right here there is a major effort under way to get all veterans to tell their story through a program called veterans history project, veterans' stories are preserved. this year on the anniversary of the end of world war ii, there's a new effort under way to get every veteran to tell their story. coming up, we'll hear stories of veterans in world war ii, what the veterans history project means to them and how you can get involved. but first how world ii vets are recording and preserving their story forever. >> proud to be an american, proud to be in the service and look back with great respect on what i did. >> luke has never talked about his time as an army soldier in world war ii. >> i haven't told people the continuity, things that have happened. >> but now, nearly 70 years after returning home from serving his country in the south

pacific, he's finally telling his story. >> crawling on our stoppics under barbed wire, ammunition flying over our heads. and i was pulling along and heard a bullet go by. i dug my head into the ground. >> he worked chemical war wear from 1942 to 1946. it wasn't until he heard about the library of congress's veterans history project that he decided he really wanted to share his thoughts and memories. >> i was worried to get in the military. i love the country. >> the project is an ambitious effort to record each veteran's personal story. with this being the anniversary of the end of world war ii there's a campaign to preserve the stories of world war ii vets right here in the d.c. area. they are calling it "do your part."

>> 6.5 million stories of world war ii, all different. people doing different things, people doing interesting things. it's important we gather all those stories to tell the story of world war ii. >> a collection of nearly 100,000 stories, photographs, diaries and letters of the men and women who have served their country. >> we're asking people to reach out to the world war ii veterans they know. it may be a family member, someone in the community, someone that lives down the street from them and do their story. we're looking for volunteers to do interviews. this has been a volunteer project from the beginning. >> 19-year-old heather is a volunteer who rukts interviews. she started with the project four years ago. >> i will never forget the first interview i did, it was incredible. i remember one particular story that he told me that kind of just hooked me on veterans history project. i ended up writing my personal statement for college on it. >> now shaw has interviewed more

than 20 veterans. gwendolyn is a volunteer, conducted over 50 interviews. >> each one of them, so memorable. not any one like another one. >> she says the main reason she volunteers is to preserve and learn from the past. >> we don't know much about the rank and file. that's where the real stories are. that's where the nuggets of truth and how these men served under tremendous odds, under sometimes lacking ammunition, sometimes without proper food or clothing. >> and today at 95 years old, luke is being interviewed by his wife dottie. >> i'm always learning something new about his experiences, which there were a lot of. four years is a long time out of a person's life. >> he's telling a story she's

never heard before, documenting them forever as part of the americans history project. >> i'm sure we will remember this day for a long time. >> a long time. >> and hopefully share it with our friend and family. because he is really so proud to have had this experience. >> tell you more about how world war ii veterans can share their stories in just a few moments. but first we want to introduce you to three veterans, whose stories are already part of the collection. the first is chester ned. he served in the u.s. marine corps and was one of the original navajo code talkers of he used the native american languages to transmit code and messages and later received congressional gold medal for his work. here is part of his story. >> said only good independent yanda is a dead indian. the united states was built on

indian graves. i think about those things. it hurts me to talk about, to think about. people ask me, what do you think about those things? i don't like it. i don't. but it was time to do something for my country. if i was 60 years younger, i would have been to iraq. people ask me, why did you go? somebody has got to defend the freedom. this is the reason why i went. i'm proud to say that i went to serve my country.

>> fort nix is next door to the air base. sunday morning and we had a pilot crash out in the field. he could have landed that plane, but it would have been in a housing area. it was a sunday morning, and he would have killed a lot of kids. so he chose to land -- to crash over the field. the plane was on fire. he was burned maybe 60% of his body. right around his neck, you know when they wore that silk scarf, there was a b in there burned, and he lost an ear. they said he didn't have a chance. they didn't transfer him to fort sam to the burn unit because he

was too far gone. we took care of him. nurses took their days off to personal him in their off duty, to personal him. he did not die. we got him strong enough and well enough that he went to fort sam houston and had all the skin grafts done and everything else. i went to fort sam houston to take a class on something, oh, maybe five years later. and we went into the officers' club at kelly field. you know, that's the air base. and we were sitting there at the bar having a drink. and this fella sat down next to me. i happened to look over at his glass and it's got an ear in .

i thought, what's that? i looked at him, looked at him for a minute. he said, you don't remember either. i said, you're much handsomer than you used to be. it was him. that was one of the most satisfying thing i've ever known. >> not everybody but some accepted us. for the most part it was the same. >> what about for wte veteran. >> they had all anyway. let me show you. i tell some youngsters all the time that when i came out of the service, i came very elite. i joined -- i was a member of the 5220 club. they said what? i said, yeah, man, i'm a member of the 5220 club. i'm a radioman. every week you had to apply for -- you had to register to get your unemployment compensation. when they found out i was a radioman, i couldn't get a job.

i would go down there and sign up. i would put my little shirt and tie on. but i knew they wouldn't hire me as a radioman. so i said, you know, i was very unique. i was in the 5220 club. i said all guys wanted country club but i belonged to -- what? really? the 5220 club was i drew $20 a week for 52 weeks unemployment compensation because they wouldn't hire me. i couldn't get a job in the rank i was in the service. the air force out here would not do it. it was that simple. >> served in the pacific theater 1942 through '45. he was a radman in the coast guard. coming up, meet a veteran who was chief nurse in the 17th field hospital in vietnam. >> we all looked up a horizon.

