For veterans
The stories from their service, in their own voice.
A phone number they can call whenever a memory comes back: the first week of training, a friend from the unit, the letter that made it home. Nobody answers. Every call is recorded, written out, and kept for the family.
Works on any phone, even a landline. No app to download.
Giving it? After checkout, we ask who it’s for.
How it works
Four steps, and the first one is yours.
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Get the number
For yourself, or for a veteran you love. We mail a card with the number and their own extension.
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They call when a memory comes back
Day or night, from any phone. Nobody answers. They talk after the beep, for as long or as little as they like.
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Every call is written out
Each one is dated and saved with its transcript, ready to hear or to read.
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The calls become a book
Download the book of their stories whenever you like, as often as you like.
See an example
A page of questions about service, the kind that can help a first call begin. The name on it is made up.
What comes with it
Their voice, their words, and a book.
Their own archive
Every call, dated and kept in one place: the recording, and the words written out.
Written out
Every call comes with a transcript, so the family can read it as well as hear it.
Share and download
Family you add can listen and download while the plan runs and for 90 days after. What you download is yours to keep.
The book
A book of their stories, to download as often as you like. Each story has its own code in the margin, linked to the recording of that story.
The family decides
Every call starts private. The Line’s owner chooses which ones the family hears, and can make one private again or delete it.
The Veteran’s Story, free
A free book of questions about service, to fill in by hand or keep by the phone for the next call.
Pricing
One Line, one storyteller.
The Line
$99 a year
- Their own extension on one phone number
- A printed card for the fridge, mailed to you
- Every call recorded and written out
- The book, to download as often as you like
- Family you add can listen and download
Every plan renews automatically. Cancel anytime. The year you’ve paid for keeps running to the end.
Two storytellers in one home? The Family Line gives each their own extension and archive, for $149 a year.
Questions
Before you give one.
Does anyone listen while they talk?
No. Nobody answers the Line. They talk after the beep, the call is recorded, and afterwards it is written out.
What if they don’t know where to start?
Anywhere is fine: a name, a place, a day they remember. The example page shows the kind of questions that can help a first call begin.
Can I give it as a gift?
Yes. Buy it, and after checkout we ask who it’s for. The card with their number and extension goes to the address you give at checkout.
Who can hear the recordings?
Every call starts private. The Line’s owner chooses which ones the family they add can hear, and can make one private again or delete it.
Is this connected with the VA or the Library of Congress?
No. Vividly is not part of the Library of Congress and is not connected with the VA. Calls to a Line are not sent to the Library. The veteran interviews further down this page are separate from the Line.
Does it work on a landline?
Yes. It works on any phone, even a landline. There is no app to download.
What happens when the plan ends?
Family you add can listen and download while the plan runs and for 90 days after. What you download is yours to keep.
Give them a number for the stories.
What the Lines also do
Veteran interviews
For every ten Lines sold, a veteran is interviewed, and the recording is prepared and submitted to the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.
Veterans
Add a veteran to the interview list
For every ten Lines sold, a veteran who wouldn’t otherwise have one is interviewed: forty-five minutes with a real person, recorded, and theirs to keep. The recording is prepared and submitted to the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.
This is a waiting list, not a booking. We work through it in order, as Lines are sold, and we can’t say how long that takes.
Read this first
A phone call, or a web page
How the interview happens decides whether it can go to the Library of Congress. It is worth knowing before you add anyone.
The interview can be an ordinary phone call
If a phone is what works for them, that is fine, and they can be on the list.
Only an interview on a web page can be submitted to the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress runs the Veterans History Project, a national collection of veterans’ firsthand accounts. An interview can be submitted to it only if it was recorded through a web page, on a computer, tablet or smartphone with a microphone. A phone call carries too little of the sound to meet the Library’s standard, and nothing we do afterwards can put that back.
So to have their interview submitted, the veteran needs to be able to join a web page, on their own or with somebody beside them to set it up. If they can’t, they can still have the interview. It just can’t be submitted.
Submitted is not the same as accepted
Whether an interview is accepted is the Library’s decision, not ours. Vividly is not part of the Library of Congress and is not connected with the VA.
Nothing is signed today
If they want their interview submitted, the veteran signs the Library’s release themselves, before the interview. The box on this form only tells us they’re interested. Their agreement to being recorded is theirs too, given by them at the start of the interview.
The list
Who should be on it?
A person reads every one. We confirm every nomination with the person who sent it before anything is scheduled.
Please leave out service records and anything medical — we don’t need them.
We don’t pay for veteran nominations. Not to a hospice, not to a care home, not to anyone. A recommendation from your team stays a recommendation.