Blog

World War II History Center Needs Your Family's Story

Did you know that of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II, less than 45,418 World War II veterans are alive today? That's according to the WWII National Museum in New Orleans. 

Here at the World War II History center, our goal is to honor, remember, and educate our community about the Greatest Generation. The stories that help us do that are quickly going away. So many times, we hear the same regret from our guests. Their grandfather, uncle, aunt, served, but they don't know much about their experiences because their relative never talked about it. 

Some of us on staff at the history center have the same regret. As much as we can honor the past, we can't live in regret. That's why we are collecting stories now--before it's too late. 

In preparation for America's Semiqunicentennial, World War II History Center is gathering stories of the Greatest Generation of Kansans! 

With such a special celebration of America, we knew we had to find a way to honor, remember, and educate. We are excited to announce a different kind of historical display. This one is only possible with your help. We want to read your stories of your World War II heroes in your words. So here's how this is going to work. 

We are inviting you to email or snail mail us stories of the Greatest Generation of Kansas. We also need a photograph. We must receive your story and photo by June 1st in order to be considered for inclusion in our display. We'll choose up to 40 entries. 

We have some submission guidelines that will help your stories make the cut. Please follow them, so we can share your loved one's story with the world. You can find those submission guidelines on our clicking here. It will take you to our home page. 

Check out these Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

• Question: Can we submit stories of family members who contributed on the homefront but did not serve in the military?

  • Answer: Yes, please do! 

• Question: Is it okay if the relative we are writing the story about never lived in Kansas? 

  • Answer: Yes, as long as there is a Kansas connection. That connection can be you. 

• Question: What if I don't have a photo? 

  • Answer: Try really hard to find one. The photo can be of any time in your relative's life. It doesn't have to be a military photo. Please remember to provide us with the names of anyone in the photo, and time and place if available. 

• Question: Can I send more than one photo:

  • Answer: We will take up to two photos. 

• Question: Will I get my photos back?

  • No. We apologize, but we do not have the staff to facilitate returning any items to you. PLEASE provide COPIES of photos so that you can keep the original. Yes, we accept digital photos attached to your email submission. If you are submitting a hard copy, you are responsible for submitting a COPY. 

• Question: What if I'm not a great writer? Can you write the story for me? 

  • We will not write the story for you. However, we do reserve the right to do some light editing in order to fit the criteria of the display. We will be hosting a couple of workshops to help with the writing and/or researching process. We also have a template available with sentence stems that might aid your writing process.

• Question: We can we see the display? 

  • We will unveil the display on July 4, 2026! Please bring your family and friends. 

• Question: How else can I support this project?

  • Whether you have a story to submit or not, you can still support our efforts through donations and volunteering. We are supported solely by donations and volunteers. We always appreciate cash donations so that we can purchase materials for new projects and keeps our lights on. Click here to donate. Every dollar matters. We could also use volunteer help to edit submissions and to prepare the display. If you can help, please contact us by clicking here. 

We are looking forward to receiving your stories. If you have any questions that aren't answered in this blog post, please email our Education Director at dmcnemee@wwiihistorycenter.org.