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November2006
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Art of War

The Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress has made a mission of collecting oral history interviews, memoirs, letters, diaries, photographs and other original materials from the more than 18 million living war veterans of World Wars I and II; the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars; and the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. The goal of the project is to preserve and share with future generations these stories and moments in time that paint such a personal picture of the trials and tribulations of a nation at war.
"Hit on an Ammunition Dump," Monte Cassino, Italy, 1944 "Victory -- May 8, 1945. War in Germany ended. Anne sketching (Belgium)."

To date, more than 45,000 individuals have submitted stories, with some 3,100 available at the Veterans History Project Web site – the ultimate tribute to the heroes we honor on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

Aldo Panzieri in barracks, 1969

To mark the holiday, the Veterans History Project highlights a selection of 13 fully digitized collections titled “Art of War” found in the “Experiencing War” section of the project’s Web site. From the Vietnam photographs of Aldo Panzieri to the World War II GI portrait sketches of Mimi Korach Lesser, the images document the story of America during wartime through paint brushes, pencil sketches and the camera lens – truly making a picture worth 1,000 words.


A. Peter Sanfilippo, artist. "Hit on an Ammunition Dump," Monte Cassino, Italy, 1944. "After three months of sporadic shelling at the Monte Cassino front, the assessment of destruction inflicted was enormous. Though retaliatory strikes were directed at us, we were fortunate to have escaped the punishment of a direct hit. One night, however, the enemy's aim found success by hitting an ammunition dump, sending exploding bomb fragments of shrapnel into a fiery sky. The unnerving scene was a penetrating blow to our men. To ease the sorrow, a staunch and determined will was summoned to help erase a repeated occurrence of this magnitude." American Folklife Center. Reproduction information: Reproduction information not available.

B. Mimi Korach Lesser, artist. “Victory -- May 8, 1945. War in Germany ended. Anne sketching (Belgium)." American Folklife Center. Reproduction information: Reproduction information not available.

C. Aldo Panzieri in barracks, 1969. American Folklife Center. Reproduction information: Reproduction information not available.
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