My brother found the Veterans History Project one day a while back, and I finally got around to doing an interview with my grandpa and will be sending it to the Library of Congress shortly.
The project is pretty cool - you sign up as the “interviewer” and you can then submit photos, mementos and/or a video interview of a US military veteran to be archived in the Library of Congress.
I interviewed my grandfather about his time in WWII and it was great fun. I learned some stuff about him, and he was really eager to share. Plus, now the entire family will have their own copies of a half-hour interview with grandpa sharing memories.
Any veteran from any war (or, you know, “police action”) is eligible to be archived, as are civilians who worked for the “war effort.” See the FAQ on the site for more info.
Of course, I can’t get my dad to talk about his time in Vietnam on video. I really wish I could but it stands to reason that he’s still just not ready to talk about it 40 years later.
The “field kit” you get when you sign up to be an interviewer is pretty straightforward and has all the info you need to get started. If you do decide to do the project, my biggest tip would be to go over the questions once or twice with your interview subject so they can wrestle up those memories, and you know some specific questions to ask. There’s a list of questions to help you out but it’s easier if you can be more specific - some older folks might forget what they were going to say if you don’t prompt them.
If you’ve got relatives who were in WWII, especially, it’s a great project and I guarantee they will enjoy sharing!