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Veteran’s Literary Collection honors America’s best

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Karoline Scott
  • 375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. 7/07/06 -- --  

As America celebrates its 230th birthday this month, it is important to remember the millions of veterans, past and present, who have fought and sacrificed to keep this nation free. 

Honoring America’s veterans is, in fact, the driving force behind the Veteran’s Literary Collection, a program which began at Scott Air Force Base in the summer of 2001, and which kicks-off again this week. 

The VLC was started by Col. James Patterson, 932nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron commander, and Steve Heuer, U.S. Transportation Command senior analyst, and allows anyone to donate books to the Scott AFB Library in honor of an American war veteran or group of veterans. Each VLC book donated includes a personalized name plate inside the front cover to memorialize the person or people the book was donated on behalf of. 

Colonel Patterson recalls that inspiration for this program came from experiences in his own life. “My dad was a World War II veteran, a pilot, and I grew up knowing all about the war and hearing the Soldiers’ stories,” he said. “Additionally, in my civilian life, I owned nursing homes in Texas. One Veteran’s Day, I visited the veterans’ wing of one of the homes and was inspired. I realized we are loosing approximately 1,000 World War II veterans every day. I thought to myself: ‘How can we memorialize these American heroes?’ 

“The idea then came to me that people could donate books to a library with a specific message and dedication to a veteran or group of veterans from any American war. This plan was then put into action, and the Scott AFB Library became the first spot for the Veteran’s Literary Collection,” said Colonel Patterson.
Since the VLC program’s beginning five years ago, the Base Library has gained 467 books. This week, the drive to donate books though the VLC program is once again up and running, and goals have been set high. 

“This program has meant huge returns for the library and we know it would be a great service elsewhere,” said Sandy Koontz, director of the Base Library, “The library’s goal this year is to have as many as 500 books donated by the end of the drive in November.”
Now is the time to start donating. Anyone can get involved. There are, however, specific guidelines to follow when selecting a VLC book for donation. 

“We ask that donations be any non-fiction work with a military theme,” said Mr. Heuer. “Often, these books are historical works, biographies and autobiographies. We would also gladly receive works on military strategy, philosophy, ethics and principles of leadership. We are not limited to accepting books which only concern U.S. military history, but would accept books which focus on any time period from ancient eras to current events as well as the future of the armed services.” 

With this collection of military-themed books, the objective is to spread the influence of America’s military throughout the local community. 

“We hope to leave a lasting legacy of American’s veterans through the VLC program, especially to those who do not enjoy the military lifestyle and haven’t been exposed to it.,” said Mr. Heuer. “Because these books are donated to the Scott AFB Library, which is part of the Swansea intra-library loan system, anyone can check out VLC books at any time. Additionally, if more than one of the same books is donated to Scott, the extra book will be sent to a different local library, VLC name plate and all. This way, the memories of the honored veterans can be spread even farther.” 

VLC organizers now working to establish his program to military installations across the world. 

“Our vision is to have a VLC at every military library,” said Ms. Koontz. 

“We owe a great deal of homage and gratitude to all the veterans willing to step up to the plate and make the ultimate sacrifice to this country,” said Colonel Patterson. “I sincerely hope we will see this program at every base in the near future.” 

Watch for the VLC Web site which is currently under construction. For more information about the VLC, call the Base Library at 256-3028.