe.)  Where were you on VE-Day? Where were you on VJ-Day?   When did you return to the U.S.? How long did you serve overseas?

The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American Experience in the war that changed the world - why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today - so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn. Sign up for updates about exhibits, public programming and other news from The National WWII Museum here. 945 Magazine Street New Orleans, LA 70130, Entrance on Andrew Higgins Drive PHONE: (504) 528-1944 - FAX: (504) 527-6088 - EMAIL: info@nationalww2museum.org \| Directions National Promotional Partner