horizon to horizon, nothing but airplanes. anything that could fly was flying.

there's a sense of urgency with the veterans history project. we're losing these stories. with each of these stories lost, an important part of our past goes away, because most veterans

haven't taken the time or had the opportunity to record their own experiences. so we need to move and we need to move quickly to make sure these stories are recorded. >> welcome back to "saluting our veteran." we're sharing the stores of those who served in world war ii and recorded their stories at the veterans history project here at the library of congress. the next we're about to meet served in the army nurse corps and talks about a day they shall never forget june 26th, 1964. >> d-day, when it started at night, we heard the drone of planes. and of course we couldn't see anything because they were all flying blacked out. in the morning when we got up in anticipation of getting patients, we all looked up at

the horizon. and from horizon to horizon, nothing but airplanes. anything that would fly was flying. it was something to see. i get chills. >> gave me a can of peaches. he opened it up for me. and he gave me a toothbrush and a comb and i think some toothpaste because we had lived -- not only had a day's rations when we went ashore there. we lived on coconut and stolen japanese rice -- i mean recovered japanese rice. gave me those peaches, big can

of peaches. that syrup, it was champagne. beautiful that guy was. >> when you see men losing their lives, coming back and by the base and some buried overseas, you realize that civilization must develop concepts whereas we can sit down and talk out our differences rather than fighting out our differences. one of the persons that had clout to help us was a woman. mrs. roosevelt, the president's wife. when she came to tuskegee and got in a plane and let a black

pilot take her off up into the air, that was it. and the fbi that was with miss roosevelt called the president and asked should he let her go up. and the president said, well, she's been doing everything she want to do, she's not going to stop now. she didn't stop. she crawled in that plane and they took her up. that was a big step forward. >> james was a staff sergeant in 99th fighter squad in the air force. >> all that destruction had not been cleared up or cleaned up. been cleared up or cleaned up. and we saw

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were. veterans history project is really crucial to our understanding of who we are an how we got to be who we are. when i wrote "the greatest generation" even though i lived through that time i learned so much from these veterans, their stories being at war, at home, people at home that worked harder to make sure they had what they needed. >> tom brock ow's "greatest generation chl inspired students to talk to their grandparent about world war ii.

he said that experience helping younger generations understand what their grandparents went through. the next veteran who tells his story to the veterans history project a first lieutenant in army air forces, 1942 to 1945. >> we had gone into bombay and pulled a little tent with the bombs. we never dropped the bombs because we had an engine problem. when we landed in dallas teb texas, bill and i went into the coffee shop and were motor vehicling. we put our hands in the pockets and realized, we've still got all the pins. yeah, they are only 100 pounders but they could do some damage, especially landing an airplane with a malfunction. anyway, we sneak out to the airplanes and put the pins back in. because the airplane was so new, so secret, when we landed we had

an mp surround the airplane, a bunch of mps. we showed the dog tag and all the identification we had because the airplane was special. so we put those back. then the pilot shows up. he said, hey, did you guys ever put those pins back? of course. you don't think you'd land with an armed bomb. >> well, destruction is heartbreaking, to see how the schools, the churches, the entire communities were bombed because all that destruction had not been cleared up or cleaned up. and we saw that daily where we

were. because they had bombed before we arrived there. it was the same. that was what was helping you to wish you were leaving the area and on your way back to america. >> did you know through experience influence your thinking about war or about the military in general? >> well, you don't forts it. there's -- you don't forget it. there's no way to forget it. you try not to keep it on your every day thinking, but you're going to think about it especially when there is so much similarity of that going on later, like vietnam and korean war and all the other wars. you don't forget that. >> mrs. johnson served in the central postal directory

battalion. it was the only all african-american female unit that served overseas in world war ii. still ahead, how you can get involved in the veterans history project. >> just having served veterans a part of history but telling their stories makes them part of

>> i consider this a privilege, being able to take this message for future generations. everything is a matter of timing. this would be the time for me to do it. i'm glad i waited because now i'm much older, 15 years older. i'm still here to tell the story. it's very meaningful. >> the veterans history project wants you to get involved. now is the time to encourage the veteran in your life to tell their story. >> we think it's important now, while they are still with us, to hear their stories and hear what they have to say.

world war ii was a significant event of the 20th century and those stories are all important for future generations to hear and also for researchers to have access to. >> it's easy to get involved. you don't need fancy equipment. you don't even have to go far. you can download a field kit from library of congress's website where you can find everything you need to get started. started. we've input a link up

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i told him how much i loved him and that i would do anything to get him back. the hardest thing i'll ever have to do. we immediately were hit from behind. >> an attack in broad daylight. >> he just points the gun at my forehead. i said to him was, "please don't kill me, i have three children." >> her husband kidnapped and held hostage. >> i couldn't even eat. where was he? how was he being treated? was he even alive? >> she would have to save him. >> my husband's life was on the line. i needed to be very careful and very smart with the choices i