Veterans Day
(American troops preparing for the Normandy Invasion, June 1944. (National Archives Identifier 12008276)
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.
Video
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.
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.
Historic Videos
Articles
Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives
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
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 Blue Arrowhead (The Text Message)
A First Lady on the Front Lines (Forward With Roosevelt)
Hometown Hero: Walker Kirtland Hancock, St. Louis’s Monuments Man (The Text Message)
The Last Box (The Text Message)
World War II Veteran Lloyd Heller Shares Details About Production of 1943 Tank Training Film (The Unwritten Record)
Veterans Day (AOTUS)
Exhibits
Washington, DC
Traveling Exhibits
“Picturing Nam”
This traveling exhibit will be on display for the first time at Syracuse, NY, during the Central New York Veterans Parade Expo from November 10 to 12. Then the exhibit will be display at the Onondaga County Historical Society until January 7, 2017.
Online Exhibits
Events
Arkansas
The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum will offer free admission on Veterans Day to all active and retired military members and their families.
California
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum will offer free admission on Veterans Day to all active and retired military members. Active military receive free admission to the museum year-round. Veteran’s Day Ceremony and Concert November 11, 10 a.m., free and open to the public Registration is suggested.
Annual Veterans Day Commemoration, November 11, 10:30 a.m., main auditorium. Some free activities for the public.
Iowa
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum will offer free admission to veterans and their families on Veterans Day, November 11.
Special presentation, Wednesday, November 11 at 11 a.m., Figge Auditorium. Iowa Senator David Johnson will speak: "A Common Soldier's Uncommon Story."
Kansas
The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum will offer free admission to veterans and their families on Veterans Day, November 11.
Veterans Day Homage to Veterans of all Wars, November 11, starting at 9:35 a.m.
Massachusetts
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum will honor veterans and their families with free admission November 5–13.
Missouri
The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum will offer free admission to veterans on Veterans Day, November 11.
Fifth Annual Ike Skelton Veterans Day Ceremony, November 6. This event is free and open to the public.
New York
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum will offer free admission (to both the Library and National Historic Site) to veterans on Veterans Day, November 11,
Book Talk and Signing , Tuesday, November 10, at 7 p.m., Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness, by Craig Nelson, in the Henry A. Wallace Center.
Veteran Arts Showcase exhibit, performances and presentations, November 19 and 20, in the Henry A. Wallace Center.
Washington, DC
Wednesday, November 9, at noon
The Luft Gangster: Memoirs of a Second Class Hero
National Archives Building, William G. McGowan Theater
This documentary film features fighter pilot (Red Tail) Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson. (2016; 70 minutes) The film’s director, Mike Rott, will introduce the film and answer audience questions.
From the Trenches of WWI to the November 2016 Elections: Race Relations in America
National Archives Building, William G. McGowan Theater & YouTube
A bipartisan group of former Members of Congress discuss discrimination in the segregated military during World Wars I and II and the effort to posthumously award Medals of Honor to those who were denied them due to race.
Thursday, December 8, at 2 p.m.
Records for Veterans: Gathering Evidence for Claims and Benefits
National Archives Building, William G. McGowan Theater & YouTube
Many of our patrons are veterans seeking documentation in support of a benefit or claim. This presentation is designed for veterans and their families.
Teaching and Learning Resources
Officers of the Morristown, New Jersey Infantry Battalion, July 1918. (National Archives Identifier 533711)
