Introduction
Upon completion of the Veteran Training, participants will be able to:
Plan for the storage & preservation needs of their personal military records.
Prioritize & select items for long-term preservation.
Apply basic strategies & practices for organization, storage & preservation of personal military records.
Locate additional related resources & potential cultural heritage institutions
Welcome Message
Greetings, and welcome! My name is Dr. Ed Benoit, and I am the director and founder of the Virtual Footlocker Project, or VFP for short. We are excited that you’ve decided to watch and start learning more about how to preserve the memories of your time in service. This video will provide some background on the VFP and an overview of the curriculum itself.
Let me start by telling you a story. My father served over twenty years as an officer in the Air Force. After he passed away in 2011, I discovered a dusty old footlocker stored in my parent’s attic that contained a treasure trove of documents, photographs, and mementos from his time in service. My experience reflects those of many whose loved ones served in the military. Sorting through collections of personal records documenting a military life contextualizes the sacrifice and challenges these airmen, soldiers, sailors, and marines encountered.
The most recent statistics indicate there are around 19 million U.S. veterans as of 2021,
representing less than 10% of the adult population. According to the VA, the Gulf War-era veterans, who served between 1990 and today, account for the largest share, with approximately 7.8 million. While this figure may appear large, consider this. In 1980, about 18% of the adult population were veterans. By 2018, this decreased to 7%. This means that fewer people today are directly connected with someone who served in the military.
The only connection to veterans and their stories for many civilians will be exposure to archival and museum collections—similar to many visitors of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Those of us in the museum and archive field know it is vital to preserve these records. Many of the things you experience during your time in service are similar to previous veterans; however, the way you document your time in service is far more complex through the use of both analog and digital worlds. Analog records, such as physical letters, postcards, photographs, trinkets, and mementos, are concrete and relatively easy to store and bring out to share with others. Digital materials, such as emails, text messages, videos, digital photos, and social media posts, are much more abstract and challenging.
Addressing these challenges motivated me to create the Virtual Footlocker Project. While helping you preserve your records may eventually also help future archives and museums, this project remains focused on helping you and your loved ones.
Over the past three years, the VFP team conducted surveys and in-depth focus groups with hundreds of military personnel and veterans. The information gathered helped us better understand the types of records you create, the things you collect, the issues you run into keeping them, and your concerns for future preservation. We designed the curriculum you are starting with all of this in mind to provide you with the tools, training, and techniques to identify important records and organize store, and preserve your collections.
Overall, the curriculum is divided into four modules (or lessons). Each module should take about an hour and a half to complete. We begin with an introduction to the preservation of personal military records by discussing why they are important, the storage and preservation challenges associated with them, and how to identify what to keep. The second module focuses on organizing and storing your records, including both physical and digital materials. In the third module, we will look at basic preservation techniques for physical and digital records and discuss how to prioritize your efforts. Finally, the fourth module will provide additional resources and discuss how you can donate your records in the future if you so desire.
Now don’t worry; you will not need to just listen to me ramble on for hours on end, as this is not just a series of videos. The curriculum is designed to be completed at your own pace and on your own time, with several activities for you to complete along the way that will help you with your own materials. This includes opportunities to test your understanding of the material at the end of each lesson.
Again, we are so happy that you are here and hope this information will help you preserve the memories of your time in service.
-Dr. Edward Benoit, III