In 2000, Congress created the Veterans History Project, a initiative through the Library of Congress to collect, record, and preserve information pertaining to veterans of past and current conflicts. It is often that I’ll see hand-written narratives from WWII veterans or oral recollections from Vietnam veterans explaining the events they witnessed. It’s a humbling experience and gives perspective to the travails and problems that most Americans experience daily.
While many universities and organizations have similar projects, from my perspective, the Library of Congress is best positioned to archive and preserve such records nationwide. A link to the Veterans History project field kit can be found at http://www.loc.gov/vets/kit.html