By Chief Warrent Officer 4 Judith McCabe

The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey in Sea Girt has interviewed more than 200 veterans as part of the Center for United States War Veterans Oral History Program.

The Center's mission is to collect videos of oral histories from veterans of all conflicts and those who helped support them. The Center opened in the summer of 2001.

This summer the program went on the road to the Paramus Veterans Home and Cape May County to interview veterans who could not travel to the museum.

Veterans are asked to fill out a short biographical form with information regarding where they served, dates, awards, campaigns and civilian occupation prior to joining the military. An appointment is then made for the veteran to come to the museum for the interview.

The Center operates in partnership with the Library of Congress and the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center. The Library of Congress and the museum in Sea Girt are both repositories for copies of the videos. Members of the public may view the videos for research purposes. Anyone interested in participating in the program may contact the museum at 732-974-5966.

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From the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs News Service

In 2002, VA spent $23 billion treating 4.6 million veterans, and provided $25 billion in compensation benefits to 2.4 million veterans, dependents and survivors.

The Veterans Administration is making special efforts to process the claims of older veterans quickly, including those of former U.S. POWs who served in World War II. The average age for this group is 82.