World War 11 V-Disc
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For military members deployed during World War II, familiar entertainment from beloved musicians was hard to find.
Enter V-Disc, a record label created by the American military during World War II to boost soldier morale while abroad. From 1943 to 1949, many popular artists recorded with friends and acquaintances at rival record labels. By the end of the decade, however, the masters had been destroyed and any existing V-Discs at military bases discarded.
Luckily, the Internet Archive’s Great 78 Project features a large number of these V-Disc recordings, which range from military marching songs to love ballads, and big band to swing. Below are just a handful of the V-Discs available to browse–but you can see the full collection here!