Veterans Day - Resources at the National Archives
Marines come ashore near Da Nang Air Base on March 8, 1965. (National Archives, RG 127; National Archives Identifier 26382181)
Each year, we acknowledge the work done and sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform. The National Archives and Records Administration is proud to serve veterans and their families, especially through our work at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO. We are also proud to include many veterans among our staff. Find out how we help veterans access their records to receive benefits, read about the work our Preservation staff do to make these records accessible, watch historic films that our staff have restored and digitized about the experiences of veterans, and plan a visit to an exhibit or event near you.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 100th Anniversary
If you've been discharged from military service, your personnel files are stored here at the National Archives and Records Administration.
Explore the wealth of records documenting U.S. military encounters from the 18th century through the 20th century.
Historic Videos
The True Glory, 1945 (restored)
A Special Day (Veterans Day 1963)
Veteran's Day PSA with John F. Kennedy
President Reagan's Remarks at a Veteran’s Day Ceremony at Arlington Cemetery on November 11, 1985
President Clinton's Remarks at a Veterans' Day Ceremony (1993)
President Obama Honors Veterans
Additional Videos
Remembering Vietnam: 12 Critical Episodes in the Vietnam War exhibit promotional video
In Honor of our Veterans: Caring for Our Heroes. A bipartisan panel discusses issues facing veterans, November 2015.
Women Vietnam Veterans: Our Untold Stories. Vietnam veteran Donna Lowery discusses the participation of American military women during the Vietnam War.
Veterans Personnel Records at the National Archives, St. Louis. This Inside the Vaults video short illustrates the primary purpose of the National Military Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO—to preserve the nation's military personnel files in perpetuity and to make them available to veterans and other interested parties.
Vet Records Short Clip. Scott Levins, the Director of the National Personnel Records Center in St Louis, which houses individual Military Personnel Records, shares one of his stories about responding to requests for veterans' service records.
Records for Veterans: Gathering Evidence for Claims and Benefits. A presentation at the National Archives aimed at veterans and their families seeking documentation in support of a benefit or claim.
Still Images
World War I and World War II Photographs
Veterans Day Ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, 1963
Teach your students about World War I and World War II with resources on our DocsTeach website. On DocsTeach you can access thousands of primary sources — letters, photographs, speeches, posters, maps, videos, and more — spanning the course of American history. And we're always adding more!
The 100th Anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
National Archives News
Utah Honor Flight Veterans Visit National Archives
National Personnel Records Center Continues Serving Veterans During COVID-19 Pandemic
The Rediscovered Life of the ‘Lost Soldier of Chickamauga’
U.S. Army Photographers Captured ‘Human Toll of War’ in 1945
Veteran Pilots Display Vietnam-Era Helicopters at National Archives
Combat Photographers talk about ‘Shooting’ the War in Vietnam
Archives Recalls Fire That Claimed Millions of Military Personnel Files
Combat Artists Share War Experience
Utah Honor Flight Veterans Visit National Archives’ “Remembering Vietnam” Exhibit
Hagel Brothers Share Vietnam War Story
Prologue Articles
1 Archives Drive: Personnel Records Are Consolidated at New Location in St. Louis (Fall 2011)
20th-Century Veterans' Service Records: Safe, Secure—and Available (Spring 2005)
Caring for Veterans in the Nation’s Capital: Records of the U.S. Soldiers' Home in Washington, D.C., 1851–1943 (Spring 2015)
The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (Spring 2004)
"I Am Still in the Land of the Living”: The Medical Case of Edson D. Bemis (Spring 2011)
Genealogical Records of the War of 1812 (Winter 1991)
Blogs
AOTUS: Heroes Work Here (2020)
AOTUS: “Remembering Vietnam” this Veterans Day (20180
AOTUS: Veterans Day (2016)
AOTUS: We Salute You (2012)
Education Updates: The 100th Anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Forward With Roosevelt: A Veterans Day to Remember: 11/11/42
Forward With Roosevelt: A First Lady on the Front Lines
NARAtions: How to participate in the US National Archives’ Remembering WWI: A Guide for Local Institutions
NARAtions: The Wartime Films Project: Remembering WWI
Pieces of History: National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers
Pieces of History: From Armistice to Veterans Day
Pieces of History: From the Battlefield to the Oval Office: Presidents Who Were Veterans
Pieces of History: National Archives Remembers “Monuments Man” Harry Ettlinger
Pieces of History: Gerald Ford: President and Veteran
Pieces of History: New in Our Catalog: Famous Faces in the Military Veterans’ Military Records
Pieces of History: Burned and Brittle Records Are in Good Hands
Pieces of History: Veterans’ Military Records
Pieces of History: Surrender? Nuts!
Pieces of History: Minnie Spotted Wolf
Pieces of History: The Lost Battalion of World War I
Pieces of History: U.S. Entry into the War to End All Wars
Pieces of Histor: Remembering “A date which will live in infamy”
Pieces of History: Gerald Ford: President and Veteran
Pieces of History: Vietnam and the Women Who Serve
Rediscovering Black History: Mustering Out: the Navy’s First Black Yeowomen
Rediscovering Black History: Who Is He? A Long-Delayed Search for the Identity of the Airman Portrayed in a World War II Poster
Rediscovering Black History: An Uncensored Digital History of the Black GI in World War II
Rediscovering Black History: Remembering Those Who Served: A Tribute to Veterans
Rediscovering Black History: “And They Thought We Couldn’t Fight:”* Remembering the Nine Soldiers in a World War I Photograph
The Text Message: The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month, 1918
The Text Message: “Until the Glad News Comes”: A Letter from Verdun after the Great War
The Text Message: “Cutting Capers on the Sands of North Africa”: A Soldier’s Art Before, During, and After World War II
The Text Message: Accessing Veterans’ Records
The Text Message: Now Available Online: Burial Cards of World War I Soldiers
The Text Message: Towards a History of Mexican American Participation in World War I
The Text Message: The War After the War: The American Indian Fight for the Vote After WWII
The Text Message: The Blue Arrowhead
The Text Message: Hometown Hero: Walker Kirtland Hancock, St. Louis’s Monuments Man
The Text Message: The Last Box
The Text Message: Stories of American Escapees from Prisoner of War Camp 59, Servigliano, Italy
The Text Message: Seicheprey, Crucible of the 26th Division
The Unwritten Record: Batter Up: World War I Amputees Play Ball
The Unwritten Record: World War II Veteran Lloyd Heller Shares Details About Production of 1943 Tank Training Film
The Unwritten Record: Newly Digitized Series: Initial Burial Plats for World War I American Soldiers
The Unwritten Record: World War II Veteran Lloyd Heller Shares Details About Production of 1943 Tank Training Film
The Unwritten Record: Remembering the Vietnam War this Veterans Day
The Unwritten Record: Spotlight on Veterans: Navy Women in Parachute Rigger Training
The Unwritten Record: A Brief Look At African American Soldiers in the Great War
The Unwritten Record: The Preservation and Restoration of John Huston’s “Let There Be Light”
The Unwritten Record: Photographs of Military Mascots in WWI
The Unwritten Record: A Worthy Resting Place: American Military Cemeteries Overseas
The Unwritten Record: The Women of World War I in Photographs
In commemoration of Veterans Day, the National Archives History Office conducted a series of oral history interviews with veteran National Archives employees.
