Oral History Guidelines
Veterans often think that they do not need to provide an oral history because they did not serve in combat, or they do not feel that what they did was of great importance.
That is not the case, because the history of World War II continues to be written today. In the coming decades, historians will be asking new and different questions about the Second World War.
Many of those questions will probably relate to the contribution of those who did not directly participate in combat. So now, more than ever, it is of crucial importance to preserve the history
of all who served during World War II.
The following guideline questions will assist you in preparing your own oral history. You can also use the following guideline questions to conduct an interview.
- What is your full name?
- When & where were you born?
- What were you doing before the war?
- Were you married or single?
- Where were you when you found out about Pearl Harbor?
- Did you enlist or were you drafted?
- What was your branch of service? (USA? USN? USMC? USCG? USMM?)
- When did you enter service? (month-day-year)
- Where did you enter service?
- Where did you receive your basic training?
- Describe basic training.
- What weapon(s) did you qualify on during basic training? (M1903 rifle? M1 rifle?)
- What qualification level did you achieve? (Marksman? Sharpshooter? Expert?)
- What was your military specialty? (Infantry? Artillery? Airborne? Armor? etc.)
- Describe the people you trained with in basic training.
- When did you deploy overseas?
- What theater of operations were you in? (ETO? PTO? MTO? CBI?)
- What was your port of embarkation for deployment? (New York? San Diego?)
- How long did it take for you to reach your theater of operations?
- Did you receive any training after you were deployed overseas?
- What type of equipment were you issued before you were deployed overseas?
- Were you involved in any invasions? (If ‘yes’ please describe)
- Were you ever taken under enemy fire? (If ‘yes’ please describe)
- Did you return fire? (If ‘yes’ please describe)
- What was the food like?
- Did you admire your commanding officer?
- Did you admire the people you served with?
- Were you wounded? (If ‘yes’ please describe)
- Did you get enough sleep?
- Where were you on VE-Day?
- Where were you on VJ-Day?
- When did you return to the US?
- How long did you serve overseas?
As you collect your oral history, remember that cassette tapes are inexpensive. Turn on your tape recorder,
relax & start talking. Be sure to elaborate as much as you wish. It is especially helpful if you have someone
to talk to like a friend, spouse, son, daughter or grandchild. A thorough oral history interview will probably
take more than an hour to complete, so you will need to set aside a sufficient amount of time to get the job
done. It may be necessary to complete the interview over the course of more than one interview session to capture
all of the information on tape. It may be helpful to have old photos, maps or service records close by during
the interview.
|
Oral History Guidelines:
|
Questions you should ask when collecting a WWII story. After submitting a story to Share Your Story,
you may want to complete a full oral history to preserve for your future generations.
|
|
Recent Stories:
|
Click here to read some of our stories that have already been submitted or search through our database
for particular submissions.
|
|
Share Your Story:
Contact: Marty Morgan
Telephone: 504-527-6012 EXT 321
Fax: 504-527-6088
Email:
marty.morgan@nationalww2museum.org
The National World War II Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
Your contribution is tax deductible within the limits prescribed by law.
|
|
|
