Grassley Delivers 12 Veterans’ Stories to Library of Congress as Part of Veterans History Project

Grassley Delivers 12 Veterans' Stories to Library of Congress as Part of Veterans History Project

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today delivered to the Library of Congress recorded interviews detailing 12 Iowa veterans' stories of service in the U.S. Armed Forces. Members of Grassley's staff and students from Kirkwood Community College interviewed Iowa veterans last November at the Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids to document their stories for inclusion in the Veterans History Project.

Established by Congress in 2000, the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project collects, preserves and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations can hear from them directly and better understand the realities of war. To date, Grassley has submitted 95 Iowans' stories.

Iowa veterans who would like to have their stories recorded can contact Grassley's Gold Star Fellow, Clayton Brown, at clayton_brown@grassley.senate.gov or call the Senator's Des Moines office at 515-288-1145.

The stories of the following veterans were submitted today:

• Brian Eschen - Linn County
• Dave Schiel - Dubuque County
• Dawn Butler (Fleming) - Dubuque County
• Doug Thompson - Johnson County
• Jennie Wunderlich - Johnson County
• Jenny Olson - Johnson County
• Jim Felker - Linn County
• Michael Parnell - Linn County
• Rod Courtney - Johnson County
• Ron Randazzo - Polk County
• Ron Slagle - Linn County
• Tara Allen - Linn County

Grassley spoke on the Senate floor about the Veterans History Project today. Video and remarks follow.

I want to report to my colleagues what I'm doing today, delivering some history to the Library of Congress, and I'll tell you about that project in the Library of Congress.

This is something that I do around Veterans Day each year, for the last eight years. In the past and including today, it's added up to about the history of 95 veterans that have told their story to me and my staff.

Veterans are an important part of our communities.

The sacrifices of the brave men and women who have served our country should never be forgotten.

My office recently interviewed 12 of these 95 veterans, this time from the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area for what the Library of Congress calls the Veterans History Project.

Stories of our veterans help us to better understand the sacrifices that have granted us security and prosperity and allow us to live in the freedom and liberties of this great nation, the United States of America.

Today, these stories of the latest 12 veterans will be delivered to the Library of Congress, preserving these first-hand accounts for future generations to appreciate the role of the people that defend our freedoms.

So, for the project that we had in Cedar Rapids, I want to give a special thank you to Teri Van Dorston, at the Veterans Memorial Building there in Cedar Rapids, for hosting the event that we held last November there, and to Randy Langel, from Kirkwood Community College, for coordinating the students who performed and recorded these interviews.

I look forward to hosting another Veterans History Project event in November of this year, in the Western Iowa city of Council Bluffs.

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