BackStory

The following links and documents relate to the BackStory episode “Coming Home: A History of War Veterans” originally broadcast in November of 2010. You can listen to the entire episode here.

All Centuries

• The Veterans History Project
• Psychotherapist Ed Tick’s article on healing the traumas of war
• History News Network collections on Veterans Day and Memorial Day
• Women in the Army, from the Revolution onwards
• Battle lines: Letters from America’s wars

18th Century

• Two sources on black soldiers in the American Revolution
• What Revolutionary War veterans are up to these days
• Sons and daughters of the American Revolution
• Digital edition of Last Men of the Revolution (1864)
• Video: Historian Carol Berkin on the role of women in the Revolutionary War

19th Century

• “Directions for Preserving the Health of Soldiers,” by Benjamin Rush (1808)
• 1840 Census of Pensioners, Revolutionary or Military Services
• Online exhibit of letters from Civil War soldiers
• Video of the funeral of Hiram Cronk, veteran of the War of 1812
• One of many YouTube videos featuring footage of Civil War veterans
• Civil War pensions in Virginia

20th Century & Beyond

• Video of Navy veteran Bobby J. Wallace recounting his experience as a black sailor in WWII
• Youth Radio’s collection of stories from Iraq war vets
• Historian Rebecca Jo Plant explains the effects of war on WWII wives and mothers
• Army Specialist Elizabeth Sartain talks about her struggle with PTSD
• Information about the Bonus Army march and a featured webcast
• Learn more about the psychological problems vets currently face