Dear Listmembers: Tomorrow we celebrate 226 years of Independence in the United States. Along with gatherings of families, picnics, barbeques, parades and fire work displays, it is a day to remember those who served and protected our Nation in times of both Peace and War. I encourage all of you to post something from your family history that shares its place in the history of our great country. Does not have to be an illustrious tale of valor. Could be as simple as "my father learned to knit as a boy, making underwear, in support of the War effort." Or perhaps, "my family were Quakers and staunchly pacifistic." Or maybe, "one of my mother's first memories was that of Armistice Day -- the War to End All Wars, WWI, had come to a victorious close." And perhaps best of all, the knowledge that during a lifetime, there were no battles, there were no wars, the Military trained and were there to protect us and thankfully, had no need to. Please share a memory or a story of someone in your family from the last 226 years of history. Does not have to be military or veteran related. Just plain folks in plain time. It helps to weave the fabric and piece the quilt of those in Marin or researching Marin. I do want to mention the Library of Congress (US) is hosting the Veterans History Project. Please visit the site to read more: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/vets// Home Page for the Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. "Motivated by the urgent need to collect the stories and experiences of war veterans while they are still among us, the U.S. Congress created the Veterans History Project in October 2000. The legislation calls upon the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to collect and preserve audio- and video-taped oral histories, along with documents such as letters, diaries, maps, photographs, and home movies, of America's war veterans and those who served in support of them during World War I, World War II, and the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf wars." For benefit of those of you with email only and no WWW capabilty/access here is some information about contact, that is listed on the site: ~~~~~~~~~~~ Veterans History Project Phone: (202) 707-4916 Message Line: 1-888-371-5848 FAX: (202) 252-2046 Email: [email protected] Web Site URL: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/vets/ Mail inquiries or materials to: The Veterans History Project American Folklife Center Library of Congress 101 Independence Ave., SE Washington DC 20540-4615 MAIL ADVISORY The delivery of mail to the Library of Congress via the U.S. Postal Service has been suspended since October 17 because of security concerns. We are accepting deliveries from commercial services such as UPS and Federal Express, which are unaffected by the current postal ban. Until normal mail service resumes, you may wish to contact us via email, fax, or telephone at the addresses and numbers below. If you sent the Veterans History Project partner forms, requests for information, or interviews and collection materials since mid-October, we regret that we have not yet received them. All mail is being held safely off-site until a new processing facility and handling procedures have been established. You will receive a response from us as soon as possible once our mail delivery resumes. We appreciate your patience. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Independence Day! Lauren Lauren M. Boyd List Admin, maringensoc-L