A Remembrance of U.S. Soldiers Serving Their Country

For Memorial Day in the U.S. we wanted to highlight works authored by U.S. soldiers and share other works about the men and women who fought in the U.S. armed forces.

The Journal of Military Experience, housed in Eastern Kentucky University’s institutional repository, Encompass, features works by veterans returning from war who have found a therapeutic benefit and a societal responsibility in documenting their wartime experience. The journal’s goal is to provide a creative space for veterans to find a place to narrow the gap “between military and civilian cultures.” To read more about this extraordinary journal see “Veteran-authored Journal at Eastern Kentucky University Gets NY Times Mention” in the DC Telegraph.

In Wright State University Libraries’ IR, CORE Scholar, you’ll see Miami Military Institute Photographs which span over 100 years of service. This collection contains photographs of the cadets and faculty of MMI during its years of operation, and depicts annual military encampments, sporting events, cadets performing military exercises, and at play.

Our recent blog “Primary Campus Resources in IRs Prove Rich Pedagogical Tools” includes the Bryant Goes to War collection which has drawn the campus community together and allowed faculty, alumni, and students to play active roles in the project’s success. The collection’s 1,400 World War II letters, rediscovered by Mary F. Moroney, Director of Library Services, after decades in a university basement, became the focus of the “Bryant Goes to War” project showcased in the university’s IR, Digital Commons @ Bryant University. Judy Barrett Litoff, Bryant University Professor and world renowned expert World War II letters, is now using the Bryant artifacts from this time period to teach students about World War II using primary source materials.