America’s Veterans: Honor, Service, and Sacrifice

The Smithsonian’s 12th collaboration with USA Today honors American veterans.

The Smithsonian’s 12th collaboration with USA Today honors America’s veterans.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Education and the Office of Communications and External Affairs are pleased to announce the release of America’s Veterans: Honor, Service, and Sacrifice, our twelfth educational activity guide in an ongoing series produced in collaboration with USA TODAY that has reached over 10.8 million households across the country since 2020.

Created by Smithsonian educators and staff Jacquelyn Browning (NMAAHC), Renée Gokey (NMAI), Ashley Naranjo (OUSE), Julia Orr (NASM), Tracy Scott Forson (Smithsonian Magazine), Tracie Spinale (OUSE), and Carol Wilson (SAAM) and featuring the work of many contributors across the Institution, this guide will reach an additional 1.3 million print subscribers nationwide on Sunday, November 3. In this premium edition 12-page guide, readers will explore a timeline of the U.S. holiday and the ways veterans have been honored over time, follow a walking tour of memorials and spaces for reflection across Washington, D.C. including the National Native American Veterans Memorial, and gather tips and ideas for conducting an oral history interview with a veteran to document their legacy.

The guide, released just before Veterans Day, brings courageous profiles to life in a way only the Smithsonian can—through the multiple lenses of art, history, culture, and science—revealing the ways those who served in the military are woven into the tapestry of the American story. Through connections to our collections, this unique Smithsonian guide examines heroes like Joseph O. Quintero, who secretly made his own American flag while confined in a P.O.W. camp; the all-Black 369th Infantry Regiment known as the “Harlem Hellfighters” who served during World War I; and civilian Moina Michael, the “poppy lady” who first sold silk poppies to raise money for disabled veterans.

Our sincere thanks and congratulations to everyone who contributed to this edition. It can be accessed and downloaded on the Smithsonian Learning Lab website and in the online Smithsonian Voices section of Smithsonian Magazine on Monday, November 4. Additional public-facing promotion via social media for the online version will begin thereafter.

We invite you to share this guide with learners of all ages who are interested in learning more about stories honoring America’s veterans, starting on Monday, November 4. For now, please enjoy a sneak peek of the publication and remember to thank a veteran this Veterans Day (Monday,