退伍军人历史计划走进爱荷华州：退伍军人今日口述军旅往事，存入国会图书馆永久档案
范米特（Van Meter）位于爱荷华州达拉斯县。为迎接退伍军人节，联邦参议员查克·格拉斯利（Chuck Grassley）的办公室今天（11月6日）上午9时至下午3时30分，在范米特的美国退伍军人协会403分会举办「退伍军人历史计划」口述史采集活动，这是该办公室第九次举办这一活动。
据格拉斯利办公室介绍，参加的退伍军人将接受30至60分钟的访谈，讲述自己从军的亲身经历。迄今已有逾100名爱荷华州退伍军人通过格拉斯利办公室参与这一计划，访谈记录由国会图书馆编目保存，视频访谈对外公开。想参加的当地退伍军人可联系格拉斯利的「勇气之星」项目专员乔纳森·雷姆斯特，或致电其得梅因办公室。
「退伍军人历史计划」由国会于2000年设立，设在国会图书馆的美国民俗中心，专门收集、保存并公开美国退伍军人的第一手记述，年代从第一次世界大战一直到今天。依照《金星家庭之声法》，在战争期间因服役殉职者的父母、配偶、兄弟姐妹与子女，也可以讲述亲人的故事。
退伍军人节前一周，全美各地都有类似的采集活动在举行。主办方表示，让亲历者自己讲述，是把战争记忆留给后代最直接的方式。（来源：美国参议院格拉斯利议员办公室）
Iowa Veterans Record Their Stories for the Library of Congress at Van Meter Event Today
Van Meter is in Dallas County, Iowa. Ahead of Veterans Day, the office of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley is hosting a Veterans History Project event today (November 6), from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at American Legion Post 403 in Van Meter — the ninth such event the office has held to chronicle the firsthand accounts of Iowa veterans.
Grassley’s office says participating veterans will sit for interviews of 30 to 60 minutes about their time in service. To date, more than 100 Iowa veterans have shared their stories through the senator’s office; the Library of Congress catalogues the entries and makes the video interviews available to the public. Local veterans who wish to take part can contact the office’s Stars of Valor Fellow, Johnathon Remster, or call the senator’s Des Moines office at 515-288-1145.
The Veterans History Project was created by Congress in 2000 as part of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. It collects, preserves and makes accessible the personal accounts of American veterans from World War I through the present day. Under the Gold Star Families Voices Act, immediate family members of service members who died as a result of their service during a period of war may also contribute oral histories.
Similar collection events are held across the country in the week before Veterans Day. Organizers say letting veterans tell their own stories is the most direct way to preserve the memory of war for future generations. (Source: Office of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley)
来源：美国参议院格拉斯利议员办公室
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：爱荷华州议会大厦（得梅因）。CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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