Stars and Stripes launches digital archive

August 20, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC (MMD Newswire) -- The editorially independent U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes now offers a digital archive. In partnership with NewspaperArchive.com, the archive comprises over one million newspaper pages published for the U.S. military community overseas between 1948 and 1999.

The collection includes Stars and Stripes' coverage of military news and events from post-World War II through the Korean conflict, Vietnam and the first Gulf War. Stars and Stripes offers a unique perspective as the only independent news source that operates from inside the Department of Defense with the same First Amendment protection as any other U.S. news organization.

Stars and Stripes' digital archive marks a singular achievement for Heritage Microfilm, owner of NewspaperArchive.com, which has spent years piecing the collection together from old microfilm and new scans of old editions to create a highly searchable and comprehensive resource unlike any other newspaper archive.

"The mission of Stars and Stripes has always been to tell the story of the American service member," said Max D. Lederer, Jr., publisher of Stars and Stripes. "To be able to share this historic content with those who serve in uniform and their families is something we've been working for years to achieve." Lederer went on to praise the Stars and Stripes library staff whose devoted efforts made the project a success. "Without Charlene Neuwiller, Kat Giordano, Lili Vivanco and the talents of the Heritage team, it's difficult to imagine getting over a million newspaper pages into digital form," Lederer said.

The Stars and Stripes archive spans five decades that include U.S. military and humanitarian action in Korea, Vietnam, Operation Desert Storm and Bosnia/Herzegovina. Individuals may access digital copies of historic Stars and Stripes newspaper by visiting: http://starsandstripes.newspaperarchive.com

Future plans for the archive include digitization of the many Stars and Stripes editions for the World War II era, followed by newspapers from 2000 to the present day. For military history buffs and military archivists, these collections will provide an invaluable permanent record of news and events as reported with an independent perspective from inside the U.S. military.

In the interim, digital collections of PDFs for Stars and Stripes Europe, Pacific and Mideast editions from 2006 through mid-2009 are available on CD for purchase at Stars and Stripes' online store: www.StripesStore.com.